Infidelity is a topic that has been tackled in Indian film since the dawn of time. Satyajit Ray, who directed Charulata, was the first to address this issue, and another was Raj Kapoor’s Sangam. Unlike Ray, other directors adopted an easy method to resolve the triangle problem of marriage. In Sangam, Gopal (Rajendra Kumar) commits himself, allowing Sundar (Kapoor) and Radha (Vyjayanthimala) to be together.
The latest Amazon Prime Video offering, Gehraiyaan (Depths) by Shakun Batra, follows in the footsteps of so many others, except that the couples — and there are two – are in a live-in relationship.
- Shakun Batra is the director.
- Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, and Dhairya Karwa star, with Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapoor providing support.
Gehraiyaan is about four people: Alisha (Deepika Padukone), Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi), Tia (Ananya Panday), and Karan (Dhairya Karwa). Al, alias Alisha, is a troubled yoga instructor who lives her life with the weight of her past, has a start-up plan to develop an app, and struggles to fulfill her ends. Karan, her 6-year-old writer lover, is working hard to publish his novel.
Tia, Al’s first cousin and a well-off US-returned suave fortunate girl enters the picture. She seemed to have had the best of everything. Tia takes Al and Karan, who are practically childhood friends, on a brief trip and introduces them to her fiance Zain, who is colorful, impressive, and flirty. He has advanced to a higher level and is eager to advance – he is ambitious and wants to make a lot of money.
Eyes collide, flames flow, and bodies finally collide as well. It all comes down to infidelity after a little innocent flirtation here and there, texting, and keeping minor secrets from various relationships.
Alisha (Deepika Padukone) has been with Karan (Dhairya Karwa) for six years. He is a struggling author who has yet to find a publisher while she operates a yoga studio and covers the bills. Her cousin, Tia (Ananya Panday), has recently become engaged to Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi). He operates a construction company with the assistance of Tia’s family, and the pair lives in luxury. He dresses in fine clothes, lives in opulent surroundings, and even possesses a sleek private yacht.
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In the most recent Amazon Prime Video, Alisha is envious of him; he is everything Karan is not. While the writer is modest and devoid of attitude, Zain is pompous and a show-off – with a roaming eye that catches Alisha during the foursome’s boat voyage to Alibaug.
The plot deviates from the well-trodden path. Alisha, whose mother committed suicide, arrives with this terrible baggage, which she blames on her father (Naseeruddin Shah). The daughter and father have a troubled relationship, but we’d find out later how wrong she was.
Tia and Alisha are incredibly close. They grew up together, their bonds based on easy companionship and, more importantly, trust. Alisha’s flip breaks this for playboy Zain, and the affair descends into scary territory. I’m guessing there’s more desire than love, as well as guilt. Alisha is devastated at having deceived Tia, who appears to be a simpleton and does not suspect Zain when he receives calls in the middle of the night. He tells his fiancee, it was my contractor, who believes him naively.
Love, like cough, cannot be disguised, as one writer once said, and certainly not desire. When the storm hits, Alisha issues a request to Zain and threatens to tell Tia the truth. He is unprepared for this, owing primarily to his reliance on Tia’s funds to bail him out of the financial quagmire in which his firm has found itself.
Batra, who co-wrote the script, has little fresh to give, and the picture, which stretches for 130 minutes – when it might have been done in 90 – feels monotonous at times. Yes, there are many styles, but there is no substance. We see beautiful ladies dressed provocatively, and Alisha’s yoga demonstration looks to be centered on titillation.
The much-publicized personal moments, shot under the close supervision of an intimacy director (perhaps India’s first), are watery, and we can tell how uncomfortable Padukone is in bed with Chaturvedi. There is trepidation, as well as uneasiness. Even the kisses are uninteresting. Indian actresses, I imagine, are still hesitant to let their hair down on such occasions. Call it social conditioning or apprehension about familial or communal pressure.
While Padukone’s acting is only adequate (she struggles emotionally), Panday’s demeanor is too casual to make an impression, even when she suspects her fiance. Both men are severe letdowns, and they simply can’t get into their characters to communicate pain. When Alisha informs Karan that she feels suffocated in their relationship, he is taken aback, yet he sleepwalks through these situations.
It’s never apparent why Zain wants to call it quits on his engagement. And when the time comes to confront the realities and accept the responsibility of meeting with Alisha, he takes a terrifying route that reminded me of Woody Allen’s 2005 psychological thriller, Match Point, where the man gets away with murder.
