Movie Review - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

The buddies-on-a-road-trip genre is always an endearing concept, but it is always a challenge to inject a fresh perspective and narrative tension into it. With a lot of care and love, Zoya Akhtar tries exactly that in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a kind of a globalised update on her brother’s path breaking Dil Chahta Hai. The setting shifts to Spain (and boy, are we treated to some exotic views to feast our eyes on) where three friends are out on a bachelor trip.

Kabir (Abhay Deol) is about to marry Natasha (Kalki Koechlin) and honouring a college pact he decides to take off to Spain with buddies Imran (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) where each gets the other two to try an adventure sport. Along the journey we slowly get to know the dynamics of the inner demons each of the friends is fighting – Imran has daddy issues, Arjun has no time for a meaningful relationship and Kabir is not sure of the wedding – but we also are witness to the ebbs and flows of male bonding.

Like an idyllic holiday, the film unfurls at a languid pace but the deep sea diving and sky diving sequences are exceptionally well shot which adds an extra layer of sheen to the narrative. All the three leads put in spontaneous performances, and Katrina Kaif as Laila, the diving instructor who sets Arjun’s heart aflutter is quite charming. Zoya’s cinematic grammar might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the film grows on you and like Arjun in the film, you will perhaps reluctantly agree to the trip at first but by the end of it, not want it to end, which it does with a nicely peaked adrenaline filled crescendo.