I was 10 when Dil Chahta Hai was released. But I saw it much later. The movie marked one of the most important stages in my understanding of cinema. It gave me something that I had never seen before. It glorified friendship without romanticizing it, it chose banter and quick-wit over slapstick comedy and told a simple tale of three friends, without being a captive of comedy, romance or any other genres that were prevalent in Bollywood, with such effortless ease and honesty that the movie went beyond what any Hindi film had previously touched, it and remains, to this day, as one of my, if not the, all time favourite movies.
I am not sure if Farhan Akhtar gave us Dil Chahta Hai or Dil Chahta Hai gave us Farhan Akhtar but Hindi film industry would be indebted to both Dil Chahta Hai and Farhan Akhtar for giving it so many things it was deprived of till 2001.
Well, I am undoubtedly a fan of Farhan Akhtar and at the same time have always believed that Farhan could never touch within himself what he did while making that gem of a movie back in the day. However, he has been close to brilliance in Lakshya, experimental in Rock On and acceptable in Don. Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, the movie this article is supposed to be about, is perhaps the closest he and his sister Zoya have come to the legend of Dil Chahta Hai but the comparison of, and the similarity between, the two movies would be the toughest challenge ZNMD would have to face.
The brilliance of the movie lies predominantly in its gentle character and lovely screenplay. The performances, along with the ravishing locales in Spain, embellish the movie to a spectacle. Farhan Akhtar is spontaneous, funny and a live wire as Imran, Hritik Roshan puts forth the best performance of his life after Lakshya to create an Arjun who is both stylish and materialistic for a reason. Abhay Deol's Kabir is not as fantastic as his other two friends but he adds an element of sobriety that compliments well to the crazy scenes created by the other two leads.
The adventure sports, especially free-falling, are awesome and really enthralling. One of the greatest achievements of the movie is that while the three friends look fascinating together and their humour is of the kind one can easily relate to, their personal stories and troubles - which we can call subplots - are captured with great care and grace. May it be Arjun's silence after meeting a quarantined part of himself after the sea-diving incident or Kabir's memory of a marriage proposal that happened by mistake, all the subplots are respected equally. Yet, the best to me was the one that features Imran's search for his real father. The meeting between Imran and his father Salman (played by Naseeruddin Shah with remarkable grace) is one of the most influential scenes in the movie.
The small flashbacks - a trademark Farhan Akhtar style - are used as effectively as always. Zoya Akhtar extends her talent from Luck By Chance (which itself was a good attempt) to direct with greater freedom. Imran's poetry, written by Javed Akhtar, appears at apt moments and reads very well to the poetic ear. Katrina Kaif looks beautiful as Laila and is marginally better than the dull actor she has usually been. Kalki is decent as Kabir's fiance. The music flows well through the movie. Dil Dhadkne Do and Senorita are particular nice tracks. The effect of Der Lagi Lekin is enhanced by its fantastic timing in the movie. The stallions running parallel to the vintage blue Mercedes seemingly compete with the beauty of the latter in that obscure, surrealistic, extravagant location in Spain.
Overall, ZMND offers a type of sanguinity that it can justify. It is an honest attempt to glorify life without glamourizing it senselessly just like the masterpiece of Dil Chahta Hai was in a certain way. Although Dil Chahta Hai still remains, and perhaps will always remain, the best movie Farhan Akhtar was part of, ZMND can very well come second, and being a Rahul Dravid is no small feat in a system where ranking starts from second.
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