Zindagi na milegi dobara…. the dream journey!

ZNMD had everything to begin with. A star cast that has always seen a steady flow of crowds to the movie halls that feature them, Zoya Akhtar as director whose last movie “Luck by chance” was critically acclaimed and some amount of controversy involving Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor that always serves well for the build up for a movie. Recent observation tells us that a movie hyped beyond a certain point often crash lands. This movie has come out to set that record straight. A movie, finally, worthy of its expectations.

The cast has Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan as three childhood friends who are off on a bachelors bash for Abhay. The movie begins with a little bit of background on the lives of the three of them. The destination is Spain and the idea is to indulge in unthinkable and amazingly expensive adventure sports. The three meet Katrina Kaif as their instructor for one of the adventure sports. From there ensues a story that going by the trailers will give you no idea about. The best part about the movie is the characterization of the three male leads. Abhay plays Kabir who is in construction business. He is funny, mild, a little confused, loves having a good time and is about to get married. Hrithik plays Arjun and is the epitome of a guy who has been hardened by life. He chases money, is uptight and is typical of a person who cannot unwind. Farhan plays Imran, a carefree, casual prankster but also has a couple of issues which he cannot break away from. All the parts of these characters come out in different forms. Some form the start of the movie, some get introduced in the middle and some offer comic relief but they add tremendous value to the cast and strengthen the characters making the audience both understand and identify with them.

Katrina Kaif has a role that signifies the theme of the movie, live life like there is no tomorrow and she looks real in her role unlike the movies she has otherwise acted. Kalki Koechlin plays the fiancée of Abhay and quite frankly the role has limited scope for an actor of her talent and she does justice. The movie is a giveaway because you know what to expect. It’s a bachelor’s trip which means there is going to be a lot of drinking and dancing, it happens in Spain which means that you are in for a visual delight and you know the story which is pretty much going to span from the start of the bachelor’s trip to the end of it. The movie’s success lies in the parts that are collateral to this main theme but are intertwined with each of these characters. These parts blend into the movie seamlessly never making you lose track of the main theme of the movie. It is still a bachelor’s party and all the crazy stuff associated with one.

Naseeruddin Shah and Deepti Naval also have small cameos and they fit well. The story is not an unusual one. The subject isn’t an uncommon one. The realizations brought about in the movie aren’t the first time a movie has done something like this. But combining all of these makes it an unusual and extremely enjoyable watch. Does the movie have no holes in it? Well, there are a few. Some of the dance numbers could have been done away as it increased the length of the movie. A little bit of stern editing was required at places where the director would have felt the scene is important in the movie because she spent so much money shooting it but in reality could have been done away with. Then there is this scene where Arjun gives out a reason out of childhood for the way he is. Psychologically speaking, such revelations only happen to people in real life when a person realizes it and regrets it. So even though the scene is put there to explain the character of Arjun it just stands out weakly. The movie does have a couple of bumps but the bumps aren’t significant to impact the movie negatively. There is just no need to mention a point on whether the three male leads were good in their respective roles. The best were picked for the movie.

The movie is a journey into a world that we might have never seen not because these are scenes or experiences we never come across but because these are experiences shown from the eyes of three childhood friends who are so different from each other and still have a reason to be friends with each other in spite of their deviations and spats. It is recognition that life is lived in a moment, every moment. I don’t know if tomorrow is going to bring something for me but zindagi can be lived in a moment because woh zindagi na milegi dobara!