Loveyapa Review: Junaid, Khushi’s film Is A Frothy Take On Modern Love But Lacks Love Today’s Rawness

Last Updated:February 06, 2025, 20:10 IST

While Junaid Khan proves his comic mettle, Khushi Kapoor impresses in the emotionally heavier scenes in Loveyapa. Read our review below.

Loveyapa is all set to release in theatres tomorrow.

Loveyapa Movie Review: In 2022, Love Today, a Tamil film, featuring fresh faces Pradeep Ranganathan and Ivana emerged as a surprise hit, grossing more than Rs 100 crore. It defied every norm rule in the book and set a precedent for mid-budget stories led by non-star actors. Such was its impact that even megastar Rajinikanth took notice and appreciated the film for its unique but extremely relevant concept. Its impact has now spilled over to Bollywood as well as we now have a 2.0 version of Love Today titled Loveyapa. It stars Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor in lead roles.

First things first, kudos to the makers of Lovepaya for crediting Pradeep as part of the writing team and for not shying away from calling it a remake of Love Today. This comes at a time when conversations surrounding credit wars have gained ground all over again. Lovepaya, as the title suggests, makes for an amalgamation of love and ‘siyappa’. It has oodles of chaos and boisterous banters sprinkled with modern day love – that may or may not be superficial – where tech-savvy lovers refer to each other as ‘boo’ and ‘coochie coo’. The film revolves around Gaurav and Baani, a couple who met on Instagram. Please note that Baani refers to Gaurav as ‘Babboo’ and Gaurav refers to her as ‘Baani boo’. Yes, that’s right, this story isn’t meant for all generations.

After plenty of cheesy dialogues and a couple of song-and-dance sequences, the story finally picks up. Baani’s disciplinarian and suspicious father scolds her for buying a new phone. He sternly says, “Repair karna seekho, replace nahi… toote jo joda jaata, badla nahi” (Learn to repair, not replace… what’s broken should be mended, not changed). The real drama begins when Gaurav arrives at Baani’s house. His mission? To meet her father, win his approval, and ask for her hand in marriage.

But Gaurav’s to-be father-in-law is a tough nut to crack. He puts them through a test where the lovebirds are asked to exchange their mobile phones and that’s exactly where all the siyappa begins. They begin unearthing details about each other’s philandering ways, following which you’ll have to endure an array of cantankerous arguments between them.

Parallel to this, runs a sub-plot involving Gaurav’s sister and her fiancé and how their relationship gets affected as well due to the phone swapping episode between Gaurav and his Baani boo. Through the film, the makers have tried to convey that love, today (pun totally intended), has lost its innocence and purity as social media has become a treasure trove of dark secrets that often interferes with the mechanics of modern relationships. And that’s precisely why you’ll question why a 24-year-old Baani boo never lets her 24-year-old Babboo kiss her directly on her lips.

Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t here to police anyone. We do believe that to each, their own. But what’s the deal between two young adults who openly romance each other, secretly browse dating apps, request cleavage pictures, and occasionally entertain advances from ex-flames—suddenly feeling shy about sharing a kiss?

In Love Today too, the protagonists Pradeep and Nikitha followed this code of conduct but their socio-cultural constraints amply substantiated this decorum. In Loveyapa, however, this love language isn’t completely understood. This again calls for a discussion on whether remakes should be a frame-to-frame cut-copy-paste of their original works.

While it may be wrong to compare two films, you can’t realty help it. Director Advait Chandan really tries to make Loveyapa soar and yet it lacks the rooted quotient and raw texture of Love Today. You’ll never really find yourself rooting for either Gaurav or Baani. Love today’s biggest win was its effortless and seamless messaging. And despite its 2-hour-and-34-minute long runtime, you never mind its pace because each frame and sequence is packed with richness in terms of novelty, colour, vibe and mood. The same, however, cannot be said about Loveyapa. The first half fails to pack a punch. But if you manage to sit through it, you’ll find yourself being impressed with the second half.

Loveyapa, in fact, has a few things working in its favour. The background score by Viplove Rajdeo and Ketan Sodha is top-notch and new-age, perfectly accentuating the drama and the fun that unfold. Whatever said and done, the film has its heart in the right place. Another of its highlight are the performances. Junaid as Gaurav is earnest and has a rather impressive comic timing, something that we didn’t get to witness in Maharaj. He shines even as a down-and-out, angry, frustrated and helpless lover. His chemistry with Khushi’s Baani may not always hit the right notes but they surely do have a very good screen presence.

Khushi makes a stark departure from The Archies (thank god for that) and leaves an impact with her portrayal of Baani. As a north-Indian girl, she gets her lingo right and impresses, particularly, in the emotionally heavier scenes. They’re ably supported by a brilliant cast, who just knock it out of the park with their comic and dramatic instincts. Kiku Sharda, Kullu and Jason Tham deserve a special mention. But it’s the mischievous wickedness of Baani’s father, played by Ashutosh Rana, that drives the narrative. While this isn’t the first time that he’s playing a strict and curmudgeon patriarch of a family, he manages to grab your attention each time he arrives in the frame. Watching him playing his sitar with delicious abandon as his daughter’s life is falling apart will crack you up with sadistic pleasure!

Advait deserves applause for the attempt! It may not be a laugh riot as Love Today was and may even come across as a didactic lesson on the true meaning of love and loyalty towards the end, but it merits a watch. However, young lovers, watch it at your own risk as it may make or break your Valentine’s Day a week later.

As for millennials and boomers, be patient as you may fail to wrap your head around a lot of layers that modern relationships come with. Loveyapa is no Love Aaj Kal, which claimed that eras may change but the true essence and meaning of love will always remain the same. Having said that, it manages to remind us of the importance of forgiveness and letting go of ego in relationships.