Gehraiyaan Movie Review: Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi anchor the film, Ananya springs a surprise

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa, Naseeruddin Shah, Rajat Kapoor

Director: Shakun Batra

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Are we messed up people? When the trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s highly anticipated relationship drama, 'Gehraiyaan' hit the circuits, it split the audience into questioning or defending infidelity. Does the film condone it? To understand the depth ('Gehraiyaan) of the script you need to hold on to your moral compass till the end.

Directed by Shakun Batra, the film stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa in the lead roles along with Rajat Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah in pivotal roles.

Alisha (Deepika Padukone) is an ambitious Yoga instructor who is in a monotonous live-in relationship with an aspiring novelist Karan (Dhairya Karwa). Karan who had left the job in an advertising agency to pursue his passion of writing suffers from pangs of procrastination and lethargy. He just doesn’t want to make earnest attempts! This forces Alisha to take over the role of being the pillar for the financial and emotional needs of the relationship. In stark contrast to her cousin,Tia (Ananya Panday) she leads a ‘mediocre’ lifestyle which stays on like a thread of a life she could have had if her father (Naseeruddin Shah) didn’t pursue his passion of making cheese at a small venture out of Nashik. She blames her father for losing her mother and injecting a sense of fear of being stuck in a relationship.

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As she fights to accept the reality of her relationship, her cousin Tia invites her and Karan for a weekend break with her fiancé Zain(Siddhant Chaturvedi). Zain is a flamboyant and charming real estate developer who is working on a multicrore development project in Alibaug. He wears stylish clothes, leases a luxury latch to impress his clients and believes in moving in the greys. Zain is in relationship with Tia a naïve and rich girl who is also a sleeping partner in his business. He needs her money and connections more than her love.

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During the weekend, waves of casual flirtation routines between Alisha and Zain turns into a sea of passion. Hereon, the story charts the journey of Alisha and Zain, as they confront the ghost of their past on the path they take to avoid it.

Directed by Shakun Batra, the film establishes a different meaning to the catch-line of the film: Are we messed up people? Karan doesn’t wish to take up responsibility yet hides under the veil of ‘personal space’ and unfair ‘criticism’. Tia wants to mend her relationship with her cousin yet hides a truth of her life. Alisha fears that she too shall be ‘stuck’ and helpless like her mother if she continues the relationship and rather prefers to break-free. Zain prefers to play the victim in his own web of convoluted reasons – in business and relationships.

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Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi steer the film. Both actors have delivered on what was promised. Ananya Panday is a pleasant surprise. She lives through her character of a rich and naïve kid who thinks of learning pottery to kill boredom or be blind to the ripples around her life. Perhaps her reason to trust stems from her own ingenuity in another part of her life. Dhairya Karwa comes across as a good friend but not so great partner. His character hasn’t been explored much but he still manages to do a decent job. Rajat Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah have little screen-time but they make the most out of it through their acting brilliance.

This is the first time a film has used an intimacy expert. The decision has paid well as what could have been an exorbitant display of lust turns into moments of passion. From exciting and full of life to crashing of relationships and finally submerging the audience into his narrative, Shakun utilizes waves to represent the curve of the film.

There are pockets of waning grip yet in the last thirty minutes the film tries to make up for it. The film could have definitely benefited from a theatrical release. Until then, watch it on Amazon Prime Video’s this weekend.