This will be a short and no spoiler review since I know most people may not have dared to watch this movie yet. I was not brave enough myself but since I had just finished a hectic deadline, I thought to treat (torture?) myself. Internet stopped working after the ‘twist’ and I strained my already tired eyes and brains to finish the rest of the movie on my mobile late at night.
Cast
Deepika – Alisha
Dhairya Karwa – Karan
Ananya Pandey – Tia
Siddhant Chaturvedi – Zain
Naseeruddin Shah – Deepika’s dad
Meet The Two Couples
Alisha is a Yoga instructor who is in love with her sports bra and long legs until she meets Zain. Alisha’s live in boyfriend is Karan who is a struggling writer and therefore poor. Tia is a ….. oops I can’t remember. I don’t think she had a job in the movie. She is the rich cousin of Alisha who is very close to Alisha’s boyfriend, Karan. Zain is Tia’s boyfriend who is supposed to be filthy rich.
Karan and Alisha have been in a live in relationship for six years and know each other since childhood. They are the married type bickering couple who fight for kachra and household expenses. Tia and Zain are relatively younger and problem-free and about to be married. Tia seems genuinely in love with Zain. Zain and Alisha start flirting with each other almost instantly. We are told that ‘Alisha knows her boyfriend Karan through her cousin, Tia’ as they all grew up together. We do see Tia and Karan chipko a lot.
Now, I thought this was a perfect premise for a swinger couple / swapping kind of plot. I would have been happy to see a B-grade foursome story. At least it would have been enjoyable.
(No) Warning: Jan Hit Mein Jari – Not as hot as you would think
I had a crush on Siddharth Chaturvedi in Gully Boy. I had read so much about the ‘hot scenes’ of Deepika in this one. But the scenes were so boring and chemistry-less that it was more of a snooze fest. They kept showing the waves in between the way old Bollywood movies showed flowers to conclude that the deed was done.
The initial spark between Deepika and Sidharth’s characters did have some charm and potential, but they destroyed it with their ‘scenes’.
And they had to get an intimacy director for this – Camera angles on toes and feet and removed clothes on the bed?
I initially thought that Ananya was playing the bimbo but it was actually Karan’s character that lacked any ‘gehraiyan’. I have not seen this actor before and it was a pity that he was offered such a uni-dimensional role. They made his character unnecessarily loser like probably so that we can rejoice our heroine for dumping him. He also seemed too dim witted to be a writer. He does not have one smart line in the movie. In one of the scenes in the second half, he waves at Deepika and his expression almost looks comical to me. Tia is just a moron who has to exist because Alisha had to commit infidelity and steal someone’s boyfriend. Zain is a super rich, super manipulative guy, of criminal mindset yet he is so stupid that he never locks his phone or laptop.
The Twist Ruined It
Then comes a big twist. Then another smaller twist. Finally, the movie ends with a little twist. I hated the first twist. It was disappointing. At one point in the movie, I was reminded of Baazigar. When we eat something bad we want to eat something nice afterwards ‘mooh ka swad theek karne ke liye’. I have an urge to watch Baazigar now.
Karan Johar had made a movie called ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ on infidelity. It was not well-received. Compared to this movie, it was like Sholay. In KANK, all four characters were well defined and the movie was entertaining. You could feel some pain for them. This is where Gehraiyaan fails. You do not feel empathy for any of the characters. They may look good and have a yacht but beyond that you don’t care about any of them. The movie also has a back story of childhood and generational trauma to show why the lead characters are so messed up. It was not required.
It is life. Everybody screws up. Even the ones with normal and happy childhoods.
Naseeruddin Shah was a relief. An old and sensible person among all these jokers.
Writing
The dialogue writers should not have been paid because all the characters say is ‘fuck’ ‘fuck’ ‘fucking’ ‘fucking’ ‘fuck’ and some intelligent words like ‘choices’ and ‘moving on’ . The story writers must be overpaid because in one project they have added too many genres. Romance, cheating, emotion, drama, mental health, crime thriller! I found the plot amateurish. I would have been happier to watch a mindless swinging couple story.
Acting
Deepika’s acting is very good as always. But she has played such emotionally messed up characters before . It was not new. As the lead character, she was neither nice nor sensible so I had a hard time relating to her or anybody else in the movie. I find it hard to take Ananya Pandey seriously. She looks like a privileged teenager to me. But I do feel they should have put more makeup on Ananya. Deepika has very different looks and she can pull of the no makeup look because she is very attractive. Her features are also very striking specially her eyes and smile. Sidharth may be very charming but in this movie he has not acted well. It would not be fair to speak about Dhairya because they did not invest in his character.
Final Word
It was not a boring movie though. I did finish in one setting which is an achievement for me. It was gripping and I was eager to know what happens next. I just don’t know what to make of it. It was not entertaining. It was not emotionally stimulating. It was not fun and it was not even as hot as it was hyped to be. I think the makers kept reminding themselves that the name of the movie is ‘Gehraiyan’ so it should not come across as shallow.
Well, guess what!
Bottom line –
If you have paid the subscription of Amazon Prime you will watch it because you will watch anything new. Had it been a theatrical release it would have made it to the coveted list of biggest flops of the year.