…admirable thing about the film is its attempt to root out the stigma attached to mental health and the shame associated with therapy.
But these are small gifts in an overlong, disappointing film that misses its mark. Honestly, it’s a slog.

Both Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt show spark but the film needed a plot to hinge the performances. Too many dialogues that say too little take the joy away from the film.

Dear Zindagi is a lovely picture, made with finesse and heart, and one that not only takes some stigma off the idea of seeking therapy, but — in the most natural of ways — goes a long way in making a viewer think of the people who matter most.

The single smartest trick in this film, however, may well be the primary casting decision. Because a good therapist is a superstar.

If only Gauri brought better-etched characters and delved more into the emotional turmoils of her lead, this could have been a wonderful “slice-of-life” film with several messages to be lauded for. What she ends up with is a “could-have-been-amazing” film..

Dear Zindagi is definitely a one time watch this weekend but enter the theatre at your own risk since the journey of Kiara may hit you or it may pass by without even moving you. Watch this film only for amazing performances and nothing else.

Sad and sleepless is nothing unusual for a 20-something young woman fraught with career limbo and romantic disillusionment. What’s significant is she decides to seek professional help for the same.

Seldom does a character in our movies take such a step — who needs a shrink when you can simply stand on the beach, balcony or backyard and drive all the gloom out of your system by blasting off an ode to melancholy?

Dear Zindagi pulls at the heartstrings. It is also loaded with genteel humour. But what works above all is that the pop philosophy/psychology that underlines the drama at the film’s core isn’t the least bit pulpy.

Recommended without reservation.

Feisty Alia, one of the better actors of the current generation, turns in a nicely nuanced performance. And SRK in his sober-avatar possessing infinite gyaan tempts you to seek out a therapist. If you’re in the mood to do some soul-searching this weekend, this film could do it for you.

The highlight of the film is Alia Bhatt, who pulls off her second brilliant performance of the year after “Udta Punjab”. The focus is entirely on her and she doesn’t shy away, facing even tough scenes with a natural confidence and maturity that belies her age. “Dear Zindagi” might not be a love letter to life it was intended to be, but Bhatt and Khan make this one worth watching.

Dear Zindagi feels like a long, unending conversation that leaves you feeling exhausted. We wish Dr. Jehangir’s character had more appeal than the texture of his facial scruff.

Watch the film for Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan. It’s an emotional joyride which won’t harm you when watched once.

The memorable moments here are between Bhatt and Khan albeit most of them are already seen in the many teasers. Khan with specks of white hair in his beard and understated approach here will remind viewers of the good old days of Chak De India! and Swades respectively. But the lifeline of Dear Zindagi is its heroine who at 23 is at the top of her game.

Dear Zindagi meanders through many nothings to say something…

…comes across as a slow-paced cerebral and contemporary slice of life tale about the challenges today’s generation of girls face in a rapidly shifting landscape. At the Box-Office, it will appeal only to a niche segment of the multiplex audience on account of lack of entertainment value as well as its abstruse and esoteric treatment. It will therefore find the going tough at the box office.

…this film has some fantastic moments. Some soul searching philosophy and some heart crushing realities on offer. Dear Zindagi is a feel good film. An experience that will make you feel alive.

DEAR ZINDAGI is an impeccably performed touching if not everlasting adage on life and relationship with some soul stirring moments hailing the power of Alia Bhatt as a super performer and SRK as the irresistible cool charmer minus the super star’s ‘arm spread’ we all know.

Looking for a decent time with your near ones this weekend then DEAR ZINDAGI is your ticket.

The theme is totally relevant. The perspective, since female, is relatively unique. Alia plays a ‘filmmaker type’ herself, doing the serious grunt work — something we hardly acknowledge about women (or men) in showbiz. This is true for the director (Gauri Shinde) of this movie, of course. There is a touch of semi-autobiography in there.

Dear Zindagi then is a mixed bag. I loved SRK in the film, Bhatt is always a pleasure to watch, the story visits many themes that are uncommon in Bollywood, and several of the discussions are either witty or insightful or both. Overall though, the film comes across as being not enough because the writing needed more substance.

For two hours you put up with too shiny, too happy people holding hands and you’re fed up with the hokey counseling sessions. The last half hour actually touches you but it is too little too late.

The flick is more like a therapy that the modern generation needs today in order to live a stress-free life. It is hard to comment whether it will work wonders in the single screen and rural areas but, if you need some freshness and a break from Bollywood clichés, then straightaway head to a theatre closest to you to grab a slice of ‘Dear Zindagi’

If you are bored of those generic Bollywood films with item numbers and over-the-top action sequences and are looking for an honest and heartfelt film that will give you something to take back home, Dear Zindagi is a delightful watch you cannot miss. Plus, it has SRK in a never-seen-before avatar.

Dear Zindagi will definitely appeal to you if you love slice of life film. A little bit of trimming here and there would have been good, and it is not a typical Bollywood movie. However that shouldn’t stop you from not witnessing one of Alia’s best performances and SRK being his charming best.

Shah Rukh Khan bears down with starry charm on the role of Jug, but his mountaineer anecdote just can’t compare with his co-star talking about herself in disguised third person earlier in the scene. Bhatt has a rare ability to make the emotional decisions of her characters look as if they spontaneously occurred to her. In other words, she gives the impression she’s winging it, which makes even the most ordinary scenes she’s in terribly exciting.

Dear Zindagi could have been a lively, fun film albeit with life lessons, rather than the long-winded slice of life it is.

It is a shame then that a film that had all the right things to say; that had capable actors to say them the right way; that had characters who could have kept your thoughts from going astray doesn’t do it all too well. It is a film different from the norm which by itself wins some points, but not quite enough.

If you are looking for a heartwarming, sensitive film about troubled twenty-somethings, then make a date with Dear Zindagi. You won’t live to regret it.

Go for it if you seek some comfort food with some philosophical ingredients in it!

We have seen Imtiaz Ali and Aamir Khan deal with the same topic in Tamasha and Taare Zameen Par, but Gauri Shinde gives it her signature and links it rather well with romance. It’s painfully slow but has some beautiful moments. Definitely makes for a good one-time watch! 

Dear Zindagi starts off as a rap song but ends on an aarti note. Too bad you never realized when your party turned into a jagrata. 

Dear Zindagi has the longest prelude in recent memory – endless soft-focus montages, friendly banter, and lovable close-ups and fly-on-the-wall footage of the magnificent Alia Bhatt as a romantically confused cinematographer, all of which seem to be adding up to something vague or nothing at all.

‘Dear Zindagi’ would have worked better if it was little shorter and focussed, as it is SRK fans should definitely watch him in a different avatar, playing his age. Otherwise, it’s not a must watch, just worth a once watch.

Had the story been a tad bit crisper, it could have been a breezy masterpiece.

Still, a fine effort by Shinde and co, with some valuable lessons for modern-day families, who will in all probability, relate to many scenes and perhaps revaluate their relationships.