Gin and Toxic
‘Gehraiyaan’, just like the name suggests plays with the depths of human emotions like no film has ever done in recent past. ‘Kapoor and Sons’ was my 500th movie review and probably one of the best, if not the best movie which I watched in that Corona period. No movie has ever been done so well in a “Bollywoodish” way. It’s very much Bollywood and that’s the beauty of it. So, I was naturally intrigued to watch ‘Gehraiyaan’. No matter how many bad reviews were there, my temptation to watch the movie never went down. Still it was a shocker…
I remember watching ‘The Descendants’ in theatre. It was an Oscar season and Escape had been newly opened. I wanted to catch up as many Oscar movies as possible in that season. The least likely film to win the Oscar, first. In that way I ended up watching ‘The Descendants’. Alexander Payne is a really heavy director. He infuses pain, like no other, just in a subtle way. The beauty about ‘The Descendants’ was that it was very American and unapologetically so and more so, without wanting to prove a point. Maybe it didn’t effectively work for me because I couldn’t understand the culture, but ‘Gehraiyaan’ was an answer to it. How strong the movie was and how well it suits the generation where people aren’t showcased stupid.
The movie was haunting right from the word go, as ravishing as Deepika might look, we know something is wrong when we struggle to focus on her beauty. The music or the lack of it affects our mood too. The constant sound of waves tries to soothe us but its only on the surface level, it pushes us into hopelessness even before that. I think no other actor would have understood Alisha like Deepika did. There are films which people elevate and exceed the director’s expectation. Just like how Kangana did in ‘Queen’, I’m sure Deepika would have flattered Shakun with her acting. Not only him but also his costars. I feel she’d have been the centrifugal force for the other actors to get in mood.
She could be as great as she was, may be because of her personal experience. If really, she had undergone something like that, how difficult it would have been for her to rekindle those memories and relive if for the movie. I remember Imitiaz Ali telling in an interview, that for heavy scenes he’d say cut before Deepika completely zones out, because he personally knows her and wouldn’t want her to get into it as he knows how difficult it would be for her to get her out of it. I can only feel for her, thinking about her experience for acting Gehraiyaan. One of the reviews had rightly commented that, “Deepika is an actor we won’t deserve”
In a county which is still coming to terms with subjects such as mental health and people thinking that rich people won’t undergo depression, this movie was such a revelation. Even though for a movie like ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ one tends to think that they were able to experience all of it due to money, here people’s thoughts wouldn’t even go to money. I don’t remember any movie using a Yacht as an object for depression. Yacht is always related to parties and al fun stuff. Here a lot of other emotions are experienced in Yacht. It’d one of the main prop of the movie.
The casting was perfect. Deepika as a yoga instructor was a dream. Siddhanth fresh from the success of ‘Gully Boy’, does a fabulous job as a confused person. Even though he’d be perceived as a villain for everything he does in the movie. Look how it was not all straightforward. He has a struggle of his own. Keeping aside the aspect of morality, think how much would be going in his mind too. The fluctuations were beautifully written. Hell, Shakun can make even Ananya act. And she was perfect for the movie. Dhairya Karwa didn’t have much to do. Probably the most straightforward person. And I love the touch of how there are writers in all of Shakun’s movies. He’s only made two, but I guess it’ll be his motif. Only confusing thing was, they all were shown as same age, which was weird.
Thanks to all bad reviews, I knew this movie was going to be personal for movie. I’d have hated to give a bad review for this movie. When I was watching in Prime, the first thing I noticed was the IMDB rating which showed as 5.9. Most of my personal films have been seven pointers. They’d be the best experience I’d have had. But noticing the low rating, I was happy that this movie could also have a scope like this.
The only thing I didn’t want to happen was showing Naseeruddin Shah as a good guy after projecting him as a bad guy throughout but even that was handled beautifully. I’d have still preferred him to have been hated by Alisha (Naseeruddin Shah) throughout, but I liked the twist. If that doesn’t work, the climax twist would really leave you with a chill… There are some movies which can totally spoil your mood and push you in that zone. If you don’t hate it, it’ll consume you. Just like how it did to me.
constantscribbles 