Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre : Drama
Year : 2022
Running time : 2 hours 28 minutes
Director : Shakun Batra
Cast : Deepika Padukone, Sidhanth Chaturvedi, Ananya Pandey, Dhairya Karwa, Naseeruddin Shah, Rajat Kapoor
Kid rating : PG-17
From its trailer, Gehraiyaan reminded me of the 2004 American film Closer, which was about messy personal relationships – hard to watch and painful besides. I did not like Closer at all and was prepared to not like Gehraiyaan also. Ergo, low expectations. Surprisingly and thankfully unmet. I did like Gehraiyaan – it starts off as a love story – well kinda, but there are quite a few unexpected twists and turns which make up for the slow start.
Alisha or “Al” (Deepika Padukone) is in a relationship with long-time boyfriend Karan (Dhairya). One day, they meet up with Al’s wealthy cousin Tia (Ananya Pandey) and her wannabe-real-estate-mogul fiance Zain (Sidhanth). While Al, Tia and Karan have known each other since childhood, Zain is an unknown quantity. So when Zain attempts a light flirtation, Al doesn’t take him seriously. But Zain isn’t the type to take no for an answer . .
So, Gehraiyaan starts off a bit slow. 2 couples, very much in love. All hunky-dory. Of course, then – and we are all waiting for it – deception, betrayal. And more. There are also little parallel sub-stories running through – there’s a reason Al and Tia are almost estranged, and a murky past is hinted at. Then there is Al’s thorny relationship with her father (played by the amazing Naseeruddin Shah) and her personal fear of being “stuck” in her life, like her mother was.
Some interesting characterization and casting here. The 4 main leads are believably sketched. Al is our lovely, leggy yoga teacher, paying the bills so struggling writer Karan can hurry up and get his book published. Karan, the writer, has quit his “soul-sucking” day job, and is prone to making self-deprecating jokes about his penury when faced with cousin Tia’s wealth. Then there is poor little rich girl Tia, very much in love with her fiance Zain. And lastly, there is ambitious Zain, who’s trying really, really hard to make it big.
Deepika as Al is quite good. She is a fine actress and has the face for these kinds of roles (remember Tamasha?); even when she smiles there is an undercurrent of sadness. I am quite impressed with Ananya Panday here, although (and am being quite uncharitable here) this role couldn’t have been too taxing – a rich young woman wafting around yachts and expensive homes muttering about caterers who’ve gotten the wrong cheese! Ananya speaks her Hindi like a foreign language, light and breathy, tentative and accented, and that’s sort of her character in the film. Tia is a supportive wallflower, and there is only one scene where she exhibits anything stronger than concern for fiance dearest. I wouldn’t nominate Ananya for any awards just yet, but she’s beginning to show promise.
Sidhanth, who started the year with the disastrous Bunty Aur Babli 2, does well here! I couldn’t quite see why Zain did what he did, but Sachin nailed the character, conflicts and all! Zain is an arrogant go-getter, so there is an air of pomposity in Sidhanth’s gait. There are a few scenes in the film though where the mask of hauteur slips and we see the sincere, down-to-earth young man from Gully Boy – a look that suits him so much better!
A film like Gehraiyaan, so dependent upon the minute change of emotions between four intimately involved people, can go off the rails if the director doesn’t quite know what he’s doing. Thankfully with Shakun Batra that is not the case! Batra builds his character giving them enough emotional leeway to keep us interested in their lives. I have to say though that Gehraiyaan worked for me mainly because of Al’s character since we see her struggle and her vulnerablilities. The other three leads remain distant. We see what they do, but we can’t get a good look inside – so there’s less sympathy for their predicaments.
Gehraiyaan works. Yes, it could have been better, had Batra given all his characters the TLC he gave Al. Then our sympathies might have been split, and given us some real heartburn and a far better film. As is though, Gehraiyaan does pass muster – tumultuous and entertaining, with an adequate sense of closure. All’s well that ends well.
Go forth and watch!
Kidwise: Lot’s of love-making scenes featuring adults in various stages of undress, although nothing explicit is shown.
