It is sad that one of the online reviews calls the movie a "story of a middle class man". In my opinion, Vinay Pathak's potrayal of a man who is counting his days till death, crosses all boundaries and demarcations. Basic human emotions, like that of a mother proud of her son, the strong bond between two estranged brothers, is bound to leave a lump in the throat of any person irrespective of the class he or she may belong to.
My understanding of the story goes like this. We take life for granted on most occassions and therefore, unhesitatingly and relentlessly we abuse the various opportunities it has on offer for us. We do not mind spoiling a day or two or even more every week, be it through reckless behaviour, or by hurting the feelings of our loved ones, or by simply feeling negative about everything around us.
Why do we behave like this? Beacuse we believe that there is plenty more to come and that we can afford to abuse a certain fraction of the time allotted to us to live. And that is exactly where Dasvidaniya confronts us, and compels us to think again. Life is not all that certain and one fine day, when you have your aspirations and ambitions at the zenith, and you realize, you cannot do anything to achieve, do you realize what you have wasted away.
It is not just about aspirations and dreams. It is also about the small but beautiful things which we have always wanted to do but decided against, only beacuse we thought we had time on our hands. This also includes acknowledging the importance of out loved ones and conveying to them what they mean to us. Sometimes, it is too late.
Some of us must have heard of the concept of "thin-slicing" (Malcolm Gladwell introduced this term in his famous book "Blink"). It basically means you throw away the irrelevant part from the whole and what remains is the meaningful part which makes sense. It helps you focus better and concentrate on things which are important. In the movie too, the protagonist gradually learns to "thin-slice" and in the process , reveals to us that what we really aspire to do in a lifetime, can actually be accomplished in a very short period of time.
It asks us to pause, to reflect, to set priorities and to "go for it". It is like a chessplayer playing a football match, one needs to be "fired up" but also think wisely. The movie also includes humour which is genuine, and to which, the audience can relate to. One instance would be when Amar (Vinay Pathak) rues his decision of buying a car when he sees the saleswoman ride off on her boyfriend's bike.
This is not exactly a movie review, one reason being my inadeptness in judging the screenplay, cinematography etc etc. And also beacuse it is a re-view, a relook on how one has lived one's life so far and an opportunity for someone to alter the course of life in a way which would make him or her happier.
This is more of a tribute to Dasvidaniya, an acknowledgement of the influence which it had on me. It is one of the rare tragedies which can make one feel positive about life. This is primarily beacuse even though the eventual death of the protagonist Amar is forseeable, the focus is on the vitality and beauty of life, and how one should cash in on valuable moments everyday.
It may be blasphemy for some but King Khan may be very good at delivering "deathbed" scenes. Vinay Pathak is much more effective when it comes to potraying the beauty of life over the gloom of death.
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