Gehraiyaan Review- The new Deepika Padukone movie is an evocative film about love, deception, trust, betrayal, complex relationships, and moving on with the terrible truths of your past. While this isn’t the first time Bollywood has depicted infidelity on screen, the story has intensity, the characters have more depth, and it’s no longer only about desire.
It’s been quite the progressive journey from Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna in 2006, when many people couldn’t wrap their heads around the concept of finding love after marriage, to now, in 2022, when a film like Gehraiyaan goes deep into reasons why couples reach deadlocks. Yes, it’s also relatable.
Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan, starring Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Dhairya Karwa, is a modern-day love narrative in which it’s okay to fall out of love and find it elsewhere. Alisha (Deepika) and Karan (Dhairya) have been together for six years and are planning a get-together with her cousin Tia (Ananya) and her fiance Zain, who are visiting from Los Angeles. Alisha and Zain are instantaneously drawn to each other with a few words and lovely glances.
Tia is completely unaware of what is going on behind her back, as is Karan, who is trying to have his work published while also running a family with Alisha. In the midst of it all, some lies are exposed while others are kept hidden.
Gehraiyaan Review: Deepika delivers a strong performance yet again
While the trailer revealed a lot about the plot, there’s still a lot of mystery, suspense, and twists to discover as the story unfolds.
Shakun’s tale, which he co-wrote with Sumit Roy, Ayesha Devitre, and Yash Sahai, has a good heart but falls short in several places. You’re frequently left wondering why, how, and if that’s all there is to it. Some questions go unresolved, while others are presumed to be resolved. The characters in this film carry on with their lives without ever desiring to know what conspired behind the scenes. Despite its limitations, Gehraiyaan delves into the complexities of relationships and the lengths to which people will go to save or destroy them.
Gehraiyaan’s appointment of an intimacy director for scenes involving Siddhant and Deepika’s characters caused quite a stir. Was that truly necessary in the first place? Well, you’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
Deepika, it seems, has got a knack for picking complicated characters and portraying them with so much conviction. Her extremely nuanced performance in Gehraiyaan reminded me Veronica in Cocktail and Tara in Tamasha. As Alisha, she is strong-headed, ambitious, yet goes through her moments of weakness and vulnerability.
Ananya, on the other, pretty much plays herself in a major portion of the film. In the second half, however, Shakun Batra does give her ample scenes to show her acting chops. Dhairya’s character, was half-baked and needed so much more. Though he excelled at whatever he did on screen but there was so much his story could have added to the film, but that was completely missing.
And lastly, Siddhant’s Gully Boy set expectation way too high and Gehraiyaan doesn’t really bring the best out of him. His dialogue delivery as a romantic hero needs polishing. The way he emotes during intense scenes needs more involvement, and portions where he shows anger don’t really hit you hard. It was a bit of a disappointment to see his character not standing out despite so much that he had to do.
The pace of the film somehow works in its favour as it doesn’t linger or tries to lose track. You get drowned in the story while the characters try to untangle issues in their lives. That being said, one big wow moment that would leave you spellbound, but something just felt incomplete towards the end. You want to know more than what you already do.
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Nonetheless, Gehraiyaan will you connect you with the depth of the narrative, tale, and emotions. Deepika has exceeded herself once again, so keep an eye out for her.