Befikre! Sure enough, Please don’t bother

This was the most Befiker direction by Aditya Chopra so far. Sure enough, the movie was made in 50 days and may have been scripted in 50 minutes?. So what goes right with this one, for a lot has gone really wrong! -Ranveer Singh and Vani Kapur have given their best performance relative to the lousy script and screenplay. I am hoping and praying that poor Vani didn’t go through the knife just for this movie, maybe to look a little French. Her hardwork really shows, the chiseled Abs, a solid screen presence and the incredible dancing, but girl what happen to your face?

The movie begins with a breakup of Dharam (Ranveer Singh) and Shyra (Vani Kapoor) who are in a live-in relationship and are unable to cohabitate due to massive differences in lifestyles. Now, the movie makes a few jumps in the flash backs as to how they met and etc. So Dharam is from Karol Bagh in Delhi, and comes to Paris to work in a “Indian Comedy Club” ..Ok I didn’t know that Paris had so many Indians minus the Indian tourists to need that but let us play along. If the plot was in London or New York , perhaps, it would have been a little believable but I guess YRF has done pushing enough tourism on that side anyways, so time for Paris now. Sure enough Shyra the female protagonist  is a tourist guide part time (a lot other things part time- whew!) and she takes us around Paris. So well both Dharam and Shyra bump into each other at a party and dance their way smoothly in a live-in relationship with care a damn (befikre) and lets dare attitude. Now, back to present day, the couple comes back together as friends after a year with a Mushy breakup Anniversary celebration. The drama  starts with the handsome, cultured, Oxford graduate Anay coming in to the picture, who is interested in marrying Shyra. All is well, but now Dharam and Shyra who are great friends are confused and the movie ends as you expect it, typical Indian way, so I am leaving it at that. I think the underlying idea of the movie was to show that relationships that start slow by building a friendship first, are stronger than the ones that are built on lust, but all is lost in over-dramatisation and unnecessary grandeur. So well Ranveer’s dialogue goes like apni toh lust story thi, love story nahi..something on those lines.

This movie could have been easily sponsored by some lingerie or Brief brand. Vani Kapoor has been a female Salman Khan,  getting her tops/shirts out in true style and Ranveer doing the same with his pants.  I wonder how this movie got a U/ A certification? I personally resent that .  It’s funny that how in a movie like Kahani 2 which is based on child sexual abuse, the subject matter is dealt with “like a bird and the bee talk” while here sexuality is just exaggerated without a purpose. Once again, NRI’s or Indian born abroad are portrayed literally people who are non-committal and confused, they are just different people- agreed, but not indifferent and insensitive. Also, I wonder what the deal about the movie ending in a church wedding, when neither the bride or the groom are Christian. So well go watch Paris and steamy kisses, if that works for you!.

Dear Zindagi about loving your life

A movie that was just not made for the sake of being a commercial success and I am so glad huge amount of risks taken with the story and concept,  for not everyone in the Indian Audience is going to really get this one and might even find this slow and rhetoric. I am now an even bigger fan of Gauri Shinde than I ever was, she has a subtle style of dealing with heavy subject matters and treating them with lightness and freshness that keeps the audience entertained as well bring to light some real life issues

The screenplay, art direction and cinematography are all brilliant and they really play along the plot (Goa) and mood of the characters. Alia Bhat is one engaging actress with immense potential, and \ all  Alia jokes are soon going to go out the window. She only seems to be growing as an actress and I really hope she continues to chose roles that challenge her.  Her styling for this movie is fantastic, a perfect combination of bohemian, artistic, elegant and young and she seems to have really worked for an extremely slim frame which makes her look way taller than she actually is.

Alia plays the character of Kaira, a young filmmaker  who has issues with her personal relationships and most importantly with  romantic relationships. Nothing seems to be going right and she loses sleep, which pushes her to reluctantly visit a therapist, Jehangir Khan / Jug (Played by Shahrukh Khan). The interaction between the two is weaved in to some witty/ funny dialogues and quotes rendered by SRK, whilst Kaira has her breakthroughs.  I know for sure that real life therapist's sessions are not so philosophical and  generic, but I guess this had to be made more entertaining and and less complex to connect with the audience . There are some real good generic takeaways for the audience and if you can relate to any of the situations that Kaira has been in, it does make sense  - "you do not have to go through difficulties to achieve something", "You do not have to face your fears unprepared", "you do not be afraid of being judged" and "you do not have to fit in to societal norms", "being true to yourself is the most important when you are in a relationship", "nobody is perfect" and "forgiveness is about loving yourself"

This movie breaks a lot of stereotypes, perhaps for the best, about seeking mental therapy or showing the female protagonist as someone who is out and about dating and dropping men.  Kunal, Aditya and Ali Zafar, just fill-in the story as Kaira's boyfriends and nothing more . I must add, watching an SRK movie with a friend who is a big fan was great fun and did she and a few others go Awww, so loud every time a dialogue was rendered in the cinema theatre, that kind of energy itself can work for the movie. I would recommend this movie to anyone who liked English Vinglish and who is not looking to be entertained by dance and songs. This movie could be pulled of as well as it has been, only because it has been written, scripted and directed by the same person.