DUM LAGA KE HAISHA - MOVIE REVIEW

Cinema is essentially a medium to portray an artist’s thoughts with the use of motion pictures. And the thoughts could either be radical or the simple ones, the little moments of the daily life; which fail to get noticed due to their regularity.

So accordingly there are stories that sway you into zones of wilderness and happiness, actors that perform as if they were born to play that role and then there are moments, which if captured can literally melt your hearts and involve you, for these are the moments which are relatable and hence the connect of relativeness clicks and it clicks well.  

Dum Laga Ke Haisha, produced by YRF is also the studio’s best offering since many years now. Far from the glitzy and the flossy love stories which meander too much without any substance, DLKH has its heart in the right place. The film remains true to every emotion that it wanted every scene to generate. And for a love story, that is half the battle won.

The script for once beamed with novelty, the writing sparkled with freshness and the result turned out to be some of the most heart warming visuals on celluloid.

The screenplay never for once meandered along wayward lines but it left a lot of scope for myriad emotions to develop as a result of any particular scene and that essentially was the beauty of the film. It left the window open for the audience to develop their emotion towards a particular event in the film and not be restricted to what was being portrayed.

The cinematographer, to me, performed the real magic for this film to be what it is. The lens brought out Rishikesh on the 70mm curtain, the locals, their antics, their values and themselves. A lot of credit must also be given to the casting director. Almost the entire team of Aakhon Dekhi (one of the most beautiful films I have seen) appears as the supporting cast, right from Sanjay Mishra to Seema Pahwa. With such a bunch of actors and an honest story, you seldom go wrong, and DLKH does not.

As much as DLKH is about accepting and acknowledging one’s own shortcomings, it is also about learning to live with what you have got for there is nothing which can be achieved in totality. There is always that tad bit left out.

Aayushman Khurana (Prem) is brutally honest with his performance. To me he is a highly underrated actor. There are scenes in which he outshines even 7 people in a frame, all mouthing dialogues. He renders the emotions of fear, sadness, confusion, angst, ignorance and pain with much ease. His transition from the high headed boy to the man, who has practically nothing to justify his high headedness, is portrayed through one beautiful scene. The scene where he finally accepts the truth of his life is extremely well enacted.

Sanjay Mishra and Seema Pahwa outshine a brilliant supporting cast with their own style of acting. Sanjay Mishra in particular is adorable as Aayushman’s father and his scenes with Aayushman evoke laughter.

But rest assured folks; Bhoomi Pednekar (Sandhya) is the real hero here. She performs with an infectious energy and carries a vibe throughout the film. Her straight forward character is a perfect counter to that of Aayushman’s and it is amazing to see the confidence with which she has lived this role. Her dreams and ambitions are a contrast to the life of Aayushman, dictated by his father all along. She sees nothing wrong with herself (which her husband does) despite being fat for she has genuine respect for the relation unlike Aayushman who was again dictated into getting married.

For a debutant actress to perform such range of emotions is no mean task and Bhoomi performs her part as a champion. Despite there being refreshing dialogues, a lot is said in through the silence between the lead pair. Take my vote already for Bhoomi Pednekar as the Best Actress this season.

The director set up his premise in the 90’s and manages to present it as is on the screen. Right from the script to the performances to the flow of the film, he seemed to be in total command and never for once let the film delve on loose ends for he left none. It did not appear to be a debut effort at all. But his biggest achievement lies in the fact that he managed to maintain a smile on the audiences faces for the entire duration of the film.

 You could not imagine a film in the 90’s decade in Bollywood without a Kumar Sanu song. The signature Lata Mangeshkar aalap which comes up along with the YRF logo got smartly replaced with that of Sanu’s, sufficient enough to transport the audience into the 90’s for his voice still has the ability to define the decade that the 90’s was.

All said and done, the message from the film is fairly a simple one but we being humans, skip out the simple part with much simplicity and maroon ourselves into finding simplicity again.

Marriage is but a cassette, the environment, a tape recorder.  There are ought to be glitches but a drop of glue here and there and a bit of patience and the will to make things work will surely bring a clumsy cassette back to life. The music will play, melodies will flow and the rhythm will come back. All it requires is an effort to understand the environment and fit into the groove.

Take your loved ones for this fine film. Learn to appreciate the other one and be aware of your short comings.

Life indeed is AS simple as it seems.

**4.5 STARS**