Dil Bechara, the final film of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has begun streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The romantic drama is the official remake of the Hollywood film, The Fault in Our Stars, starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, which was an adaptation of John Green's novel by the same name. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra is making his debut as a film director with Dil Bechara. Sanjana Sanghi makes her debut as the leading lady in the film. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Dil Bechara Movie Review: Sushant Singh Rajput's Final Film Is Entertaining Yet Soothing Balm for Aching Hearts.
Sushant plays Immanuel Rajkumar Junior aka Manny and Sanjana plays Kizie, two youngsters who are afflicted with different forms of cancer, but bond over their shared fates. While Kizie is the more serious type, carrying an oxygen cylinder around, Manny is her opposite - a cheery, fun-loving prankster, who has lost his leg with his brush with cancer but has a zeal for life. In trying to make a fake film and then helping Kizie meet her favourite musician, Abhimanyu Veer, the youngsters are more and more drawn to each other.
Now that we have done watching the film, all I can say that Dil Bechara trudges the same path as the original. Dil Bechara isn't the best film that Sushant has been in, but it is definitely the most poignant, considering the circumstances in which the film is coming out. Dil Bechara deals with love and mortality, so when reel veers too close towards real life, you can't help but sigh hard. Especially when you see Sushant act with so infectious charm, that you are reeled in by his commitment. He may not look anything like a teenager, and there is something odd about his pairing with Sanjana. But Sushant makes up for the flaws with his energy, and some incredible acting in the second half (just when the film dips down).
As we bid farewell to this talented actor, here's a recap of 7 moments in the film that made us reach out to Sushant emotionally.
The Opening Tribute
We feel a thud in our hearts when the film began with Sushant (IRL) playing a guitar with his own quote written below the video - "Perhaps, the difference between what is miserable, and that, which is spectacular, lies in the leap of faith." This was a quote that Sushant shared on his Insta page last year, and now it offers a glimpse of how brilliant this man's thoughts must be. Also that smile while he is playing the guitar... heartbreaking!
Dil Bechara
Sushant is a great dancer, and it feels cosmic justice that his last film has one dance sequence that does justice to his skills. The title track performed at a college function, is the best choreographed song in the film (by Farah Khan), shot in one take and puts Rajput's dancing skills to good use.
The Hospital Sequence
After Kizie relapses and is admitted in the hospital, Manny rushes to meet her, but she tells her father that she doesn't want him to see her in that condition. When her father (played by a brilliant Saswata Chatterjee) tells him so, a moment of despair passes over Manny's face, before he pulls himself up, smiles and hugs her father. And telling him that he has no plans to go.
Meeting Abhimanyu Veer
Dil Bechara loses steam from the moment the couple go to Paris to meet Kizie's idol. But Sushant impresses more as an actor from here onwards. Just watch him in the scene where they come face to face with Saif Ali Khan's Abhimanyu (appropriately eccentric, but underused). While Veer goes ballistic, you can see the simmering anger within Manny's face. We wait for him to burst out, and he almost does, but maybe out of respect for his girl, Manny keeps his anger in check. But Sushant still shows an incredible moment of passive acting there.
The Theatre Sequence
The most scary scene happens when Manny goes to watch a Rajinikanth film in a theatre alone, and suffers from a relapse. It is a very disturbing scene, as we see the usually cheery Manny so shattered and pain, with snout coming out of his nose. Again, with Sushant's demise in our minds, this sequence feels painful to watch.
The Eulogy Scene
If the above scene felt disturbing, then this sequence is just more distressing. Manny, who is very unwell by now and in his final stages of cancer, calls JP (Sahil Vaid) and Kizie to a church and asks them to recite their eulogies for him that he wants to hear before his death. While the scene is done in a better way in the Hollywood film - where the eulogies made had more impact - Sushant's expressions in the sequence and the irony of it all hurt so bad.
The Film Montage
The running motif in the film is Manny and JP trying to make a 'Bhojpuri' film with Kizie as the heroine. The climax of the film shows the finished product where Sushant imitates Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan (recreating the DDLJ train scene). There is no moment in Sushant's career that showed him connect with his inner child, and the glee sparkling in his eyes just cannot be missed. You will be missed, dear Sushant!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2020 01:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).