Movie Review – Gehraiyaan

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 500^th 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.

Movie Review – Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

A surprise rom com

Watched this movie as a prelude to ‘Kapoor & Sons’ as it was by the same director. I hadn’t known that its by Shakun Batra, until recent times. The movie wasn’t very interesting to really watch out far. I had seen the title song and it wasn’t really intriguing enough to make me think about the movie. And that too the film happened at a point where Imran Khan was the new cute guy in the block. Citing the obvious age difference, I expected it be another cliched young boy in love with an elder woman.

Thankfully nothing of that sort happened. In fact, the very mention of age doesn’t happen post the opening scene. We get to know the genre of the movie right away. The comedy is slapstick and it doesn’t really work. Kareena’s entry spoils it too. I’ve always found her to be someone who tries too hard to stay young but in spite of that, acts brilliantly for a commercial film. Imran on the other hand was meh.

The casting was perfect for a rom com. It works effortlessly and I like these unapologetically upper-class movie. No matter how much you’ve struggled if the struggle shows on the screen, it’s a strain for viewers. So, to see a happy positive rich movie first up was a breeze. Something like ‘Wake Up Sid’, even though he couldn’t go to Ayan Mukherjee level.

Rahul, sorry Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) is a son of high-class family who works as an architect in one of the top firms in Vegas. Being a typical ‘3 Idiots’ kind of people they don’t want him to be in one of the top firms but be in the top most firm. So, he struggles to get there but unfortunately loses his job. Riana Braganza (Kareena Kapoor) – what a lovely name – on the other hand is a carefree woman who bumps on to Rahul. Together they hit it off really well and Rahul becomes a kind of happy man.

The part where he starts loving Riana and the ‘love you as a friend’ story post that doesn’t really work. It becomes a forced conclusion for a movie which was going so well. Also, the crass jokes with his father’s upper-class friend too doesn’t really go well. Apart from these little mistakes the film is solid.

Riana’s family were superb, Rahul as an average man does a good job but only when he wants to excel, he falters. Boman Irani even though has such little screen space does a fabulous job, the scene where he ties his tie is close enough to a murder sequence. Imran gets one last chance to show his acting powers in the dining table scene but screws it up big time. I couldn’t help but compare it with Alia Bhatt in ‘Dear Zindagi’ or any film for that matter. Even though the scenes like these looks like a compulsive one in movie the way she performs is damn impressive. Imran couldn’t give that much impact to the scene.

But the good thing about the movie is it doesn’t conclude like other rom coms where either they unite or separate. Here they two remain friends. As cliched as it may sound, it’s the kind of film which needed an ending like this. This makes the film work, to let it free.