Gehraiyaan: Good movie to watch on an OTT platform

Hyderabad: There is gloss aplenty out there. The greenery on the golf course, don’t forget, has the holes. Aim and shoulder have to work in tandem, and oh yes, the caddie must be friendly. Life, however, is not a golf course and so it is with Gehraiyaan.

Sensitively written, intelligently executed, tediously told, 20 minutes at the chopping desk would do the movie wonders. It is a misfortune, even if it is just an artistic call that our style of cinema expends crucial time and space in establishing straitjacket characters. Today, life is not a linear quotient. Without condescend, a contemporary sociological report would point to a ‘liberal’ world lives a more transparent, demanding and a carefree life. What hitherto was tucked in the cupboards is now out in the open. The clichéd message that we have moved from hiding our diary to exposing our social media page is reflective of the moral shift in our way of life. This is mirrored very well and with just the right emotive value in Gehraiyaan.

Alisha (Deepika Padukone) and Tia (Ananya Pandey) are paternal cousins. Unfortunately, their lifestyles are a contrast. Tia moves to the US and is educated there. She lives in affluence. Alisha is stuck with a past and two facets of the present: a fading relationship with Karan (Dhairya Karwa) with a writer’s block and the yappie Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi). While Zain is Tia’s fiancé, his relationship with Alisha begins from mild flirtation and moves on to a fierce emotional relationship. Not surprisingly the yoga instructor Alisha is pregnant. The timing could not get worse.

Even as the Alisha-Zain relationship threatens to go public, Zain is required to make some quick calls to keep his dying business in place. Alisha, who never wanted to get stuck in life, is not just stuck but is marooned. The one box she seemed to have ticked, namely, never to be like her mom who committed suicide, life pushes her to be a near failure.
For Deepika Padukone, as the sober elder sister time is sure running fast. There are moments in the film that clearly signal that this is the true coming of age Deepika.

She may take all the awards for her outings with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, but it is here that she is subtle, she is mature. Her ‘aajphirjeene ki tamannah’ moment is reminiscent of Waheeda Rehman fast forward to contemporary times. While Dhariya Karwa looks lost, there may be some justifications in his limited role. However, most other performances carry great conviction. Rajat Kapoor playing the business partner of Zain is suave and just what the doctor ordered. Ananya Pandey as the fizz filled romanticist is energetic and when she gets the emotional moments in the film, she is just as good.

The film however belongs to the dialogue writer. It is navigated with tremendous honesty by Siddhant Chaturvedi and Deepika Padukone. Torn between his romantic commitment and his emotional commitment, he shows not just understanding but tremendous maturity. Deepika Padukone is near Waheeda in poise, Deepti in sincerity and her own self in grace. This should be arguably her best to date. The credibility of the flow in the mismatched relationships built on commercial needs but shaken by emotive demands takes Gehraayian to the level of Bhatt-Dutt matrix. Yes, often it is filmy. It has the F word liberally thrown into the script just to reflect a contrived presence. Yet, it mirrors reality, and the actors lend the right flesh.

Good movie. Go for it on the OTT platform. Revisit that love is not all and that life can be compelling.

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