यह जेन ज़ी की फिल्म है। जेन ज़ी बोले तो 21वीं सदी के पहले दशक में जन्मी वह पीढ़ी जिसने पैदा होते ही मोबाइल देखा और इस यंत्र को इस कदर अपना लिया कि अपने दोस्तों, परिवार वालों से ज़्यादा यारी इससे कर ली। इस यंत्र में इन्होंने इतना कुछ भर लिया कि उसे अपनों से ही छुपाने की नौबत आ गई और यही कारण है कि इस जेनरेशन का शायद ही कोई शख्स होगा जिसके मोबाइल में ताला न लगा हो। यह फिल्म उसी ताले के पीछे छुपे राज़ सामने लाकर इस पीढ़ी के रिश्तों के खोखलेपन का दीदार कराती है। बानी और गौरव आपस में प्यार करते हैं। बानी के पिता इन दोनों के सामने शर्त रखते हैं कि तुम दोनों एक दिन के लिए अपने-अपने मोबाइल फोन एक-दूसरे को दे दो। इसके बाद इनके जो राज़ खुलने लगते हैं उससे इनके रिश्ते की दरारों के साथ-साथ इनकी और इनके आसपास के लोगों की ज़िंदगियों का खोखलापन भी दिखने लगता है।

To make a modern rom-com remains the bane of Bollywood: Loveyapa proves all over again just how difficult it is to create a cracking love story which truly captures the essence of today’s swipe-right-and-left generation. The real film kicks in well into the second half, much after the listless toing-and-froing of the pre-interval portion between the two leads who cutely call each other Baani Boo, and Baboo. Ooo. You think you love each other? Ok, exchange your phones for a day, and see where you go with it, declares Baani’s stern shuddh-Hindi spouting daddyji (Ashustosh Rana). Consternation on faces, and dread in hearts, Baani Sharma and Gaurav ‘Gucci’ Sachdeva hand over their phones to each other, and thus begins loveyapa, love plus ‘siyapa’, that untranslatable Punjabi word whose closest meaning is trouble.

Smartphone is the new villain in love stories. Screenwriters looking for new obstacles for love birds have discovered social evils on the web. After Muddassar Aziz used phone swapping to generate humour in Khel Khel Main, director Advait Chandan recycles the Tamil hit Love Today to create a romantic comedy about the ill effects of social media and artificial intelligence on relationships in Loveyapa. Baani (Khushi Kapoor) and Gaurav (Junaid Khan) feel their romance is transparent till Baani’s father Atul (Ashutosh Rana) asks them to swap their phones before they exchange vows. As the phones get unlocked, it opens Pandora’s chat box with the video libraries and vaults of phones revealing secrets that both are not ready to overlook. Written by Sneha Desai, the film makes interesting observations on how the young generation is losing touch with reality and how there is a distinct difference in their online and offline character. In this game of choices, there is no gender divide. It also touches upon the issues of online fat shaming and the emerging scourge of deepfakes.

It takes off on a merry note. There’s a request made to the audience (in Aamir Khan’s voice) about mobile phones: do not exchange yours with anybody else. It sets the tone for freshness. Spanking new content, young first-timers in the lead, parental scoldings you haven’t heard before and sometimes, chaotic humour. These are the four elements that make writer-director Advait Chandan’s conventionally labelled ‘romantic comedy’ unconventional. It’s new age all through. Buying a new phone, payment by phone. Constant chats. They know each other’s friends, families and house layout even before stepping into each other’s domains. “Baani boo, I can’t hear you.” “Gucci, awaaz nahi aa rahi hai.” Lovebirds Baani Sharma (Khushi Kapoor) and Gaurav Sachdeva (Junaid Khan) can’t hear each other clearly, he climbing the water tank to get a connection, she raising her voice at home.