Before I start, let's get one thing out of the way. I don't like Bollywood movies in general. They rarely try to venture into making something innovative or daring. However, every once in awhile there comes a movie which tugs at your heartstrings in an unexpected manner and completely changes your perspective. And Dear Zindagi is one such movie. It's the practically the only hindi movie I've watched after Piku, which I liked immensely. And as before, Ashutosh Das & Ankit Sinha were the musketeers who coaxed me into watching this movie.
When we first meet her, the ostensibly sprightly Kaira (Alia), a cinematographer awaiting her big break in the movie industry, is grappling with the shifty men in her life. They simply cannot keep pace with her ticking mind and wavering heart. To add to her woes, Kaira has major issues with her parents who cannot figure out exactly what the girl is up to in Mumbai. At the end of her tether and unsettled by dire thoughts, Kaira turns to Dr. Jehangir Khan (Shah Rukh) for counselling. And what follows is a roller coaster of an emotional journey, which takes us through a perspective transformation.
The way I see it, this movie focuses on two major themes. First being the fact that mental illness isn't taken as seriously as physical illness. The stigma attached to mental illness is infuriatingly still alive and well. Negative stereotypes deeply affect those with mental health conditions and may even discourage them from getting proper medical treatment. This movie addresses a very sensitive topic in a mature manner. Kudos to Gauri Shinde for that, although I would expect nothing less from her after English Vinglish.
The second theme is more complicated to address. This movie urges all of us to love our imperfect, messy and flawed lives to the fullest. It shows us a glimpse of how to deal with different situations of life, relationships and the issues that bog us down from time to time.
I know a lot of my friends who are going through the same phase of life that Kiara goes through in the movie. Some have strained relationships with their partners and parents, some don't have their career figured out and so on. And my advice to them is this - It's OK. You are going to be OK. Society is going to tell you that you are not on track. And your family is going to worry. And people may give you funny looks and shake their heads and wonder what the heck you're doing. And you are going to start to worry too.
You will wonder desperately why you can't get things figured out. You may feel guilty, like somehow you have failed. And you will search frantically for a plan, something to cling to, something to make you feel as if you might have an idea where you are headed. You will resort to different measures. And eventually, somewhere in your search, you will realize, you are in love with your life. You are in love with every second of every minute of every day of it. You are in love with the challenges, with the new experiences, with learning new things, and you could not imagine settling for a life or a career that does not bring you the happiness you feel now. You won't have it all figured out yet, but you'll know what your life could be like. And you might not know exactly how, but things will work out in the end. I may have gone off on a tangent here, but this is what this movie is all about. An analogy that hit me hard was one drawn between a chair and a life-partner. SRK's character says that if we spend so much time in choosing a chair, how do we expect to get our life partner correct in the first go? Coming to think of it, that was an idea very well-thought out and executed.
The only thing better than the ideas at work in Dear Zindagi is the chemistry between Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan. Both actors’ performances are career best. Alia brings a likeable edge to her role. She may be confused but she’s not clueless. Fiercely independent and equally passionate her portrayal of Kiara is pure firebrand. The perfect complement to her is the cool as a cat psychologist played by SRK. This is the superstar’s best performance since Chak De! India. He’s not intense nor overtly dramatic. Instead he’s just the coolest guy with the most entertaining stories and wisdom beyond Chinese proverbs. SRK’s performance and character is pure cinematic zen.
Dear Zindagi is a lovely picture, made with finesse and heart, and one that not only takes some stigma off the idea of seeking therapy, but -- in the most natural of ways -- goes a long way in making a viewer think of the people who matter most. It floors you with its deliberate pacing, uncluttered simplicity and understated joie de vivre. It is that rare brand of cinema that makes you cry and laugh all at one go.
