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Release date- 25th November 2016 One Word which describes the film- Exaggerated Best Dialogue- "Life mai jab koyi pattern ya adat bante hue dikhayi de to uske baare mai acche se sochna chahiye. Genius is about knowing when to stop." Genre- Drama Music- Amit Trivedi Producer- Gauri Khan, Gauri Shinde, Karan Johar
Story & Direction- Gauri Shinde Cast- Alia Bhatt, Shahrukh Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi Budget- 45 Crores including P&A
After watching Dear Zindagi, I read some reviews of famous critics which made me wonder that did they see the same film as us. Whereas most of the people with us were getting restless about how the film went on and on and how some even walked out after interval, the critics couldn't stop talking about how handsome and down to earth SRK looked as Jahangir Khan, or how the film has easily recovered it's production cost cause of it's low budget and selling of distribution rights to a single company.
An average movie goer has no interest in knowing about the economics of a film. He/she is only interested in the entertainment, informational or motivational value of the film.
Gauri Shinde made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed (2012). In her next film Dear Zindagi she tells about Kiara who is having problems in her life and so she decides to visit a 'dimaag ka doctor'. If this visit to a shrink was just an episode in the film as was in '2 States' where Arjun Kapoor because of the complexities of his relationships couldn't sleep, the film could have been interesting. Sadly Dear Zindagi is 75% about the long conversations between Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and how he makes her come to terms with her life, which almost everyone in the audience found too monotonous and boring.
There are three heroes in the films but instead of playing any significant roles they just come in 2-3 scenes and then disappear.
Then we have SRK playing the role of a psychiatrist who tells his patient that boyfriends are like chairs which is such a silly thought but is absolutely loved by the patient. Anyone who watches Koffee with Karan will agree that SRK is a smooth talker and he says everything with such sincerity that not only we believe it, we love listening to him too. But that's in a talk show. In a film we expect him to play a larger than life character, a lover, a father, a hockey coach or even his own fan.
Alia Bhatt is an excellent actress and she has perfectly portrayed the role of a confused girl. She is a natural performer but if she wants to be a part of the big league she has to do more main stream roles like Anushka Sharma or Deepika Padukone.
The film's basic problem is the lack of a proper story. It's more of a set of incidents where we sometimes see Kiara partying with her friends in a disco, or shouting at her parents, or flirting with any guy who hits on her. These scenes make her character look like a shallow girl than depressed.
There are some moments like when a talk between the protagonist and her doctor inspire us on how we must leave some memories for our kids or how we shouldn't let our past effect out future but they are so few that after an hour we couldn't wait for the film to finish.
The film is shot mostly in Goa and though there is lot of scenic beauty we wish that the director has worked a little more on the story too. The film was released in 1200 screens and because of Shahrukh Khan managed to earn 8.75 Crores on it first day which is quite good.
In a line, with talented actors like Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and no budget restraints, the director could have made a much better film which was high on entertainment quotient too. Time-pass.
