It shows a filmmaker who is getting too big for her britches and thus needs to be brought down a peg or two. Much to my chagrin, Dear Zindagi exudes none of the emotional acuity of English Vinglish and instead ends up being director Shinde’s sophomore slump. Its storyline, like Shinde’s debut film, is both simple and, by Bollywood standards, different: a privileged YIP (Young Indian Professional) played by Alia Bhatt faces an existential crisis and thus seeks professional therapy (from Shah Rukh Khan no less) to help sort out her problems. With English Vinglish, her debut film, Shinde not only managed to resurrect Bollywood royalty Sridevi’s career after the actor left us in the lurch for twenty years, but she gave her her best film. The film was fresh and disarmingly warm one out of many films at the time that helped usher in a new cinema to Indian multiplexes that deftly homogenized Bollywood’s flair for endorphin-heavy escapism and indie cinema’s penchant for unconventionality and restraint.ĭear Zindagi was supposed to follow suit. I waited impatiently for Dear Zindagi for only one reason – Gauri Shinde, who directed a personal favorite of mine, English Vinglish – was also directing this picture.
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