Gehraiyaan Movie Review: Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan is about relationships seen through the modern prism of individuals burdened with their own individual suffocations. When the trailer came out, Gehraiyaan, backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, was compared with another Dharma movie, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, which was directed by KJo and dealt with infidelity. But KANK is the wrong movie to compare Gehraiyaan with, and before I go ahead, let me warn you that there could be some SPOILERS about Gehraiyaan in the review ahead. Not major ones, of course. Gehraiyaan Title Track: Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Song Dives Into the Depths of Complicated Love.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Gehraiyaan both deal with infidelity and how it affects other relationships, but KANK sees it through the spectrum of marriage. Batra, who has co-written Gehraiyaan, mentions the idea of holy matrimony in some scenes but avoids adding that complication in an already tangled drama. Also Gehraiyaan steers away from the bubblegum nature and feel-goodness that we associate with its older cousin, taking some surprising dark turns with the narratives. Surprising, only if you haven't seen a certain Woody Allen movie.

Alisha (Deepika Padukone) is a fitness expert based out of Mumbai, who is in a live-in relationship with her boyfriend of six years, Karan (Dhairya Karwa). She is still suffering from the trauma of seeing her mother die by suicide and blames her estranged father (Naseeruddin Shah) for driving her towards committing the act. She is also unhappy with Karan, an aspiring novelist who is presently jobless adding financial burden on her.

It is at this time Alisha meets Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi), the boyfriend of her US-returned cousin Tia (Ananya Panday), while holidaying with them at Alibaug. In Zain, perhaps Alisha sees what she wishes to see in Karan, a dynamic, go-getter real-estate developer with an outgoing, pleasing personality. He is instantly smitten with her. What begins as casual flirtation between them turns to a passionate, tumultuous affair hidden from the eyes of all, until certain developments push Alisha to wanting to put it out in the open.

Watch the Trailer:

Shakun Batra had given two Dharma movies I had absolutely loved in the past -  Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Kapoor & Sons. His understanding of relationships and his writing around the characters are some of his strong points. He isn't averse to inspirations. Like for example, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was partly inspired from the Hollywood romcom What Happened in Vegas. Kapoor & Sons had shades of Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep's August: Osage County. But what makes Shakun Batra's previous two movies so good is that they build themselves to being their own identities and branch different storylines from their supposed inspirations. Gehraiyaan stumbles a bit in that aspect.

Gehraiyaan has the director bringing his best skills to the fore as a storyteller, his handling of infidelity, trauma, anxiety and broken relationships deserves special mention. Even the intimate sequences are dealt in a very tasteful manner, perhaps the much publicised usage of intimacy director may have helped here. It is also beautifully shot, courtesy Kaushal Shah. The music by Kabeer Kathpalia (OAFF) and Savera Mehta, especially the "Doobey" and the title track.

And then there are the performances. Even when I was not exactly being floored by certain scenes in the middle act, the actors did their best to make sure I was at least invested in them. Of course, when it comes to acting, Gehraiyaan belongs to Deepika Padukone. After Veronica in Cocktail, this is the actress picking up yet another complex character, this time helped by mature writing that don't exactly label her as a bad girl. Gehraiyaan doesn't justify Alisha's actions, but it allows us to understand why she does what she does. And Deepika completely immerses herself in the role, and gives us - sorry for using this much abused phrase, but can't help it - her best act to date. Her performance is wrought with fragility and a sense of tragedy which helps in creating a sense of empathy around her character, even if the repercussions of her actions do not may be demand so. Gehraiyaan works best when it stays with her character, and not so much when it moves away.

The next performer who makes the most impact is Siddhant Chaturvedi, mighty impressive in what is a very complex, grey character. His Zain is suave, charming with touch of vanity and Siddhant also delivers well in the moments of emotional desperation. Ananya Panday performs her part well, getting more scope to do so in the second half with the twist about her character near the end adds an interesting nuance to her character. Gehraiyaan: Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa Jam on Beqaaboo Song From the Film (Watch Video).

Naseeruddin Shah's screentime might be brief, but his scenes are quite the blessing to the movie whenever he appears. Rajat Kapoor is fantastic as Zain's opportunistic partner, especially in the third act. The slight disappointment is Dhairya Karwa. Not blaming the actor here, but his character lacks the dum to stand out in comparison to the other aforementioned ones.

While the acting and the direction are impressive enough, Gehraiyaan stumbles when it transitions from a mature relationship drama to a psychological thriller in the second half. In doing so, it veers way to close to its major influence - Woody Allen's Match Point, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, and Emily Mortimer. Again, Batra does a good job of depicting the deepening cracks in the equations between Alisha and Zain, and Zain and Tia, not to mention, Zain's descent to darkness, but these beats are quite similar to the 2005 film and thus, the lack of originality here was annoying. The movie felt weaker when Gehraiyaan shifts its focus from Alisha to Zain. Some of the length could have been trimmed. Thankfully, the final act is different, and fits the tone of the movie, while offering satisfactory closures to the arcs, even if not all are happy.

Yay!

- The Performances, Especially Deepika

- Batra's Mature Direction

- The Final Act

Nay!

- Close Similarities to the Hollywood Movie

- The Middle Act Isn't as Strong as a Result

Final Thoughts

Gehraiyaan may not be my favourite Shakun Batra movie, but his mature handling of contentious themes is commendable, with the fantastic performances from his three main leads making the drama better. Gehraiyaan is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Rating:3.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 11, 2022 12:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).