Tag Archives: #dilbechara

Top 10 Hindi Movies That Got Me Through 2020

When we moved to Bombay from Amritsar in the seventies, my mother had her heart set on a bungalow on the Juhu beach but my dad did not agree. He wanted us to be far from the “Bollywood types”. We settled in the suburb of Chembur but as luck would have it we were in Atur Park, a stone’s throw away from the legendary RK studios.

We had a handcrafted childhood: A good school. A beautiful home. The good company of friends. Bushels of books. Television was noticeably absent. My dad knew some Bollywood families. We visited Prem Chopra’s home and Anil Kapoor’s grandpa came to our apartment but we were not star-struck! We watched a few films at the Regal, the Art Deco cinema hall at Colaba causeway. My first movie and all-time favorite was The Sound of Music. 

I enjoyed a few Hindi movies too like Bobby, Guddi, Amar Akbar Anthony, and Parichay.  We memorized the songs and dialogues and emulated hairstyles and dresses. Much to the surprise of my friends and family, I managed without a TV in my home for over ten years but when COVID-19 forced us to remain indoors, I had to turn the TV on. I have couch-watched more movies than ever before. Some movies were entertaining more than others. A few raised important social issues. My list is not exhaustive but includes the movies I watched. There are one or two that will be committed to long-term memory. Enjoy!

1. Thappad: A resounding slap on Indian male-dominated society that believes: It’s acceptable for a husband to slap his wife. But is it? Not everyone agrees if the wife (Taapsee Pannu) should leave her marriage because of the thappad.  It’s about time the women say NO to any form of abuse!

2.Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl: A biopic on the life of a female fighter pilot’s personal war against a male chauvinist mindset and sexist discrimination. Pankaj Tripathi shines as a supportive father and Janhvi Kapoor is believable as a girl next door who has higher aspirations. 

3.Panga: A film about a kabaddi champion who accepts the challenge of following her dream to participate in the national championship. Kangana Ranaut breaks all stereotypes supported by her cute husband Jassi Gill and her son. Neena Gupta is delightful as always!

4.Gulabo Sitabo, Is an unexpected quick-witted “Punch and Judy” satire directed by Shoojit Sircar. Amitabh Bachchan‘s character as the greedy miser Mirza is one of my all-time favorite roles. Pitted against him is Ayushmann Khurrana who delivers sharp and quixotic dialogue! But the show-stealer hands down is Farukh Jaffar, who is the insouciant begum of Lucknow.

5. Shakuntala Devi: Vidya Balan flawlessly enters the titular character and the titular role scintillates!  An award-winning performance about a larger than life “math” genius and her fascinating “rags to riches” story. Amit Sadh adds an interesting facet as the one man she marries.

6. Dil Bechara: This was released a few days after the world was shocked by the most tragic death of a sensitive actor, Sushant Singh Rajput. I could not bring myself to watch this remake of “The Fault in Our Stars”. The score and soundtrack composed by Amitabh Bhattacharya and A. R. Rahman are haunting.

7. Ludo: This was released on the Diwali weekend. I watched parts of it because I love Ludo, the board game, and play it often with my grandson. Although the story is ruggedly whimsical, I had a difficult time trying to get into it. It seemed like a chaotic chimera of four wildly disparate themes!  Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkumar Rao, Aditya Rao Kapur, Pankaj Tripathi, and Sanya Malhotra had the advantage of not playing Ludo together! 

8. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan: A parody with a twist that encourages parents (Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao – a terrific onscreen pair) to shrug off their judgemental saris and lungis and accept their children in new gender roles and life choices. Ayushmann Khurrana is brilliantly flamboyant. Jitendra Kumar’s tentative performance is endearing. Maanvi Gagroo as the irrepressible “Goggle” adds to the fun!

9. Chhapaak: A heartrending film exposing another heinous crime against women. Why the deplorable perpetrators get away scot-free is an expose about the Indian justice system. A must watch! A bit of a Cracker Jack performance by the glamorous actress Deepika Padukone. Vikrant Massey and Madhurjeet Sarghi don’t fail to inspire,

10. Raat Akeli Hai: An unexpected dark family secret is uncovered by the misfit cop played by the suave Nawazuddin Siddiqui who is determined to solve the murder of a landlord on his wedding night! The intense Radhika Apte, Ila Arun, and Shweta Tripathi rock it!

Monita Soni has one foot in Huntsville, Alabama, the other in her birth home India and a heart steeped in humanity, writing is a contemplative practice for Monita Soni. Monita has published many poems, essays, and two books: My Light Reflections and Flow Through My Heart. You can hear her commentaries on Sundial Writers Corner WLRH 89.3FM.

Dil Bechara: From Reel to Real

Sushant Singh Rajput’s posthumous film Dil Bechara recently released on Disney+ Hotstar. Clearly dedicated to him, the film begins with a smiling SSR playing the guitar while a quote of his flashes in the background: “Perhaps, the difference between what is miserable, and that, which is spectacular, lies in the leap of faith…#selfmusing.” Inspired by John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars, the film is set in Jamshedpur and its opening dialogues are what most bedtime stories start with: “Ëk tha raja, ek thi rani; dono mar gaye, khatam kahani.”   

Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi) is a young girl suffering from thyroid cancer. An oxygen mask is attached to her person, which she carries with her at all times. Due to her disease, she has a largely boring life and feels like a reality TV show contestant who can be eliminated from the game of life anytime. She often attends funerals of strangers and sympathizes with their loss. More than anything else, she longs to be just like any other normal girl her age. 

Enter Manny (SSR), who she meets at a cancer counseling group. Though ill too, he is fun-loving and likes to sing, dance and act. SSR is sadly so energetic and full of life in this—his last film—with expressions that remind one of Shah Rukh Khan from the DDLJ days. He also spins magic with some promising dance moves in the film’s dreamy title song. Watching it one can’t help but lament with a heavy heart about such a talented life tragically wasted. 

The film has its share of clichés too—like the fact that Kizie and Manny’s taste in music doesn’t match. While she likes to hear soppy, mellow songs, he prefers the likes of Honey Singh. Along with Manny’s friend, the two of them start shooting a comical film together, and he shows her how to enjoy life. In turn, Kizie gets him to hear an incomplete soulful song by a singer whom she admires, and he begins to love the tune too. They write to the singer to conclude his song and request to meet him. Kizie can barely believe it when the singer invites them to Paris. Since her immune system is weak, it’s risky for her to travel, but with some coaxing, she goes to Paris along with Manny and her mother—who agree to fulfill her long-cherished dream. Though meeting the crazy singer (Saif Ali Khan) is a bit anticlimactic, the three of them have a great time in the city. 

With the stars of young love in her eyes, Kizie soon finds a raison détre in Manny, but filled with emotion, she frequently gets breathless and her heart beats faster when around him. Manny later tells Kizie that an ache had led him to discover sometime back that he too is going to die very soon. In a poignant scene, his family hugs him and cries, as his condition steadily deteriorates. He also attends a mock funeral for himself where his best friend and girlfriend read weepy vows to him, while he sits across and hears them out. Predictably the end of the film is melodramatic, made more true to life by the fact that SSR is no more in reality too. There are several dialogues that seem ironic now—and while they were being shot, no one probably had a clue about what the future holds. In one instance, Kizie tells Manny, “One doesn’t need to be popular to be a hero. You can be one in real life too.” 

The film’s subtle message is in the letter that Manny leaves behind before dying: “We don’t decide when we are born and when we die, but we decide how we live.” As Kizie tearfully watches visuals of the completed film that they had shot together, it could very well be Sanghi herself watching the completed Dil Bechara in real life now. In a sense, the film and SSR’s life remind you of the fleeting nature of existence itself, making you almost want to hug your loved ones a little tighter, laugh a little louder, and just live life a little more fully…

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Neha Kirpal is a freelance writer based in New Delhi. She is the author of Wanderlust for the Soul, an e-book collection of short stories based on travel in different parts of the world.