New Delhi: A critically acclaimed masterpiece of Indian cinema, the film ‘Dear Zindagi’ by Director Gauri Shinde was released in 2016 and seven years later, the film continues to make the same and rather stronger impact on audiences worldwide with regards to mental health awareness. Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt in the lead as Dr Jehangir Khan - a compassionate therapist and Kaira, a successful cinematographer respectively, the film emphasises the stigma associated with therapy while initiating meaningful dialogues.
Celebrating seven years of the film, Director Gauri Shinde chats with Film Companion’s Anupama Chopra in a heart-to-heart in collaboration with ITC Fiama X NielsenIQ, Feel Good With Fiama Mental Health Survey 2023, in a conversation around the showcasing and impact of mental health in cinema, her experience of working with Alia Bhatt and more.
Opening up about her experience of working with Alia Bhatt, Gauri Shinde said, “Alia is fantastic, and she doesn’t even look into the mirror as an actor and that’s very impressive. It’s not about my lipstick is right or make-up, she didn’t care and that for me is great like you are this person (smiles). Just at a physical level where you are not interested in that but have gotten into that space”.
Speaking about pushing the envelope with her writers, Gauri Shinde further expressed, “Its so personal a story, my writers were supporting me in this but I was leading this because it was my story to tell. Great credit to them but I had to push them myself and the entire story to go to the edge and expose the sides of me and the character as much as I can.”
Lastly, sharing a personal anecdote about real-time psychologists reaching out to her, Gauri Shinde revealed, “I got emails from psychologists which was a big eye-opener, saying thank you for making this film because it’s been so difficult for us to convince people how important and critical looking after mental health is. To just be able to take it seriously and reach out for help, and thank you from that community of doctors was a big thing and I wasn’t expecting that. A lot of young people have also reached out to me and told me how it has impacted their lives and these are real stories.”
Available to watch on Netflix, ‘Dear Zindagi’ is written and directed by Gauri Shinde. The film was produced by Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, and Gauri Shinde under the banners of Red Chillies Entertainment, Dharma Productions, and Hope Productions respectively. The film co-stars Ira Dubey, Kunal Kapoor, Angad Bedi, Ali Zafar, Yashaswini Dayama and Rohit Suresh Saraf in supporting roles.