Dear Zindagi Review and BO thread - DT Note P 60 - Page 25

#DearZindagi is made even more special because of @aliaa08 one the finest actors iv seen.The last time I admired someone so much was Tabu :)

By Aniruddha Guha, Friday, 25 Nov 2016

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In Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', Shah Rukh Khan consoled "Lajo" - the mother of the woman he was in love with - with a simple lesson imparted to him by his parents. "Life will always throw you two options - the simple one and the tough one. The simple one will give you joy and many comforts at first, but eventually life won't be a bed of roses. The tough route, if taken, may present challenges at first, but there will be sweet victory in the end."

I was reminded of this line, delivered by Khan with his trademark emotion-laden voice that endeared him to audiences as a young star, while watching a much older, graceful Khan impart a similar lesson to Kiara (Alia Bhatt), a girl who seeks his counsel.

"Sometimes, the simple route is the best route."

Director Gauri Shinde, who reintroduced Sridevi to audiences in her fine debut film, English Vinglish', presents audiences with another delectable opportunity of watching Khan perform a "character", rather than a stereotype. Earlier in the year, Khan reminded us that there was still an actor hidden inside him that hadn't found an outlet for years in Maneesh Sharma's Fan'. The film turned out to be a box-office dud, but Khan's resurgence as a performer signalled good times.

In Dear Zindagi', where Khan plays a therapist called Jehangir Khan, you really get a sense of the actor's ability to infuse life in a character. His isn't the most important role in the narrative - Kiara is the sole protagonist here - and he's seen only in a handful of scenes peppered throughout the film. But so significant is his screen presence, so measured his portrayal, and so well-intentioned the approach, he makes more impact here than he did in many recent star-vehicles. If this is the "Khan" we'll be seeing in future, may the force be with him.

Dharma Productions

Squaring up against the veteran (Khan having rightly earned the honour to be addressed so) is Alia Bhatt. In a span of only 4 years, Bhatt's rise as an actor and star has been pleasant to witness, with top-notch performances in films like Highway', Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania' and Udta Punjab'. Bhatt's portrayal as Kiara, who carries her baggage around with her (literally and figuratively), is pitch-perfect, and her ability to switch between various moods something worthy of being marvelled at. Her character unravels through the course of the film, as if Shinde wanted fractions of her personality to show themselves over time. In a scene where the whole picture finally emerges and Kiara lets herself go, Bhatt comes all guns blazing, ensuring her outburst - even though reminiscent of similar breakdowns in Highway' and Udta Punjab' - remains unique to Kiara.

With two leads with disparate acting styles, and yet so beautifully complementing each other, Shinde had half her battle won. With her first film, she's already shown how adept she's at extracting hidden facets about her characters and masking them in an aura of charming mundaneness. You see glimpses of that in Dear Zindagi' too. She also makes all the politically correct noises once again, like how normal it is to seek help for mental health problems (finding even more credibility by virtue of being communicated through Khan), and a commentary on the subtle, inherent sexism that ails most Indian households. There are some other intelligent insights, like how being romantically involved with several people over the course of a lifetime isn't just acceptable, but even necessary, and Shinde uses the smallest props - like a creaking chair and an alarm clock in the therapist's office - beautifully for dramatic effect.

Yet, Shinde's script isn't consistently engaging, and smart dialogues often make way for verbose conversations. There seems to be a concerted effort to lend the lines weight while retaining their ordinariness, and that shows. A lot of the scenes are shot in the same, closed spaces (a production handicap), but given the length of the story, they begin to gnaw at you after a while, accentuating the sense of repetitiveness the script already exudes.

Dharma Productions

Kiara's limited luck in romantic relationships is well-established in the initial portions (where Kunal Kapoor deftly plays the heartbreaker who sends Kiara's life into a tizzy), but the entry of a new paramour in the second half (Ali Zafar) slows down the already-trudging drama. The hammy Zafar seems to have received a different memo from all the other actors - he treats every scene like it's an audition for a Shakespeare play.

The product placement of E-Bay is a horrid one, slightly troubling in the initial scenes, but majorly annoying when it springs up in an otherwise beautiful montage that shows Kiara's progress post-therapy. In one of this year's worst films - R Balki's Ki & Ka' - similar product placements showed up in the most inorganic ways, but there the dishonesty in storytelling was consistent with the flawed portrayal a "progressive" marriage. In a film like Dear Zindagi', though, where the intentions seem nobler and the storytelling heftier, the "Balkinisation" only sullies the cinematic experience.

As director, Shinde makes a mark in all the moments that matter - the film's emotional thrust lies in the last 20-odd minutes, and they leave you moist-eyed and smiling. There are enough heartwarming moments, and two of the best performances you'll see in a film this year, to warrant a watch.

Dear Zindagi' would have truly left an indelible mark if Shinde had listened to her own voice of reason. The simple route, really, is the best route sometimes.

Photo: Dharma Productions (Main Image)

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