Dear Zindagi...

Hi Reader Friends,

Greetings!

Last week I watched the Bollywood movie "Dear Zindagi" starring Alia Bhatt and Shahrukh Khan and directed by Gauri Shinde. It was released late last year itself but I couldn't watch it soon after it was released. After reading reviews in media and hearing the comments from the friends who had seen the movie I was thinking I should watch this movie. Since it was already out of multiplexes I had no choice but to wait for it to come on TV (I don't download any movies from the internet). Last week it was aired on a movie channel and hence I got my chance and I grabbed it.

Getting directly to my opinion, I liked the movie a lot! The story is simple, can be related to the present times and changing value system. It is about a girl named Kaira in her early twenties facing problems in committing to her relationships with her boyfriends (one after other) due to her love starved childhood. She has just begun her career as a cinematographer and is tensed, anxious and not getting sleep at night. During a shoot in one of the hotels in her hometown in Goa, she watches a psychologist named Dr. Zehangir Khan delivering in a seminar. She gets impressed and bumps into his house the very next day. How the conversation develops between the therapist and the patient, and how the former treats his patient slowly, steadily, step and step and finally helps her come out of her problem form the rest of the story. The best part of the movie are the conversations between Khan and Alia, very candid, straight forward but still matured enough to touch the hearts of anyone who is facing similar kind of issues. I can easily say it has been a commendable effort from the writer, director Gauri Shinde to deal such a topic with very ease without creating any extra drama. The performance of Alia stands out and it shows how fast she is evolving into a great actress. Shahrukh Khan has given a wonderful performance without any of his usual mannerisms.

Coming to my liking towards this movie, I feel I can relate to it in many ways. I had longed for a perfect romantic relationship of my choice but the film taught me that why should I put stress on one relationship when I can go for a coffee with someone, I can go to play a sport with someone, I can have a long walk with someone and that someone can be anyone among parents, spouse, siblings, relatives, friends. What is important is I should feel comfortable and the moments spent are enjoyable. Also the conversation between the two protagonists in the movie made me nostalgic as I too had the privilege of the company of a friend who is a decade younger to me. Though I was not a therapist and she was not a patient :) but the similarity was - we had gelled well as friends, we used to meet occasionally over dinner and discuss about lot of things and share many things about each other's life. The discussions used to be very friendly and candid but we never used to cross the lines of friendship. I keep remembering those times spent with her and I can say that was one of the good relationships I had. The film reinforced my thinking that though we may not have undergone the ideal or best of situations we long for, still we can make our lives better by creating small but meaningful situations/relationships for ourselves without disturbing our nearest surrounding environment.

After watching the movie I felt I should write something about it as I felt good. Off late I am using Facebook for writing movie reviews and my opinions on current affair. But I felt this writing is a bit too personal to share on social media, hence thought of putting it this forum.

"Love you Zindagi...
Love me Zindagi..."

Thanks for reading,

With Regards,
Chetan