Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana

Hindi (U/A)
Director: Sameer Sharma
Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Rajesh Sharma, Vinod Nagpal, Anangsha Biswas, Munish Makhija, Rahul Bagga  

Not every film can be a hit. Nor should it be – for the average makes you realise the value of good. And an above average film makes you feel cheated, for it had the potential to be ‘better’. That is what Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana makes you feel. It has the right ingredients, yet it is lacks lustre and taste. Either Sameer Sharma, its debutant director, is devoid of punch or he seriously intended for it to be low key.

So, while he has his tamatars (bitter-sweet dialogues); pyaaz (for farzi tears); dhania (garnishing in the form of Dolly Ahluwalia); haldi (for colouring a romantic sub-plot between Jeet and Shama aka, Anangsha Biswas and Rahul Bagga); mirchi (definitely Huma Qureshi as Harman) and chicken (Kunal Kapoor as Omi Khurana) right, he still manages to miss the right flavour – much like the film’s plot.

London-returned Omi Khurana is left as part of his Daarji’s (Vinod Nagpal) legacy, a lot of memories of free-floating farts and a defunct dhaba. Back after a decade, he begins catching up with cousins, relatives (in particular Titu mama/ Rajesh Sharma), and a long lost love who spurns even the slightest of overtures, while trying to unearth a recipe ‘Chiken Khurana’ on which rode the success of Daarji’s dhaba, but which now looks like a
forlorn scare crow in the middle of nowhere.

The film meanders on exploring and reviving old relationships as people discover themselves, their strengths and weaknesses while envying their NRI buddy and relative – little realising that he is actually on the run from a mafia don (Munish Makhija). There are moments which you relate to, but they are so fleeting that you are back in thick of curry (read action) without really wanting to be there.

Luv Shuv... is all very well but it comes nowhere close to UTV Spotboy’s Khosla Ka Ghosla, since it has been marketed on that strength. The highlight though, is Huma Qureshi who proves herself as more than just Omi’s love interest. She holds her own throughout, vacillating between staying away from him and loving him – in spite of herself. Among the newest crop of heroines, Huma is worth looking out for. Kunal Kapoor is a far cry from his Rang De Basanti fire; but Rajesh Sharma (remember Khurana’s sidekick in Khosla ...?) truly endears himself as someone who failed to make it beyond his dreams.