Deepika Padukone's Gehraiyaan is finally available for streaming. Though the film boasts of a stellar star cast including Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Dhairya Karwa, and Naseeruddin Shah; in the true sense, it just belongs to Deepika Padukone. The phenomenal actress owns the frame every time she is in it and her magnetic personality swallows everything and everyone else.
Quick review
Whether or not the film had the "Gehraiyaan" (depth) we wanted to see remains debatable, but, there is no denying that it is a change we had been yearning for. Alisha (Deepika Padukone) and Karan (Dhairya Karwa) are in a live-in relationship and waiting for a breakthrough in their career. On the other hand, Alisha's cousin, Tia (Ananya Panday) is dating millionaire Zain (Siddhanth Chaturvedi). The four of them meet and thus begin the tale of passion, love, deceit, lies, and a tragedy.
Gehraiyaan is not a true blue romantic film as one would have imagined after watching the trailer but it does bring in a good old dose of the complexity of relationships we all engage with. But, in its heart, the film is much more than just that. It also deals with mental health, how childhood incidents can make or break one, suicidal tendencies and how karma catches up with you sooner or later.
In this Shakun Batra film, the characters don't take too long to come into their own. The first half is fast, fresh, and feisty. But, it is towards the last thirty minutes, that the film tends to float on a narrowboat of monotony. You kind of get an idea of how the film would end as you see "Two years later".
Spoilers ahead
Alisha (Deepika Padukone) is finally ready to let go of the past and move on. And so is Tia (Ananya Panday), as she is seen extending an olive branch. And right when you think, this is it, the page turns. Alisha comes face-to-face with the old lady who she had met on the boat along with Zain (Siddhanth Chaturvedi) and the film ends, leaving you to guess.
In all likelihood, Shakun leaves you to imagine two probabilities. One, everyone gets to know that Alisha was on the yacht with Siddhanth. The old lady doesn't seem to remember and the fear of the truth spilling out continues to haunt Alisha.
