Jude Anthany Joseph's third feature, after Ohm Shanti Oshana and Oru Muthassi Gadha, released on Prime Video at midnight today. This seemingly feel-good film, also seemingly made in limited spaces and with a shoestring budget, tackles a concept and issue never tested before in Malayalam cinema circles. In Sara'S, we follow the life of Sara Vincent (Anna Ben), a young, bubbly, yet unapologetic filmmaker who struggles to make it big in the industry. She continuously assists male directors and is in the scripting works of her dream film. Sara has decided, from her school days, that she would not bear any kids. This is when she meets Jeevan (Sunny Wayne); her relationship with him subsequently brings her ideology and decision into a confrontation with the established norms of society, family and child-rearing. Anna Ben in Sara'S The best aspect in which Sara'S has excelled, without doubt, is its hard-hitting taut script. Debutant Akshay Hareesh deserves praise for managin
Dil Bechara, Sushant Singh Rajput's final screen outing before his untimely demise last month, released yesterday on Disney+Hotstar. Directed by debutant Mukesh Chhabra and starring Rajput along with Sanjana Sanghi, Dil Bechara is the Indian adaptation of the popular John Green novel, The Fault in Our Stars, which had it's own Hollywood adaptation in 2014. Dil Bechara is currently streaming for free on Disney+Hotstar.
Like it's parent novel, Dil Bechara follows the life of Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi), a cancer patient, who falls in love with a cancer survivor, Manny (Rajput), who infuses in Kizie an infectious but joyful energy to "seize the moment" and to make the most of her life. Kizie meets Manny for the first time, as he effortlessly sways to the title track, a peppy urbane 'Dil Bechara' by A.R Rahman. Kizie and Manny bond over Kizie's infatuation and fascination over an incomplete song, penned and composed by a mysterious musician named Abhimanyu Veer, and Manny's love for Rajinikanth films (the characters even venture out to produce a Rajinikanth-style amateur film, of a hero saving a 'damsel-in-distress). They fall in love as they star as the leads in the flick and they chart a journey to Paris to meet Abhimanyu Veer, who turns out to be this psychopath, who becomes disillusioned with his incomplete, meaningless existence. Both of them are aware of their numbered days, but thanks to Manny's "carpe diem" attitude, Kizie finds purpose to live the rest of her life to her fullest.
What excited me most as I watched Dil Bechara was that it strives, and successfully at that, to remain a certain freshness in it's narrative. Scriptwriters Shashank Kaitan and Suprotim Sengupta surprise us with their intense and well-paced screenplay. Only in a few moments, specifically the plot points, does Dil Bechara remind us, faintly, that it is the adaptation of an English novel. Dil Bechara achieves to maintain that level of freshness, a freshness the Bollywood industry has tried and tested in it's romantic movies over the decades, yet Dil Bechara proves that it is here to stay for a while.
As I watched Dil Bechara, I couldn't help but ache at the fact that I was watching the swan song of Sushant Singh Rajput, a highly talented actor who exuded a rather magnetic charm in his screen outings. Rajput, in Dil Bechara, carries the same infectious charm as Manny, the boy-next-door figure who wants to make the most of his numbered days and put a smile on the people he love. But every time one watches Manny, it is almost impossible, under the present circumstances, to not think of the actor Rajput, whose unexpected departure is something fans and Bollywood aficionados are still coming to terms with. I also couldn't help but notice how in many instances, Sushant reminded us of the old-school Shah Rukh Khan, who often emitted the die-hard, hopeless romantic vibe in his early films. Sushant really had a stellar future ahead of him, if not for the unprecedented tragedy.
Sanjana Sanghi delivers a stunning performance in her debut lead role, and does her best to bring a lovable level of Kizie-ness on to the screen. Sanghi makes a promising start in Dil Bechara, with her innocent smiles, the hopeless romantic grins, in the beginning of the film, when she reminisces about Manny, and the emotional tear-jerker scenes where she ponders over the looming demise of her lover. The Fault in Our Stars, the Hollywood adaptation of the John Green novel, was an engaging watch because of the lively performances of Shailene Woodley (who really deserved an Oscar nod) and Ansel Elgort. Both our leads in Dil Bechara succeed in emulating that same level of liveliness and freshness on to the screen, and even though we know how their relationship will pan out, we are helplessly pulled into their little world, lightened by their cheerful and adorable on-screen chemistry. There is also the very likable Sahil Vaid, who portrays the glaucoma-affected yet delightful JP, who sticks with Manny through all adversities. Swastika Mukherjee and Saswata Chatterjee play Kizie's parents, and they are effective in conveying the emotions of a caring parents, who simply wouldn't let their daughter's state wreck their happiness. Chatterjee's portrayal of Kizie's father was, in many scenes, simply spot-on.
The music by A.R Rahman is nothing short of a treat to the ears. Let it the foot-tapping title track, complimented by Farah Khan's likable choreography, the mellifluous 'Taare Gin', and the Paris-set 'Khulke Jeene Ka', Rahman's soundtrack becomes an icing on this film, that wants you to let out as many emotions as you can. The background score, despite hitting bullseye in several key moments, tends to flounder in some important junctures, such as the lead pair's encounter with Abhimanyu Veer, where the score just pans out as off-beat. The cinematography also warrants applause; I have never seen the steel-producing industrial Jamshedpur in such a buoyant lighting, whereas the Paris-set visuals were commendable yet forgetful, if not for the fast-paced editing in the sequences. It seemed that the scriptwriters could have capitalized more on such scenes and plot points, rather than simply portraying them as mere events. Maybe this is where Dil Bechara differs from it's Hollywood counterpart. However, the effort to conclude a Bollywood movie, that too a romantic tale of saudade, into a 100 minutes is simply laudable and on-target as well.
In the end, Dil Bechara plays out like an ode to the legacy of the budding actor, whose exuberance and talent shone in his noteworthy performances. Many of the dialogues and scenes bear a stark similarity to the present circumstance, a situation where the loss of a brilliant actor, and moreover an inspiring human being, has left a void in the cinema landscape. In the plethora of references to death, dying and departure, we are constantly reminded of how this ironically resonates with the tragic manner in which the life of this artist ended. There's a moment in Dil Bechara where Manny, as he chokes back his tears, says, "Can we pretend that I am not dying..." I was left speechless.
Sushant, you will be missed...
Dil Bechara is, after all, a tribute to the memory of Sushant Singh Rajput, a talented actor who left us a bit too early. His swan song is illuminated by the emotionally captivating and mention-worthy performances of it's leads, who shine in a film that maintains a certain level of freshness, even as it is labeled as an adaptation of a young adult novel. The performances succeed in compensating for the minor drawbacks of it's narrative, whereas A.R Rahman's impressive soundtrack is apt in accentuating the varying emotions in the film. Dil Bechara, in the end, will tear up the eyes of many of it's viewers, and that is where the efforts of the makers of the film stand victorious and the legacy of the actor is honored.
Run time: 101 minutes
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