If there was an Indian, nay South Bombay aka SoBo version of “white people problems”, this movie, Gehraiyaan, was it. From the character names (Zain, Tia, Alisha and if Alisha was not posh enough, it is shortened to Al throughout) to references to burrata cheese to upscale locations in Bombay and villas in Alibag, everything reeks of wealth, privilege and resultant ennui. Vacuous lives and vacuous expressions are supposed to reflect seriousness but suck the life out of every moment. Even the lovemaking scenes leave you cold although the actors are peak physical specimens. The last 20-25 mins take a sudden sharp turn into noir territory but by then most viewers other than “fattey tak” watchers like yours truly would have tuned to something else or would be snoring in the arms of Morpheus. Siddhant Chaturvedi who did a fantastic debut as MC Sher in Gully Boy (2019) tries hard to be the bad boy here but can’t carry the two timing load. Ananya Pandey doesn’t have to try too hard to portray rich girl with nothing to do (“I’m so bored” sums it up). And finally Deepika, who is the main reason one would even consider watching the movie, does give it the old college try, but is burdened with a script that drags slower than a snail on top of a slug sitting on a sloth on weed.
February 11, 2022