By the time you read this, Dil Bechara (The Helpless Heart) would probably be the most talked about and most searched movie of the decade, in India and, given the high numbers of the Indian diaspora living in other countries, even the world over. I would be lying to myself if I’d say there was no bias while watching this movie. Of course, Sushant Singh Rajput, the lead actor of this movie and his tragic suicide late last month, would make even the most hard-core, neutral movie critic assess this, his last movie, with probably more than a semblance of subconscious bias towards the actor, his performance notwithstanding.
Adapted from the Hollywood hit The Fault in Our Stars, which itself was based on a novel of the same title by John Green, Dil Bechara is a sincere attempt at telling a poignant tale of two cancer-stricken individuals falling in love and trying to make the most of their time left, to realise their dreams, each for the other, and to make each other laugh and smile to the fullest, sharing tender, romantic moments of love they have never felt before.
Set in Jamshedpur, the movie begins with Kizzie Basu, played by debutant actress Sanjana Sanghi. Kizzi spends her past-time attending funerals secretly to feel a connection with what lies ahead for her. Kizzie suffers from thyroid cancer, which has spread through her lungs, needing her to be on oxygen support almost 24×7. She craves a normal life, like any other girl her age, wanting to be loved, and is waiting for her Prince charming, who doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the horizon until she meets Immanuel Rajkumar Junior — or Manny, played by Sushant Singh Rajput — in college at first and later at a cancer-support group.
Given Kizzie’s introvert nature, she mistakes Manny’s charm for arrogance and boisterousness. Manny shares his own cancer story, which includes his survival from osteosarcoma. He shares that he is in remission from cancer. Slowly but steadily, the two being to get along, and while their chemistry takes some time to grown on you, you do get engrossed in their love story as the movie progresses and shifts setting from Jamshedpur to Paris. In the midst of all of this, the two shoot a Bhojpuri film for Manny’s friend, Jagdish Pandey, played very efficiently by Sahil Vaid, who once aspired to be a successful Bhojpuri film director before losing his eyesight to cancer.
When Manny decides to fulfill Kizzie’s long standing desire of meeting her favourite musician, Abhimanyu Vaid, in Paris, she realizes finally she has fallen in love with Manny. But little does she know that there i a twist in the tale awaits their blossoming love story.
While Dil Bechara is a sincere attempt, somewhere, debutante director Mukesh Chhabra loses track to pull the strings in tough moments and fails to go all out to make the audience weep, which was what was expected out of a movie of this tone and tenor. Having said that, Sushant Singh Rajput, playing Manny, lights up the screen, especially when his character wants to seize every moment of the day. Special praise for his riveting moves in the one-shot title track, created by Farah Khan. While Sushant has given better performances, his last film will be looked at from the prism of his character’s message of living life to the fullest. Sanjana Sanghi, though earnest, fails to connect in emotional moments. But hey, she’s still young and promising, and will definitely get better from here!
The supporting roles of Kizie’s parents are played effortlessly by Swastika Mukherjee and Saswata Chatterjee. The soundtrack, composed by the genius A.R. Rahman, is pleasing – the title track, Dil Bechara, along with Khulke Jeene Ka and Taare Gin, all add to the movie’s lustre.
Dil Bechara will always be remembered for Sushant; watch it once to witness his engaging craft and art. Dil Bechara is a like a bitter-sweet pill — tough to swallow at times, sweet at others! I shall avoid giving it any stars in the memory of its 5-star lead actor, who could have given us many more promising performances but sadly left us for his heavenly abode.
