Dil Bechara
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjana Sanghi, Swastika Mukherjee, Saif Ali Khan
Director: Mukesh Chhabra
Sushant Singh Rajput’s unfortunate death has made Dil Bechara more than just another film. It’s the final work of a young actor who was immensely loved by the country, and his last memory. The audience will never see that infectious smile again in any other film. Those dance moves won’t enthrall them anymore. It’s way beyond only looking at acting, arts and aesthetics of a film. It’s celebrating the life of a talented young man bound to achieve greatness and the sheer grit to achieve the maximum.
Director Mukesh Chhabra’s remake of the Hollywood film The Fault In Our Stars works well as the story of a couple living life on borrowed time. Kizie (Sanjana Sanghi) and Manny (Sushant Singh Rajput) go to the same college. Kizie is suffering from cancer and oxygen cylinder is her trusted ally in life till charming Manny dances his way into her heart and impresses those around her too with his beaming personality.
Despite amputated leg and a killer disease, his zeal for life and a positive outlook, brings in hope for Kizzie. Come to look at it, both these characters have lived a life of pain and suffering so much so that end will come easier if it were a little faster. And since they both meet us in the middle of their tragically short life spans, handling these everyday heroes becomes all the more difficult. To make us invested in the unfolding tragedy was the job at hand and both Sanjana and Sushant have done justice in evoking strong emotions.
It has to be said that Sushant's presence lights up the screen every single time and his ability to get us to look beyond Manny's illness or not make us treat him with pity or sympathy is the highlight of this bitter-sweet romance. It’s heartbreaking that we won’t see that passionate performer again. I don’t know how you could differentiate the performer from his real life after Dil Bechara!
A departure from treatment happens from the original Hollywood movie The Fault In Our Stars as song and dance tend to make the Hindi version more mainstream for the local audience. As expected Sushant shows his sheen while performing on AR Rahman’s feel good tracks. When the story takes a turn in the second half, Sushant switches gear with ease and lets his subtle self take over.
Sanjana does well in her part. Since her voiceover is also leading the narrative, Kizie is ever present in Manny's life. As the movie starts and will end with her, Sanjana's character is more central to the storyline and given that it's her first attempt at a full length role, the actress balances it out between evocation and understatement.
The film relies in montages and is talkative. Expectations are managed with cinematography and music works terrifically as supplement. All in all, overlooking comparisons, the film does falter in engaging beyond a time but since it’s shorter by at least 20 minutes than the original, it doesn’t let the hook weaken.
All said and done, it’s going to remain in our memories forever for Sushant Singh Rajput, who has over-achieved everything with his fitting swan song. As I said, Dil Bechara can’t be treated as just another film.
Rating: 3.5/5
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