Gehraiyaan is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Shakun Batra who also wrote the script with Ayesha Devitre, Sumit Roy and Yash Sahai. Jointly produced by Dharma Productions, Viacom18 Studios and Jouska Films, the film stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa with Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapoor in supporting roles. The film premiered on 11 February 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.
Development
In April 2019, Shakun Batra was reported to direct the biopic on Osho, which was shelved. During the 21st edition of the MAMI film festival in October 2019, Batra was reported to direct Deepika Padukone in the lead, labelling the film’s genre as domestic noir. In December 2019, Padukone went to the office of Dharma Productions and met Batra, where a script discussion about the film was held for a few minutes.
Impressed by the narration, Padukone confirmed that she had a part in the film. In mid-December 2019, it was further reported that Vicky Kaushal and Siddhant Chaturvedi were reported to be playing the male leads, and another actress was reported to be on-board for the project. The latter was finalized and, in the very same month, Ananya Panday was finalized as the second female lead. Dhairya Karwa was cast in a leading role in March 2020.
Filming
Pre-production of the film began in March 2020. Initially, filming was to proceed in Sri Lanka, however, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the shoot was delayed by six months and moved to Goa, owing to its similar landscapes. The first schedule began in September 2020 and lasted approximately one month. The team returned to Mumbai in November 2020, where filming resumed for another month. Shooting for the next schedule commenced in Mumbai at the end of March 2021. Filming was wrapped up in August 2021. After being known as Production No. 70 for two years, a teaser was released on 20 December 2021, revealing the title of the film as ‘Gehraiyaan’.
The film’s music and original score is composed by independent musical duo Kabeer Kathpalia (OAFF) and Savera Mehta, in their mainstream film debut. Kausar Munir and Ankur Tewari wrote the lyrics for the songs. The track featured in the announcement teaser of the film is the Hindi version of “Frontline” sung by Lothika Jha and the Hindi lyrics were written by Tewari.
The film released globally on 11 February 2022, through Amazon Prime Video.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast, visuals, music and tone but criticizing the pace, story, direction and predictability. Sanjana Jadhav of Pinkvilla gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and wrote “Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan is a deep dive into individual and family’s past choices, relationships and why we do, what we do. The director has successfully struck a balance of intimacy, shock, grief and above all love”.
Renuka Vyavahare of The Times Of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote “Shakun Batra tries to decode complex human behaviour and its consequences, through a story that’s tough to narrate”. Phuong Le of The Guardian rated the film 3 out of 5 and said “While the lurid twists and turns are enjoyable in a 90s erotic thriller kind of way, the sudden shift towards suspense hampers Padukone’s performance. And what a performance it is!”
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 2 out of 5 and wrote “The foursome of Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa should have been a throbbing hot mess, but the film doesn’t go deep enough”. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 2 out of 5 and wrote “The film is about youthful, adventurous love, but it is utterly devoid of humour and zing. When it tries to lighten up, it falls flat”.Shantanu Ray Chaudhari of The Free Press Journal gave the film 1 out of 5 and wrote “The writing veers between the trite and the ridiculous.”
Plot
Alisha, a 30-year-old yoga instructor, is working on an app and is struggling to find investors while providing for her unemployed writer boyfriend, Karan with whom she feels suffocated. She also suffers from anxiety after dealing with her mother’s suicide as a child, and is estranged from her father. Alisha’s paternal cousin, Tia, is newly engaged to Zain and invites the couple to their Alibaug beach house.
Zain and Alisha quickly bond due to their traumatic past and begin to flirt with each other. After the trip Alisha kisses him, regretting it after. Alisha learns that Karan has allowed Tia to read his draft and feels hurt as she had been asking to read his draft for a long time. She allows Zain back in and they begin an affair.
Zain gets his business to invest in Alisha’s app. He reveals to Alisha that his father was violent toward him and his mother, which encouraged his move to America. During Alisha’s birthday party, Karan proposes to her, and she accepts. She decides to end things with Zain to focus on her new life.
After finding out Karan failed to tell her that his book has been rejected, Alisha ends their engagement. Zain tells her he will end things with Tia after he returns Tia’s investment and they continue their affair. Zain’s company again invests in Alisha’s app and provides her with a new yoga studio.
At Zain and Tia’s anniversary party, Alisha reveals to Zain that she is pregnant. Zain’s company is placed under investigation when one of his investors is caught for money laundering. After Tia finds Alisha’s anxiety pills in Zain’s jacket, he appeases her by saying he is stressed from work.
Alisha’s yoga studio is sealed by officers and she confronts Zain. Zain’s business partner Jitesh deduces the truth about Zain and Alisha. Tia agrees to mortgage the Alibaug Beach House to save the company but Zain sells it instead, convinced he can buy it back in a year.
At Alibaug, Tia accuses him of having an affair and asks to see his phone. When he shows her, she feels guilty and signs the papers. Karan tells Alisha that Tia is helping Zain with his company and both are in Alibaug. An angry Alisha gives Zain an ultimatum to reveal the truth to Tia or she will.
Zain calls Alisha to his yacht and lies that he ended things with Tia. Alisha sees him mixing pills in her drink. Horrified, she tells Zain she wants to get back to land. Zain sees Tia’s incoming call on Alisha’s phone and asks her to decline; when she refuses, he attempts to push her overboard but slips and drowns to sea and dies. A frightened Alisha rushes back home, where she has a miscarriage.
Tia calls the police and they find Zain’s body. Jitesh who knew about Zain’s plan threatens Alisha to get him the signed papers or he will tell everyone the truth. Alisha does so and Jitesh covers up Zain’s death as a suicide. Tia reveals to Alisha that her father had an affair with Alisha’s mother and has left the Alibaug Beach House in Alisha’s name.
Depressed, Alisha attempts to commit suicide but is interrupted by her father. In not wanting to feel suffocated like her mother, Alisha realises she has ended up exactly like her. She questions why he never told her the truth about her mother but he says he did not want her mother’s life to be defined by one mistake.
Two years later, Alisha now has a better relationship with her father and attends Karan’s engagement party, where she meets Tia. Tia wonders if revealing the truth was right but Alisha reassures her it was. Tia, who is still unaware of everything that happened between Zain and Alisha, agrees to mend their relationship. Karan introduces them to his fiancée’s grandmother who recognises Alisha instantly after she and Zain had helped her and her husband from a stranded boat. Alisha stares blankly at the woman, realising that she can’t escape the past without confronting it.