Dear Zindagi

 I vividly remember the day I saw this movie for the very first time. For, that was the day my opinion about Hindi cinema changed. Earlier I had a mindset that Bollywood movies are all the same generic dramas with not much meaning attached. That was until I saw Dear Zindagi, a movie that beautifully shows the journey of a girl falling in love with life. 

The movie, Dear Zindagi, revolves around a young, aspiring cinematographer, Kaira. She always prioritised her work with the ambition of making it big one day. However, the road to the destination was bumpy. As she tried to navigate her way through the world of cinema, she faced a lot of ups and downs not only in terms of work but also in her personal life. Various failed relationships, lack of commitment, and strained family ties had a huge impact on her. The fact that her relationship with her parents and relatives wasn't good resulted in her pushing other people away too. When she was little, her parents had abandoned her. This made her believe that everyone else in the world would do the same. To shield herself from that pain, she created a wall around herself, letting very few people in. She left people before they could leave her. As she continued to run away from making new bonds, her life problems worsened resulting in Kaira becoming an insomniac. The problems that she couldn’t face, kept her up at night. Frustrated, she went to see a psychologist. At this point came my favourite character, Dr. Jehengir Khan. His simple yet meaningful words of wisdom have stayed with me till date. Who knew a movie could teach a person so much? 

Coming back to the plot, Kaira’s sessions with her psychologist became meaningful and she looked forward to them. Slowly but steadily, Kaira showed remarkable progress. In the words of Dr. Khan, “Don't let the past, blackmail your present, to ruin a beautiful future.'' These words made Kaira realise that the source of her insomnia and other personal problems was running. Running from what? Running away from all her feelings and problems. Kaira had a neglected childhood and that followed her in her adult life. Gradually with Dr. Khan's help she realised that in order to move forward she must let go of the accumulated baggage of the past. At last she made peace with her past and her life turned a new leaf. In the movie it is said,”Kyun na hum is dar he ko once and for all bye bolde. Kyun na zindagi se hey kar ke vapas zindagi se mulakat kar le.” Kaira stopped running from people, running from commitment. She now embraced life happily. “Zindagi ek jigsaw puzzle ki tarah hai. People like me can just help you find the pieces, but only you can complete the puzzle!”, said Dr. Khan. This empowered Kaira to face her fears and start anew.

As I previously mentioned, Dear Zindagi is a different direction for Indian cinema. Instead of going the generic way, Gauri Shinde, the director created a thought-provoking movie with a beautiful message that life is truly a gift! Mental health which is considered taboo was aptly portrayed; bringing to light an extremely real issue. Instead of shunning the topic, Dear Zindagi shows that yes, you can emerge victorious in the battle with mental illness. Talking about this in films and books is one step forward in normalising mental health.   

What makes this movie so special is the fact that I can relate to Kaira’s character. I had a tendency of finding ways to not deal with problems. However, those problems kept following me till I finally faced them. This movie helped me remember that ambition often gets in the way of living life fully. Many a times, we forget to pause and notice the beauty in the present moment. There is calmness and true joy even in watching a butterfly flutter or witnessing the drifting clouds. Happiness can be found in hearing the crickets chirp and feeling the warm sun nourish us. This movie reminded me that life is all about the small moments that make life worthwhile. Love you zindagi! I love zindagi!