Cast: Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Ira Dubey, Yashaswini Dayama, Rohit Saraf, Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi, Aditya Roy Kapur
Banner: Dharma Productions, RedChillies Entertainment, Hope Productions
Music: Amit Trivedi
Cinematography: Laxman Utekar
Editor: Hemanti Sarkar
Producers: Gauri Khan, Karan Johar & Gauri Shinde
Writer-Director: Gauri Shinde
It’s like playing Kabaddi with the tides – fun/boring…up to you!
Dear Zindagi Plot:
Kaira (Ali Bhatt) is a young talented independent cinematographer with a bunch of best buddies around, complaints over parents living in Goa and a troubled love life. Frustrated Kaira is compelled to shift to her hometown Goa against to her will and wish. And exactly when Kaira falters to deal with her life, she meets her therapist Dr. Jahengir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan). How did Dr. Khan help Kaira face her childhood trauma and deal with the present forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Alia Bhatt: She is the first out of the three reasons why you should watch the film. She just lived the character ‘Kaira’ like none and we should say that! It would not be fair to pick one scene but Alia just brought ‘Kaira’ alive onto the screen just proving once again why she is the finest actress out in the industry today.
Shah Rukh Khan: He steps into the film at the right time and SRK was as usually at his best. But again, this is the story of Kaira and her inspiration Jahengir Khan and the King Khan keeps it at that. A worthy supporting role and there could be no better choice than Mr Shah Rukh Khan.
The rest of the cast including Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi, Yashwasini Dayama, Ira Dubey and others actually play some significant roles with a character.
Analysis:
Relationships and breakups are timeless topics and indeed fodder for mainstream cinema. But Dear Zindagi is not only about those ‘romantic relationships’ but relationship with one-self. This Gauri Shinde film tries to talk about ‘art of living’ (if we can call in simpler terms) via Kaira – an independent working woman with an inner conflict. And Gauri Shinde makes it yet another worth mentioning film in her filmography.
The way she emphasizes on ‘small-things-in-life-always-matter’ philosophy in her films is commendable. Even in Dear Zindagi movie, Shinde leaves a comment on topics like typecasting over women (or “fast” woman as popular in society) and how it affects a girl’s POV at the same time. Right from characterization to execution, Gauri puts her signature and this time conversations rule the stage (and even at the cost of the narrative’s momentum sometimes).
It is the characterization and performances of Alia (outstanding) & SRK, the fun between them that keep you engaged throughout the film. Besides Alia & SRK, the intent of the film marks the third one out of the three reasons why you should watch Dear Zindagi.
Yes, the second half gets dreary with the long, “deep” conversations and the way Kaira’s life gets better. It can really get onto the nerves of those who don’t connect to her. Unlike English-Vinglish, Dear Zindagi movie is all about an individualistic perspective and conflict that eventually fails to be a memorable slice-of-the-life movie.
Merits:
- Performances of Alia, SRK & other supporting cast.
- Story with strong characterization.
- Music and background score
- Cinematography
De-merits:
- Screenplay
- Long conversations may be costing
Analysis:
Relationships and breakups are timeless topics and indeed fodder for mainstream cinema. But Dear Zindagi is not only about those ‘romantic relationships’ but relationship with one-self. This Gauri Shinde film tries to talk about ‘art of living’ (if we can call in simpler terms) via Kaira – an independent working woman with an inner conflict. And Gauri Shinde makes it yet another worth mentioning film in her filmography.
The way she emphasizes on ‘small-things-in-life-always-matter’ philosophy in her films is commendable. Even in Dear Zindagi movie, Shinde leaves a comment on topics like typecasting over women (or “fast” woman as popular in society) and how it affects a girl’s POV at the same time. Right from characterization to execution, Gauri puts her signature and this time conversations rule the stage (and even at the cost of the narrative’s momentum sometimes).
It is the characterization and performances of Alia (outstanding) & SRK, the fun between them that keep you engaged throughout the film. Besides Alia & SRK, the intent of the film marks the third one out of the three reasons why you should watch Dear Zindagi.
Yes, the second half gets dreary with the long, “deep” conversations and the way Kaira’s life gets better. It can really get onto the nerves of those who don’t connect to her. Unlike English-Vinglish, Dear Zindagi movie is all about an individualistic perspective and conflict that eventually fails to be a memorable slice-of-the-life movie.
Merits:
- Performances of Alia, SRK & other supporting cast.
- Story with strong characterization.
- Music and background score
- Cinematography
De-merits:
- Screenplay
- Long conversations may be costing
Music:
Amit Trivedi’s music and background score goes in sync with the mood and feel-good-about-life message of the film.
Others:
Special appearance of ‘lover boy’ Aditya Roy Kapur is a delight.
Dear Zindagi Verdict:
Dear Zindagi is a heartening film with impeccable performances (& lots of dialogues too). If you’ve an itch for a soul-searching film this weekend, this is it!
Dear Zindagi is a heartening film with impeccable performances (& lots of dialogues too). If you’ve an itch for a soul-searching film this weekend, this is it!
