Her tears might not make you cry, but her Smile and Happiness is Infectious… Dear Zindagi

Alia Bhatt’s character in Dear Zindagi can be anybody. It can be that child who failed to get promoted from 2nd standard and was made believed that it was the most shameful thing that could happen to anybody. It can be that girl in your office who is not sure about whether she is getting the promotion because of her talent or it is just because her boss finds her hot. Or she can be that girl in your colony who gets stared and talked about by every elder in her colony who are of the strong opinion that she should get married or she will bring bad name to the colony. It can be that person whose relatives back home do not support his/her choice of an unconventional career.

In all her portrayals till date, Alia has proved again and again that she was born to be a star. She has taken up and done justice to highly versatile characters and her Kaira act shall always be remembered as one of her best portrayals till date. She brings to life the upheavals which most of our young people living in the cities especially women go through today. (Let us not forget we have young, beautiful women with dreams like any of us resort to suicide in the recent past.) We are the crazy generation carrying the burdens of failed relationships, societal pressures, hurdles/criticism in the path of an unconventional dream career are a few things which we start carrying from an early age.

That is the point Dear Zindagi targets at. It reminds you that nothing can be greater than life itself. It achieves this by means of Alia’s conversations with her therapist Dr. Jehangir Khan a.k.a. SRK. An extremely important point that the movie presents here is that you do not need to be a labelled crazy to go and see a DD (Dimaag ka Doctor). Kaira takes this decision only because she could not sleep for a few nights. A very wise decision after all because sometimes you just need someone to listen to you and there should be no taboo associated even if it a DD. And you might not get moved by her tears but you will certainly feel the happiness she radiates when she embraces life with open arms and Love U Zindagi plays in the background.

SRK as Jehangir Khan is anything but preachy. He is suave, witty and knows his job well. In his conversations with Kaira, he gives some beautiful points and which I guess all of us could put to use at some or the other point of our lives. I may or may not recall all but the ones which left a deep impact, am definitely gonna share.

We don’t always have to choose the tough path only because we want to prove something to someone or want to punish ourselves. Taking the easier one sometimes is perfectly ok and doesn’t make you a loser. There is no need to get a gold medal the very first time life throws a problem at us. We can always choose to wait till we are ready to face it.

We as children consider our parents as an epitome of everything good. They are our guide and our saviour during our growing years and beyond that. Our expectation of them to always take the just and right decision is so high that we often end up misunderstanding them if they take any one decision which we might feel is wrong or which might make us feel neglected.  Parents are also human beings, and the moment children accept this fact, it becomes easier to let go of any differences which they might have with their parents. Because at the end of the day parents aim at doing what is best for the family.

What is the most doomed word in the romantic relationship equation. Expectations..!! We expect our partner to be our coffee mate. We expect them to watch our favourite movie with us and also to like it. We expect them to go shopping with us. We expect them to receive our calls at our convenience. We  expect and keep on expecting till expectations kills everything that is in between. Dear Zindagi asks you to lighten this burden from that single poor relationship. You can always have a special friend with whom you love to catch up over coffee. You can always take your mom or sister shopping with you. It’s best to enjoy every friendship and relationship that we form in life and not over burden that one person with whom you share love and romance. Being in love is a feeling and not a job.

And last but not the least, killing ones fear is very important. Be it a fear of being judged, a fear of being left alone, a fear of failing, a fear of not being understood, a fear of not being appreciated. Because it is your life and you can do justice to it only when you embrace everything about yourself and give life a chance.