“Janam kaise lena hai aur marna kab hai, ye hum decide nahi kar skate par jeena kaise hai vo hum decide kar sakte hai” (How we are born and how we’ll die, we cannot decide but how to live our life, we can decide that)
Sometimes we humans get so caught up in the trivialities of our surroundings that we more often than not forget to live our lives. But if you change your perspective and look at things uncomplicatedly, then life as we understand is not that obstinate to live. The above dialogue is sufficient to explain what is the primary message of Sushant Singh Rajput’s last performance on the big screen–Dil Bechara.
Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, “Dil Bechara” is a movie adapted from John Green’s popular novel, “The fault in our stars”. The book has been previously made into Hollywood by the same name starring Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley.
Here Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi are in the titular roles with Shahshawat Chatterjee, Sahil Vaidya and others in the supporting roles.
This is a story about a girl named Kizie Basu, who has thyroid cancer. She meets Emmanuel Rajkumar Jr. aka Manny, a cheerful, jovial guy who has overcome a disease called Osteosarcoma. The film is essentially about Manny teaching Kizie the real meaning of life and how through the course of the movie both protagonists have a steady yet subtle change in their perception about life.
Sushant Singh Rajput may not be amongst us, but looking at his role in ‘Dil Bechara’–it doesn’t feel one bit that an actor that played the larger than life role of Emmanuel Rajkumar Junior is not around us anymore. It feels as if he is around somewhere, sitting and quietly smiling and observing our reactions.
If Mukesh Chhabra has achieved any special feat, it undoubtedly has to be the fact that he chose the right actor for the film.
Just as Ansel Elgort captivated everyone with his innocence and his lively performance in ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, Sushant Singh Rajput has left an indelible mark in his one last role.
Sanjana Sanghi as the lead actress has also done justice to her role. It was not an easy task to play the role, and there was also the danger of slipping under pressure, but Sanjana Sanghi did not let anything like that happen and kept things tight at her end. With this movie, she has proved that she is not a novice when it comes to acting and pulling off such complicated roles.
Supporting actors have added their bonus charm to the film with their excellent performances. Bengali artist Shashwat Chatterjee, who became famous in the Hindi film world as Bob Biswas, has impressed the audience a lot in his small role.
Swastika Mukherjee, who is usually seen in the role of Vamp in Hindi films and web series, has also made a mark in the role of Kizzie’s mother.
Looking at her, no one can say that she is the same actress who played the role of a villain in ‘Detective Byokesh Bakshi’.
In his very limited role, Saif Ali Khan tried to convey a very important life message and being a cinema lover, we do regret that he should have been given a bit more screen space. But more on that later.
Now if we talk about technicalities of the movie, ‘Dil Bechara’ has shone the brightest in its music. After a long time, AR Rahman has come to the party and given music according to the benchmark he has set for himself.
Be it the title song, ‘Maskhari’ or ‘Taare Gin’ or ‘Khulke Jeena’, each song has its own distinct and powerful identity.
In this era of remixes and substandard music, composing original soulful music is no less valuable than finding a long-lost treasure, and it is great to see that AR Rahman is at the top of his game as he has delivered songs that will stay for a long time with the audience.
But the most important message of ‘Dil Bechara’, which is quite difficult to do or inculcate in real life is–simplicity. Being engrossed in our own complexities, we humans forget to live our lives, we forget that being happy in the infinitesimal things of life is also a part of life. Life doesn’t have to be lived on grand terms, finding happiness around us is the essence of our short lives.
To be honest, ‘Dil Bechara’ is a very simple story, but that story has been filmed in such a heart-warming way that you will not be able to hold back some tears coming out from the corner of your eyes.
If there was a shortcoming in Dil Bechara, then there was only one – the script. Sushant Singh Rajput’s unmatched performance and excellent music somehow disguised the fact that the screenplay was not on par, for which Shashank Khaitan and Supratim Sengupta are largely to blame. Saif Ali Khan’s character was written in haste, and therefore he could not make the same impact as Saif’s character in the original book.
But the movie was for Sushant and we for once can let go of our judgemental binoculars—‘Dil Bechara’ is above all these frivolities.
It is a simple story that is filmed brilliantly and brought to life by Sushant Singh Rajput with his effortless acting.
Although we as the audience are reminded every now and then that Sushant is not around us and that leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. But as Anand Babu has said, “Babu Moshai Zindagi badi nahi lambi honi chahiye’ , we should all try to take a lesson from the movie and learn to enjoy the small moments of life that we often take for granted. Seri.