Dear Zindagi

"Don't let your past blackmail your present to ruin a beautiful future."

Dear Zindagi is the best Hindi movie that I watched in recent times. The fact was that I expected it to be boring when I heard the synopsis first. I felt it would be another usual, silly, childish Bollywood rom-com. But I was interested to see what Gauri Shinde could bring on the table after being impressed with her previous movie, the effective English-Vinglish.

Dear Zindagi is the story of Kaira who has serious emotional issues with her love life. She's attracted to men and falls in love with them, but is afraid of commitment. Thus she's in and out of a string of relationships hurting herself and her clueless boyfriends. Her friends are perplexed and parents are confused and things hit rock-bottom when her professional life crumples in the process.

Jobless and homeless, she's forced to shift to Goa, her parent's place, whom she can't bear. There she decides to take professional help from Jehangir Khan, a psychologist. The crux of the story is how Khan helps her to piece the clues of her past together and makes her ready to face the life again.

The movie has a beautiful and important message- that our mind, just like our body is prone to diseases, both minor and major ones. Not attending to the minor issues can possibly lead to serious, chronic situations in future. Taking up professional help in such cases need not be a matter of embarrassment. This movie is about how childhood trauma can make a person unable to face the present realities and can make serious troubles in your and your loved one's lives. And how with proper help and support, it is possible to come out and make corrections before its too late. Let me quote from the movie

"Let's once try to bring down our parents from the high pedestals we've placed them and try to understand them as common people, like us, who are prone to making mistakes in life."

I would say we do it to everyone who is in a relationship with us and then our life can be better and more easy to live.

Alia Bhatt effortlessly transform herself into Kaira. I have theory that Shahrukh Khan is miles better as an actor when he does a non-romantic role and after Swades, Chak De and Don movies, I'm happy to see my theory stands the test of time. I don't know how scientific his therapy is, but it sure seems convincing on screen.

So, Dear Zindagi is a must watch, inspirational movie. Its uncluttered, easy to sit through and not manipulative. Though the perils of Kaira may seem immature and trivial to many of you, believe me, she has escaped from the mouth of a volcano that had the potential to take away her future.