Dear Zindagi (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – Kaira is a budding cinematographer in search of a perfect life. Her encounter with Jug, an unconventional thinker, helps her gain a new perspective on life. She discovers that happiness is all about finding comfort in life’s imperfections.

My Take – Being born and grown up in a traditional Indian society (despite living miles away from the actual country), being compared to your siblings or any other relative on the basis of achievements is something not new to me. Like many others, I as an individual have been affected widely by the expectations of this extraneous society. These expectations, often ridiculous, have the ability to mess up an individual’s decision making skills along with his/her purpose in life. This sophomore film from director Gauri Shinde (wife of director R.Balki) aims to target the people of the society with a simple yet riveting message to live on your own terms irrespective of what others think & enjoy it to the fullest. The fact that the film is so relatable despite the gender trivial portrayed here, is a proof of how sometimes films are just a perfect refection of our life. Yes, some of the critics are right about the film not having much of a storyline, but with the whole screenplay beautifully woven around the complexities of human relationships and emotions, director Gauri Shinde has made sure that the film is nothing short of a gem. Everything about it hits the mark: the story, the characters, the acting, the cinematography, the music. The chemistry between everyone is so real, so unforced at every step that you feel that you are watching people you know or would like to know. Gauri Shinde beautifully provides a much needed perspective to the interrelated matters of brain and heart and attempts to eradicate the stigma associated with the much frowned upon phenomenon of counselling, which is often compared to mental disorder. The story follows Kaira (Alia Bhatt), a young up and coming cinematographer who seems all set to hit high gear in her career, but the same can’t exactly be said about her personal life as her flippant nature towards love has not only effected her relationship with restaurant owner, Sid (Angad Bedi), but also nipped a potential relationship with a colleague, Raghuvendra (Kunal Kapoor), right in the bud, causing a minor personal and potential setback. This paired with her landlord asking her to vacate her home leads to a mini breakdown, leading to her heading back home to Goa to her parents & to face her inner demons. Its obvious she has real commitment issues, faces many questions about her life choices and decisions, and the worst of all, she hasn’t been able to sleep for days.

She seeks out the help of therapist Dr. Jehangir “Jag” Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), who believes his unorthodox methods can help Kaira seek the answers she is looking for. Despite the run-time of 150 minutes, the film’s engaging narrative holds its audience as one. Sans the expected Bollywood frills and glitz, director Shinde explores her characters with unhurried precision. She delves into the side-characters only as much as the screenplay requires and never veers off into unnecessary tangents to oblige the conventional cinematic compulsions. The first thing one realizes after walking out of the theatre is how much the film and the character of Kaira are similar in nature, and it treats us, the audience as its therapist. The first 30 minutes give us a glimpse into Kaira’s rather mercurial nature, and how she detaches from any social interaction that requires her to get out of her comfort zone, and how it all builds up to her mental disintegration. Kaira’s romantic partners step in and step out of the narrative without breaking its fluency. The film remains loyal to its prime objective throughout – delicately mapping the psyche of a young woman without imposing blame on the people who inhabit her world. Her friends & family and not her men get the maximum screen-time to create Kaira’s world which is a delightful departure and quite sensible one at that. The film throws a lot of questions at the way women are written off for choosing more than one man for their entire life and the chair theory by Dr. Jahangir has a lot of depth and meaning attached to it. The climax has an SRK special, expert dialogue about how one can have any kind of a relationship with another and romance is just one of them. The best part of the film perhaps is the nonchalance with which it embraces the upper-middle class, young Indian woman as a living, breathing sexual being. It doesn’t make a big deal out of her fragile, often hasty and occasionally confusing relationships with men. It doesn’t deny it’s conflict either. The film is basically an introspective film on the struggles that we all face and how to tackle them. The film addresses several topics such as parents’ separation, the social stigma of seeing a therapist and problems associated with dating and multiple relationships. These are issues that are generally frowned upon and not well accepted in Indian society. The film does a nice job in presenting these issues in a relatable manner which makes viewers sympathize with all the characters, even the divorced parents. Another admirable thing about the film is that the film doesn’t take sides. It doesn’t tell you Kaira is a wronged, heartbroken woman. It doesn’t tell you the men in her life are evil. It just tells you Kaira is a messed-up person, just like anyone else.

The film’s absolute winner is Shinde’s writing. Her conversations are directly translated from everyday life, the way her debut film English Vinglish’s was. Shinde refrains from waxing lyrical about the power of love and doesn’t insert deliberate punch lines to earn brownie points. And that’s where the genius lies. She also insists that seeing a shrink isn’t something out of the ordinary. Another thing worth applauding here is the fact that while the extremely sensitive topic of mental health among yuppies is addressed, and delved into, the film makes sure not to get too preachy with it, and the issue is handled maturely and with absolute restraint. Gauri Shinde, except for a few overtly dramatic Paulo Coelho-esque dialogues here and there, never loses sight of the fact that this a film about real people. Who can be nasty, self consumed, unfaithful, petulantly demanding, yet vulnerable, loving, pining for attention and affection. The proof of it is how the film’s music exists in the film in the most non-intrusive manner possible. Unlike other films, you don’t have to sit back and tell yourself, “Eh, Song time.” The songs waft in and out, without breaking up the narrative of the film. There were no real flaws that stuck out to me, besides maybe the ending needing to be just a little bit tighter. This film is not really what is considered “mainstream”, and one gets the feeling that this type of film falls under the genre of cinema that used to be made back in the 70s, a welcome change from the masala Hindi films that one sees today. Talking about the performances, it is Alia Bhatt‘s show all the way. At such a young age, she is showing the maturity a performer shows after 30. This film rest solely on her shoulders, and she delivers in each and every scene and with each expression. She is completely believable as a normal, every day young woman going through the journey of life. One particular sequence, where she bursts out against her parents, is incredibly done. She definitely deserves an award for outstanding contribution to the film. Shah Rukh Khan yet again shows us why he is known as the King of Bollywood. Unlike some Bollywood superstars he doesn’t make a big deal about his ‘workmanship’, his ‘perfection-ism’ or his ‘tremendous’ fan following irrespective of the quality of their film. He simply is perfect. This film is yet another example of SRK‘s unmatched ability to thoroughly inhabit a character to become that character to such an extent that, for the time you are watching him, you cannot imagine he is anyone else. All of the supporting actors, Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi, the actors playing Alia’s parents, uncle & aunt, and the talented people playing Alia’s friends are superb. Aditiya Roy Kapoor is likable in a cameo. On the whole, ‘Dear Zindagi’ is not your conventional feel-good weekend watch but a moving and very true to life outrageous stunner of a film, while also being a showcase for some fine performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt.