Dear Zindagi - Review

"Do not allow your past to blackmail your present and ruin your future", says Dr.Jehangir Khan, a brain doctor / therapist which is the character that Shahrukh Khan plays in Dear Zindagi, the second feature film of Gauri Shinde. This movie asks us to say Hi to life as there are many inspiring words that tries to create a positive vibe throughout and succeeds. Dear Zindagi is a refreshing film, a beautiful one that makes you laugh and also cry towards the end, it is emotionally touching and makes you think to drive our life in the right way through the right path.

Life is a scrambled puzzle and someone like a therapist can pick the missing pieces of ones life and join it together and guide our life in the right direction. Thats what Dr.Jehangir Khan does to Kaira's life, the young protagonist in Dear Zindagi who is going through a rough patch not in her profession but in her attitude towards life. Kaira is a promising cinematographer trying to build a career in this field but her troubled childhood is casting a huge influence in her present life. She is sad, depressed and sleepless and the film show how she recover from that phase to a new one with the help of an individual who is curiously a brain doctor.

Shinde's movie is woven with little and precious moments blended with thought-provoking dialogues. At times the movie makes you laugh, then it makes you cry and sometimes it preaches, preaching in the right way and sometimes you are emotionally drained in the whole drama. The dimaag kaa doctor theory is a nice concept in reel and real life. If we need to remove our inner fears and anxieties from minds and if someone can help overcome those, then what is showcased in here calls for a serious look.

Though the film runs close to two and a half hours at a snail pace, there is steady flow without that element of boredom and that is a big plus for a movie like this which can go into a shell affecting the flow. Still a two hour movie for this theme would have been an ideal proposition. All the beautiful moments has something in it as takeaways for the audience and at the same time they have valid message in the whole scheme of things.

Both in English Vinglish and Dear Zindagi, the two movies directed by Gauri Shinde has the prime focus on two females but the comparison just ends there. The approach and the intention of both the films are poles apart but both of them successfully passes good and valid messages.

On the performance side, this one is ought to be the best of Alia Bhatt. She is on top of her acting and ensured that a connecting link is established between her character and the audience. That final scene with SRK which was the final session of the therapy that Kaira was undergoing with Dr. Jehangir was a class act in an overall brilliant acting in the movie. There are many other scenes where she has gone one step ahead of the script which was fully visible in each and every moment.

Now coming to SRK, well what should I say. It was a different Shahrukh we are witnessing to who has shed all his superstar image and perfectly fitted into the shoe of the dimaag kaa Doctor role. All the supporting actors were also given ample space to perform. Be it Kunal Kapoor, Angad Bedi or Ali Zafar or for that matter the two friends of Kaira played by Ira Dubeh and Yashwasini Dayama are able to make their presence felt even with little roles.

Music was breezy, cool and peppy. All the songs matched the situations and were perfectly timed. It was not a heavy background score and the same was done as per the mood and situations. Cinematography was done effectively and edits were fine.

Overall, Dear Zindagi is fine piece of work and it establishes Gauri Shinde as someone who could be trusted and relied upon with a second successful film that has every right in to be called a beautiful film sans any mass masala elements that one would normally witness in a superstar film.

Rating - 3.5 /5