With Luca, debut director Arun Bose proves that he's one to keep an eye out for. The writers (Mridul George and Bose himself) try to tell two stories in Luca: one, of a couple that has apparently committed suicide a week apart from eachother, and the other of the personal life of the police officer investigating the former. The titular character, played by Tovino Thomas, comes with his share of familiar mischief that we'd seen in Mayaanadhi, Theevandi, and Uyare. Ahaana Krishnakumar gets to display her true acting chops for the first time, in a film that offers her a reasonably fleshed-out character and equal screen-time as her counterpart.
While the Luca-Niharika story has been written with equal amounts of playfulness and maturity, the parallel story of the police officer's personal life (in shambles) is not imparted the same treatment. Though what I do give a thumbs-up for, is the almost Agatha-Christie-like attention to details that come together in the climax. Since this is a story that revolves around an artist, the aesthetics clearly have a role to play in the film and it feels good to say that they've been researched/thought out well too.
Music and background score by Sooraj S Kurup is a definite plus for Luca. However, the random insertion of Hindi and English lines in songs/score (for certain scenes) appears a little forced. As is the case with murder mysteries, a few red herrings are thrown at the audience just to keep it engaging. The dialogues, for a modern couple such as Luca-Niharika, are never-for-once too cheesy or excessively sentimental.
There is a sense of permeating sadness that runs throughout the movie, even in its lighter moments. The director has used rain as an effective tool to convey both happiness and sadness. The writers have also used the plot-point of the cop going through an emotional turmoil to help correlate (and empathize) the events in his life with that of Luca's, quite well. Had the story of the cop also been given some extra depth, Luca could have probably ended up a much, much better film. If you're not someone who's bothered by relaxed pacing and enjoys romance and mystery as cinematic genres, I bet you should give Luca a watch.
