A love story on the big screen is meant to make us cry, remember all our heartbreaks, and feel that gut-wrenching love and pain through the characters. It’s been a long time since I explored such feelings while watching a film in the theatre. The latest addition to the list of love stories that did not work out for me is Chand Mera Dil, starring Ananya Panday and Lakshya. Directed by Vivek Soni and backed by Dharma Productions, the film attempts to explore interesting themes, but it goes nowhere with any of them. Read our review here.
Plot
Spoilers ahead! The film starts with a video call between Aarav (Lakshya) and Chandni (Ananya Panday) after the former completes his Master’s degree from a university in Michigan, US. He returns to India for the college alumni meet, and that’s when the story begins in flashbacks. Aaarav and Chandni are batchmates pursuing Mechanical Engineering. They fall in love, but their fairytale soon turns into a nightmare when Chandni gets pregnant and decides not to abort the baby. Aarav and Chandni’s relationship goes through a rough patch after their early marriage, but do they come back to each other? That’s the movie’s basic premise!
The film picks several themes, like how impulsive decisions by adults can ruin their relationship, the angry and anxious emotions of men due to the pressures of responsibility, how a woman’s life goes upside down after marriage, childhood traumas, and intolerance towards any kind of violence in a relationship.
What Doesn’t Work?
Chand Mera Dil is purely a relationship film, and it picks up some really solid themes around, but the weak writing and extremely poor execution make the film an exhausting watch. The plot is confusing because the narrative does not stick to what it wants to preach about Chandni and Aarav’s troubled relationship.
We are not given enough time to understand the lead characters, but this is really important to feel and connect with them. Their love story is built through a few songs, too rushed! The story attempts to deep dive into the complexities of the relationship, but the writing is so hollow, the characters so undefined, and the unnecessarily stretched plot combined together does not let us feel any bit of emotion. I was left with so many questions around the relationship story that the narrative goes and the flawed characters. Many of the relationship tropes are familiar, and therefore, one can see where the story is headed.
Also, the clean and aesthetic frames in the film bother me big time. It’s annoying that we no longer get films that are shot in real locations with people moving around. Everything has to be beautiful, so automatically, a cinematic depth is lost in the film.
Except for the title track, the album does not leave a mark!
What works?
Ananya Panday and Lakshya have done a good job with the script. However, it’s difficult to perceive them as 21-year old teenage kids. The actors get to explore a lot of emotions in the film, but nothing really lands because the entire time, one feels disconnected from the plot.
Also Read: Chand Mera Dil Teaser: Lakshya, Ananya Panday’s Film Promises Chemistry, Drama, And Tragedy!
Verdict
Chand Mera Dil does not become the much-awaited love story that we wanted. While a few themes in film become a strong premise for the plot, it only ends up becoming disappointing. The actors have given their best, but nothing works because of the weak script.