Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara! Mention this film to moviegoers all over the world and if they were lucky enough to have already seen it, they will most likely say, ‘Oh man! I loved it!’ If they are one of those unlucky ones who haven’t seen it yet then the response is most definitely, ‘I am dying to see that movie. When does it come out on DVD?’ Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film stars Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan, Kalki Koechlin and Katrina Kaif. The voices of fans and critics alike are united in their adoration of this wonderful film. Still need convincing that ZNMD totally rocks? Read on to find out what our BollySpice writers and other fans of the film loved the most:
The Farhan-Abhay-Hrithik Chemistry: Almost everyone we talked to had this reason very high on their list. The ease that Farhan, Abhay and Hrithik had together in every scene was amazing. Farhan and Hrithik both told us they all really bonded on set and that was certainly evident. There were so many pitch perfect moments: from the scene where they were laughing in the restaurant to the more serious, emotionally revealing scenes, to the quiet ones that showed the moments in which they had to express their feelings without words. It wasn’t as if we were watching three actors in a film, we were there with three friends on a trip that changed their lives forever.
The Performances: The entire cast was brilliant! Each actor portrayed a character that we haven’t seen from him or her before. Hrithik was fabulous as the strict and cold Arjun, Farhan was perfect as Imraan, revealing a complicated man whose happy, funny surface masks a hidden sadness and Abhay hit the bullseye as Kabir. Kalki’s performance was wonderful and her connection with Abhay was another great thing about this film. Similarly, we loved Katrina Kaif’s performance and her chemistry with Hrithik. This first time pairing of Kat and Hrithik was sensational. Of course, they are both very easy on the eyes, but more importantly their performances were so in sync, it seemed completely natural that they would fall in love. Katrina actually shared a wonderful chemistry with all three of the male leads. The movie felt honest, believable and real, a testament to the fact that all the actors really complimented each other and did not try to upstage one another.
The Direction: Director Zoya Akhtar exceeded her excellent work in her debut film Luck By Chance. Her handling of every scene, emotional, fun-filled or adventurous, was outstanding. The movie never felt rushed at any point: from the way Zoya took the time to introduce each character, slowly revealing their issues, to the way she let the silent and quiet moments develop. She showed trust in her audience, giving them just enough of what was important and leaving the rest to the audience to interpret. She also made a film with a message, but she did not try to force feed it to anyone. As Farhan told us, “The greatest thing about this film is that there is a lot of deeper meaning about friendship and about certain issues in your life that you get a glimpse of, but it doesn’t happen in a preachy way. It happens more in action than it does in long pieces of dialog. It does this in a very non-preachy, kind of Zen, off hand kind of way, which is very, very special.”
The Shayaris: Of course, we have to mention the poems written by Javed Akhtar and spoken by Farhan’s character Imraan. Each poem brought out the essence of each character perfectly and they were the extra special layer that added so much to the feel and the depth of the film.
The Cinematography: Hands down, this was incredible work by the director of photography, Carlos. He ensured that the cinematography did not overshadow the story, but instead helped take the movie forward. You never felt the camera was intruding. The shots were gorgeous, awesome, breathtaking, amazing… need we say more?
The Three Adventures: Watching the friends skydive, run with the bulls and go deep sea diving was exciting. In addition, moviegoers got to experience the Tomatina festival, all of which has never been seen in Hindi films before. The choice of these particular adventures enhanced the exhilarating feel of the movie and were the perfect choice.
The Songs: When we asked fans to tell us which songs they liked best, we thought it would be only one or two that would make it to our list, but remarkably EVERY song was listed as part of why fans loved the film. The picturizations were perfect, and although more of the music was the background score or used in montage scenes, the songs and the scenes with them fit perfectly within the film. Not a wrong note was hit.
The Story: Many people mentioned to us how much they loved the story of the film. Not only was it very relatable, it was also fresh and new. Zoya and Reema Kagti did a fabulous job of writing these characters with panache; we empathized with each of them. The characters were refreshingly multi-dimensional because the filmmakers were not afraid to show us the characters’ flaws. It had friendship, fun, romance, emotion, and adventure all shown in a way not seen in Hindi cinema before.
Bagwati: One of the funniest inanimate objects ever on screen. Yes, inanimate objects can be funny. Really. Once you see the movie, we promise you’ll understand.
The Message: Though we’ve already mentioned this once, the message has resonated so much with us and with fans that we decided it had to have it’s own space. In a very subtle manner, the message of the film hit a chord with many. It made us realize that we only have one chance to live and we need to make the most of it. We need to seize the moment so that we don’t look back at our lives and regret what we could have done and make sure and enjoy every moment: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara!
The whole film: As you can see there are many, many reasons that, in our opinion, ZNMD rocks!! This movie is so good that we are sure you could come up with many more reasons. We could keep writing about it as well but we will just end with this: ZNMD is a movie full of fun, romance, joy, celebration, heartwarming and heartrending emotion, lovely scenery, and eye candy whose acting is as hot as they are. It is a film that will make you leave the theater with a smile! If you are one of those unlucky ones who has to yet to experience this movie, see it as soon as you can. If you are one of those lucky ones who has seen it, by all means spread the word! Your friends and family will thank you.
With Contribtuions by Vani, Bollyspice team and many fans of ZNMD!
