Watched What? Gehraiyaan – Film
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Watched Where? Amazon Prime
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Language / Genre: Hindi+English. Drama
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What’s it about? Alisha (Deepika Padukone) is someone whose life, career, & relationship are going nowhere. Her live-in boyfriend (Dhariya Karwa) has quit his job to stay home and write a book. She is tired of being the one who earns, runs the house, lives in a dingy apartment, counts pennies, and is in a stale relationship.
Alisha reunites with her estranged cousin, Tia (Ananya Pandey) whose fiance, Zain (Siddhanth Chaturvedi), accompanies her, both of whom seem to be living THE life. They have studied abroad, travelled, and are planning a destination wedding. Zain and Tia hire a yacht for a year, on which the two couples go for a brief holiday.
The disparity in their lives makes Alisha feel even more miserable.
Soon, Zain starts hitting on her, and Alisha obliges. Lust turns to love, which turns to greed, and things go out of hand.
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What did I think of it?
Bad script, excruciatingly slow pace, and characters who are insipid & unconvincing. I could not empathise with any of the characters.
I waited to see how they would cover the much-hyped infidelity & childhood trauma angles. My yawn at both is more exciting. I read that an ‘Intimacy Director’ was brought in to film ‘those’ scenes. I’m trying to figure out what exactly he did, as the scenes were so awkward and lacked both intimacy and direction.
The script seems as confused as the actors & director who can’t seem to decide whether it wants to focus on relationships or money.
If you want to make a film about infidelity, make it. If you want to make a film about greed, make it. But make it convincing enough for the viewer to believe it. Flesh out your characters and the script correctly. Let the audience root for the character or hate them. As an audience I want to see a different perspective, I want to understand why a character does what they do, I want to form my own opinion about them. In Gehraiyaan, the only thing I felt for all 4 of the characters was annoyance.
Siddhanth Chaturvedi is too raw for the role of this calibre. Deepika Padukone appears to have suffered from a severe sunburn and is stressed and in pain as a result. I also couldn’t understand the pursed lips and the hunch. Dhariya Karwa has a ‘what am I doing here’ expression throughout.
The entire team of this film seems to have had a big Hollywood hangover, & the film appears to have been made while they were hungover.
Wow or not now? Iron your clothes. Clean the grout in your bathroom. Do whatever you have to; skip this film. Gehrayiaan is a film about a bunch of ungrateful people, two of whom use their ‘childhood trauma’ to ruin multiple lives and the audience’s time.
What Else?
The only good thing about this film was Ananya Pandey. She looked and seemed to feel as bewildered as I did while watching the film.
* 1 Star to Gehraiyaan
#WhatMWatched Rating Chart:
* I should have counted the stars instead.
**I watched it while playing Candy Crush on my phone. **
*** Totally worth it!
**** Loved it so much, I wish I had starred in it!
***** Why haven’t others watched it? I am going to spam everyone I know with this review, till they do!
This blog post is part of the blog challenge, ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla
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Absolutely agree with you, Mayuri. It was very shallow. No character seemed complete. The so-called intimate scenes were such a mash-up. Shakun tried to ape the Hollywood Movies. They have steamy scenes but these were so sloppy. Just shedding your clothes and lying on a bed doesn’t show your passion. The youth will love it am sure and learn that its fine to cheat!
Thank you, Harjeet! You are so right !
Hahaha intimacy director couldn’t put intimacy and direction together. Lol. Will watch and see how I feel about it as some of my friends seem to think it’s a good one-time watch at least.
All the best!:)))
So many people have similar views as yours. Guess I am the weird one who kind of liked the movie, its not my favourite but I didn’t hate it while watching it
Hey, that’s perfectly ok, Pooja! It doesn’t make you weird at all!
hahaha. thanks for the review, it was hyped a lot and i was still interested to watch it.
Thank you, Sadvika.
Definitely everyone will be spammed to watch it, liked the points you have put up.
Thanks Flavia.
Was willing to watch it but skipped it as my little daughter watches all the movies with me .Thanx to her and to your honest review that i know what to do instead of watching gehraiyan
Hahahaha, thank you, Jasmine.
haha! loved reading your review Mayuri. I was sceptical about this movie and your review gave me clarity. I like the songs there but the name, title trailer gives me anxiety and negative thoughts. so yes, a big NO after this review
Thank you, Vidhya.
I love your review n the humor in it, but I liked the movie too. Although I’ve been hearing mixed reviews, I totally enjoyed watching it.
Thank you, Kaveri.
Hilarious review.. Loved it totally. Well I didn’t find it that bad.. Though I an not a fan of any of these actors but again one time watch. Most of the movies now a days are disappointing me for the only reason, cannot be watched with kids.
Thank you, Swati. Glad you enjoyed the review and the film 🙂
I have yet to see the movie. Thanks for your detailed review Mayuri. I did not know Deepika had acted like this. Had very high expectations from her. Anyway, now I know what to see next 🙂
You’re welcome, Pamela.
I love how you review books and movies. I had heard about the movie but was not really interested in watching it. After reading your review, I know I made the right decision.
Thank you, Madhuji.
Your review is far better and entertaining than what I expected from the movie. It looks dull and unconvincing and I’m glad I gave it a pass. Wonder how it doing well though. Manipulated media?
I would like to believe the same-manipulated media-too, Varsha. Thanks for reading.
Rarely do movies and series do justice to such a concept. Enjoyed reading your review, Mayuri. I have read some mixed reviews but will probably pass this one.
Thank you, Ritu.
I neither loved nor hated the movie. Yes at the start I was beginning to think it as a bore and almost fast forwarded the so called intimate scenes which had no chemistry in them but I seemed to like the twist of the movie and the ending was equally catching.
Thank you for reading and sharing your view, Shail.
Thanks for the honest review!Was wondering whether I should check it out or not but I think post this i’ll skip it!
You’re welcome, Meetali.
I liked Deepika though. May be I’m kind of biased towards her. I just like her.. Agree about Siddhrath. No, he ain’t Shahrukh of Baazigar.
Thanks for reading, Sonia.
You know….I heard such contradictory reviews about the movie. So I watched it & actually liked it. It is not a ‘watch again’ kind of movie – but was good for a one time watch for me. But yes I completely agree that the Intimacy Directory didnt do much – infact I think the entire thing was over hyped. We are subjected to much more steamy stuff on OTT anyway. Some of the things were very predictable – like when the old couple were brought on the boat, I knew these would come back and these 2 would be exposed 🙂
Yes, valid points, both. Thanks for reading, Vasumathi.
What a review. Applaud! It shocked me to see only the 3 actors in the summation, the Ananya twist was simply awesome.
Coming to the movie, watched it with a lot of expectations as I’m in love with the songs and was disappointed as well as satisfied, ironic as it may sound. Couldn’t understand their lifestyle nor could relate to it, satisfied to see the complex and true deeds brought out on celluloid. Adultery and mental trauma, has always been present but never vocalised. High time it is, but hopefully with a better script.
Glad you enjoyed the movie and my review, Zenobia.
I have already skipped watching this movie after trailor, now after reading your review, i know I adi right. Thank you for your review
Thanks for reading, Pooja.
I never thought that Gehrayiyan is Such a bad movie. You have reviewed it deeply and I think I should the idea of watching it.
Thank you, Bhawna.
Thanks for the detailed review. Agree with you on the fact that the movie was quite hyped.
You’re welcome, Rekha. Thanks for reading.
Thank you for your honest review mayuri. If I hadn’t seen your review post on Instagram ny weekend would have been ruined. I instead spent a good amount of time cleaning up my wardrobe.
Thank you for reading, Sindhu.
Agree with your rating and review. Watched this movie and felt the same.
Thank you, Abha.
I absolutely loved the review…I found it similarly unimpressive and felt that even Saas-bahu daily soaps can present the characters with better depth.
So agree with you, Jhilmil! Thanks for reading!
I watched it with my man. And we both disliked it. Better was expected from director Shakun Batra
Indeed, a shallow movie that ironically comes with the title ‘gehraiyaan’! Well put!
Haha loved your review. I agree with your opinion about siddant. The character is too heavy for him
I haven’t watched yet but read that it isn’t what it was promoted. Anyway will watch atleast one time…let’s see !!!
I haven’t watched the film but found your review highly entertaining! Hahaha!