Dil Bechara

Spoiler Alert: May contain story of the film

The news of young actor Sushant Sing Rajput committing suicide was a shock for all film lovers. The sad demise of this handsome, budding actor was a painful puzzle for those who had seen his films like M S Dhoni- The untold story, Chhichore, PK etc. Even as the death has stirred up a storm in Bollywood and media, the last film in which he has acted, Dil Bechara, has been released through OTT platform: Disney+Hotstar. As a tribute to the departed actor, they have made free access to the film even for non-subscribers. This good gesture deserves appreciation.  The film is based on a novel, The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.

Cancer, a real life villain, has been a successful villain in reel life also, especially in love stories, irrespective of language. We can recall any number of films, old and new, featuring love stories in which the fatal disease played the role of villain and the film ended in tragedy. In Dil Bechara also villain role is played by Cancer. But the difference is, in the films so far we have seen, love starts first, intensifies and then the disease comes in as the villain. But in this film it subsists from beginning till end.

Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi), a teenager, had recovered from thyroid cancer but it had affected her lungs badly. Now her life is supported by an oxygen cylinder carried wherever she goes. A cannula inserted to her nostrils supplies the oxygen from the cylinder. She longs to lead a normal life but is getting devoid of it. However her life gets a welcome change after she meets her college mates Manny (Sushant Sing Rajput) and his friend Jagadish Pande (Sahil Vaid) at the cancer support center. Manny had lost one leg due to Osteogenic sarcoma but is now able to walk normally using artificial limb. Jagadish has already lost one eye due to cancer and he is about to lose the other one also shortly through surgery.

Manny deliberately tries to establish friendship with Kizie, though the introvert in her tries to keep him off in the beginning. Slowly she develops friendship with him. They share their respective interests: He is a Rajanikant fan. She is mad about music by Abhimanue Veer; in fact she is puzzled why he has left the last song incomplete and is continuously trying to contact him to get an answer. But the singer is untraceable. Now Manny takes over the mission and succeeds in contacting him. Finally they get an invitation to Paris where they can meet Abhimanue Veer and he will resolve the puzzle for Kizie. After much persuasion her doctor gives permission for the trip along with Kizie’s mother. In Paris, though the meeting with Abhimanue Veer turned out to be a huge disappointment, the relationship between Kizie and Manny turns into intensive love.  And it’s time for the dormant villain to raise its ugly head…

Novel vs original cinema vs Hindi adaptation.

John Green’s novel has an undercurrent of death and the reader throughout gets a feeling that it may rise up and engulf the main characters any time. Death; inevitable and at times, imminent. Though it is carried over to the original film through character build up and dialogues, the Hindi version has ignored this undercurrent altogether. In the novel, Hazel (Kizie in our film) is obsessed by the book ‘An Imperial Affliction’ which ended abruptly and is incomplete. She tries to meet its author Peter Van Houten along with Augustus (Manny in our film) at Amsterdam to get answers for her intriguing questions regarding the fate of the characters of the book. In the Hindi script (written by Shashank Khaitan and Suprotim Sengupta), Kizie’s insistence to go all the way to Paris to meet Abhimanue Veer lacks credibility due to weak build up. The scenic beauty of Amsterdam was utilized in a better way to beautify the film and reveal the intensity of love by the director of the original film than that of Paris by the director of Dil Bechara, Mukesh Chhabra. It is good that the writers pruned down and improved the character of JP. The junk vehicle dumping yard also seemed a better rendezvous for Kizie and Manny than the skeleton park of original film.

Dil Bechara has music by A R Rahman and cinematography by Satyajith Pandey; both of them add great value to the film. Acting is the other feature worth mentioning. Sushant with his usual boyish charm lives through the film. His performance during the funeral preview scene arouses a muted sob in one’s mind as it reminds the end of his real life. Sanjana Sanghi with her smile through pain and tears lingers in one’s mind. Saswata Chatterjee was superb as Kizie’s father, especially in the dance teaching scene. In fact, that seems to be the most touching scene in the film from an adult point of view. .

The debutant director deserves appreciation for the light and cheerful handling of the otherwise gloomy subject. In the end, however, the film reminds of the ephemerality of life and suggest to enjoy, live every moment of it.