Love Breakups Zindagi Review {2/5} & Review Rating
Love. Dates. Marriage. Commitments. Relationships. Do we ever ponder on what we leave behind, as we move ahead in life? Not many of us introspect. But LOVE BREAKUPS ZINDAGI, a slice of life film, makes you recall certain episodes of your life. Though the film isn't biographical, one does relate to certain episodes in the narrative for two reasons -- they seem straight out of life and of course, first-time writer-director Sahil Sangha makes an effort to tell it with utmost honesty and simplicity. But, unfortunately, he succeeds to a degree!
Sangha seems to be focused on telling a story, sorry two stories [Zayed-Dia-Vaibhav and Cyrus-Tisca], without magnifying the issues or relying on melodrama. While Sangha sets things up beautifully in the first hour -- the film has some remarkable sequences that have been filmed with lots of sensitivity -- it's the post-interval portions that blow away the impact generated by those riveting moments. There are reasons why the second half doesn't measure up to the expectations: [i] it relies on cliches, [ii] the climax, though well filmed, is way too predictable and of course, [iii] the film is toooo long [almost 2.40 hours] and worse, sluggish and dawdling paced.
LOVE BREAKUPS ZINDAGI is all about relationships and moments. Zayed Khan and Dia Mirza are almost 'settled' in their lives; Zayed is in a relationship [with Pallavi Sharda] and so is Dia [with Vaibhav Talwar]. Cyrus Sahukar has been divorced twice, but that doesn't stop him from falling in love all over again [with Tisca Chopra]. Satyadeep Misra and Auritra Ghosh are on the brink of a dream wedding.
There's no denying that Sahil Sangha has the makings of a fine storyteller. His mature handling of the emotional moments sets him apart from his contemporaries. As a storyteller, he initiates you to enjoy life and live life one day at a time. It gives you an earnest message on why we should live life by seizing the moment and following our hearts. But Sangha, like most of his peers, gets carried away while narrating the story. He takes an exceedingly elongated time to reach the culmination, tossing between real and predictable situations in the second half. Zayed's fight at the pani-puri stall appears fake. Zayed and Dia visiting Umang's three boyfriends comes across as inconsequential. But the weakest link is the climax. The culmination is beaten to death and lacks novelty.
The review would be incomplete without the contribution by music maestros Salim-Sulaiman. The supremely talented composers deliver a lilting soundtrack in LOVE BREAKUPS ZINDAGI. 'Rab Rakha' is mesmerizing, while 'Rozaana' is lively. The remix version of 'Main Se Meena Se' is super. Aseem Bajaj's cinematography is top notch. The frames are simply stunning. Ditto for the production design.
Though the film has a number of characters, Zayed and Dia are the driving forces. Zayed delivers a striking and sincere performance. Dia is first-rate and the script does justice to her talent. Tisca Chopra is excellent and so is Cyrus Sahukar. In fact, Cyrus contributes enormously in making the first half interesting. Satyadeep Misra is natural to the core. Auritra Ghosh is wonderful. Umang Jain is okay. Vaibhav Talwar is wonderful.
Farida Jalal is endearing. Soni Razdan doesn't get much scope. The film has sparkling cameos by Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Riteish Deshmukh and above all, Shah Rukh Khan.
On the whole, LOVE BREAKUPS ZINDAGI has moments that leave an impression, but they are few and far between. Besides, a weak second hour, excessive length and sluggish pacing makes it a tedious experience!
