I watched Gehraiyaan at 12:00 am on Feb 11th — the day of its release on Amazon Prime Video. I wonder how many other crazies were up watching it with me.
I’ve been waiting for this movie ever since I saw the first promo. Something about the dark tones captivated me. I’ve devoured all trailers and binge-heard the songs. Doobey is an amazing number that reflects the mood of the movie beautifully. I’ve been playing it on loop all morning. Yup, I think I am nuts too!
The movie’s main premise is infidelity in relationships. Or is it? At the end of the movie, I wasn’t really sure. Is it about insecurity? Is it just about wanting more? Or is it circumstances getting the better of you? You be the judge when you watch the movie. I am confused, honestly.
At a little under 2 hrs 23 minutes, the movie didn’t feel like a drag at any point. It kept flowing like the waves they show rising and crashing on the sea. Smooth, intense, intriguing, and inviting. I was drawn to the movie like surfers must be drawn to tall waves rising in the dark, blue sea.
The movie starts with two happy couples. Alisha and Karan played by Deepika and Dhairya and Tia and Zain played by Ananya and Siddhant. They’ve all done a good job. Obviously, Deepika Padukone steals the show. Obviously, I am a fan. I think she is awesome. Siddhant comes a close second.
Alisha and Tia are cousins and spent time together during their childhood. Circumstances forced them apart. Karan was a part of the childhood too. But I wasn’t able to figure out his place in the childhood equation. I think I was already too absorbed with Alisha’s emotions by then.
Cut to the present. Alisha and Karan are living together. Tia shows up with her ‘I have hired a yacht for a bit’ boyfriend, Zain. From the moment Zain and Alisha meet, you begin to notice tiny sparks lighting up the screen. The moviemakers did not waste too much time turning the spark into a blazing fire. Heck, isn’t that what the audience was waiting for, breaths held, eyes wide open? Who doesn’t love a gossip-worthy ‘she is cheating on him’ story to spice up their lives?
While Alisha and Zain set the screen on fire with their perfect bodies, we get glimpses into Alisha’s childhood and the darkness that she is clearly fighting against. Does her childhood drive her to behave in a certain way? Would she have been different if her past was different? Would her choices have been different?
If only life was that black and white. Happy childhood = perfect adult behavior. Then again, how do we decide what perfect behavior is? Who makes these rules?
As you watch the characters in the movie go through their swirling and roiling emotions, it makes you think about humans, our relationships, and what drives the choices that each person makes.
Alisha and Zain are clearly ‘cheating’ on their respective partners. At some point, Alisha breaks up with Karan. Technically, she is no longer cheating. So I guess she can be let off the hook of our judgment. But Zain continues to ‘cheat.’
Alisha wants to sculpt a different life for herself. She runs a yoga center and is working hard to build an app that she wants to market and monetize. Zain is running some fancy real estate project that will bring in tons of moolah to continue to fund his yacht life.
As we navigate their clandestine relationship, Alisha’s mental turmoil, her complex relationship with her father, the ups and downs of Zain’s business venture, we forget to notice what Karan and Tia are up to. All our senses are absorbed with Alisha and Zain. We are sucked into the vortex of their lives and we find ourselves rising and crashing like the waves on the sea. What a mess it is!
If you think all this is interesting, wait till you get closer to the end. The plot thickens and takes unexpected turns. I found myself shocked and sucking in deep breaths during some scenes.
Overall, the movie does a good job of traveling along the gray edges of daily life. It unveils the thin layers of relationships and presents us with situations where a one-sided view can cloud judgment.
My rating for the movie is 3.5/5. It is definitely worth one watch to see shades of gray, drool at Deepika’s perfect figure, marvel at the intensity of Alisha and Zain’s relationship, and ponder over what humans are capable of in different circumstances.
Anu Anniah Writes 
Great review, Anu!
A lot of my friends are talking about this movie and have been moved to the extent of pouring out their emotions and taking to social media forums to express themselves.
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