Despite the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, Dear Zindagi (2016) is clearly a product of post-Dil Chahta Hai Bollywood; there's singing but almost no dancing, it's suddenly okay to question traditional family values, and the male and female leads are not romantically involved. The characters have the same big emotions as in old fashioned Bollywood, but without musical numbers, they're forced to find other outlets.
Budding cinematographer Kaira (Alia Bhatt) is frustrated. She's able to work on the occasional commercial or music video, but she really wants to work in films, and so far all she's been able to find are short-term fill-in jobs. Still, it's not all bad; she has a close and supportive circle of friends and a fabulous apartment, and new kinda-boyfriend Raghu (Kunal Kapoor) has made arrangements for them to work together on a film shoot in New York.
And then everything starts to unravel. Raghu has to leave for New York a few weeks ahead of schedule, and he takes Kaira aside and explains that he will be working with his ex on the film, and it's nothing to worry about, but he felt she should know. Kaira is too insecure to listen when he tries to talk about commitment, so he leaves in a huff. Almost immediately thereafter, she loses her fabulous apartment, and with the New York job up in the air, Kaira has no choice but to go home to Goa and stay with her estranged parents (Aban Deohans and Atul Kale) for a while.
It It It It doesn't go well. Kaira is bickering constantly with her family (it doesn't help when an uncle asks her if she's "Lebanese" and that's why she's avoiding marriage) and she can't sleep. Even shifting over to stay with her friend Jackie (Yashaswini Dayama) doesn't help.
And then Kaira meets Doctor Jehangir "Jug" Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), an eccentric and compassionate therapist/sculptor/bicycle mechanic. She's impressed enough to make a first appointment, though and it helps, so she makes another, and another. And that's the plot; Kaira and Jug talk about things. They talk about her love life, and her relationship with her parents and younger brother Kiddo (Rohit Suresh Saraf) and hunky musician Rumi (Ali Zafar). They talk about her career. They spend a surprising amount of time talking about chairs. Mostly, they talk about how to be a person, and specifically how to be Kaira.
I don't like to label my entertainment, so if I come out and say that a given movie is good or bad, that's usually a sign that I've run out of things to talk about. However, I am quite comfortable in saying that Dear Zindagi is a good movie, by which I mean it's very well made and features some strong performances; Bhatt is by turns fearless and vulnerable, and consistently sympathetic even when things are getting out of hand, while Shah Rukh is as relaxed and mellow as I've ever seen him, without losing any of his famous charisma. And I am happy to say that Dear Zindagi is a good movie, by which I mean that it's an entertaining way to spend two and a half hours.
And I'm also happy to say that Dear Zindagi is a good movie, because it presents the idea of taking care of your own mental health as something that is normal and worthwhile, and in doing so the movie helps to make the world a better place. Kaira isn't crazy or broken, she just needs a little help, and it's okay to admit that.
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