Dear Zindagi

What would you do when you want to buy a chair?

Do you just walk into the first store you find and pick up the first chair you see? 

Do you allow another person to tell you which chair would suit you best? 

Or would you prefer to check each chair out? Sit in them, feel the texture, test the cushioning, experience the seat, in fact check all the options possible before taking a call?

Nothing could possibly beat this analogy to making the choice of a suitable partner in life.

It's sad that most Indian women are taught to believe that society knows better when it comes to making life's major decisions. In fact, we're told from a young age that it's improper to even consider an unwed relationship with a man or, god forbid, men! And most of us were forcibly convinced that we're better off marrying strangers because our parents, families and oh yes, society believes that that's what's best for us. 

At a young age, the responsibility of the family's good name is a burden that many a 'proper' Indian girl is forced to bear. 

Thank God attitudes are changing. And thank God I'm a different breed! 

As the mother of a teenager myself, I believe that each individual, my daughter included, should be allowed the right to choose what is best for her in the long run. Be it in her studies, her career, her friends and of course her partners. I choose to pluralise that because I want her to eventually pick the chair that's perfect for her and thankfully I'm sensible enough to know that sometimes the first chair you choose may not be best suited for you so yes, as a responsible mother I want her to try a chair or two until she gets to the chair she's the most comfortable and the happiest with. After all, a mother can only want the best for her child. It's her life, she should have the right to enjoy it as best as she can, living it to the fullest. She should know that it's fine to make mistakes but most of all she must know that a mistake is not the end but the beginning of another better road. 

Dear Zindagi teaches you all that and more, proving that the simplest of stories can reveal the truest beauty of good living. 

The movie revolves around Kaira, a young girl, on the threshold of adulthood yet still so much a child, and +Alia Bhatt does more than mere justice to the role. The young actress literally lives the character, in fact, in many an instant I couldn't but help relate her to my own child!

Every scene is so beautifully thought and exquisitely portrayed. Her moments of innocent bliss, her troubled spells of indecision, her painful loneliness, her aggressive ambition and her frustrated struggles to earn a place in a male-dominated field. Every aspect of the protagonist is depicted with such precise perfection that the entire movie is such a joy to watch.

And of course, it's the spine that holds the tale together and here the movie rests on the calm serene presence of none other than the Badshah himself, +Shah Rukh Khan.

His quiet guidance that slowly convinces the young girl to open her heart and reveal the hurt that had been aching within her for years, is portrayed with interminable grace and poise. His performance as the cheery psychologist whose patient endeavours helps the young Kaira overcome her inhibitions and her despairs, to blossom into the wonderful talented confident young woman every child should grow to be, is beyond sublime. 

The incidents portrayed are so real they could happen to anyone.

Most parents sadly do not realise that the casual indifference they treat their young children with actually plays a huge role in moulding their characters. And often such rifts are left desperately unresolved.

The depiction of helpless dependence on equally inept peers for support pulls a heart string or two and one actually feels a sense of immense relief when Kaira finally reaches out for help, and thankfully to the right person!

The music is deeply appealing and Goa is without doubt the perfect sun-kissed locale to discover the joy in just living a good life. 

The supporting characters add just the right dash of spice, their adoration of Kaira reveals the lovable nature of her character. Men are instantly attracted to her magnetism yet left lost with no idea on how to handle her. Friends surround her with warmth and affection while family are helpless in their abundant love yet total inability to even understand her. 

All in all, we are taught to realise that our strength actually lies within each one of us. It is eventually upto us to choose how we live our lives. To decide whether to allow our past dictate the terms of our present at the cost of our future. We are shown that sometimes when lost in darkness there's no shame to ask for help. We don't need to be lead to the light, we can reach brilliance on our own it's just that we sometimes need to be prodded in the right direction. 

At the end of the day, you need to know who and what you are. You are answerable only to yourself and what anyone else thinks of you doesn't really have to matter.

You do not need to choose the difficult path because you think that's what's best for you. Sometimes the easier choice is the better choice in the long run. 

Dear Zindagi is yet another stroke of genius from Gauri Shinde, and is perhaps even a rung higher than her debut success English Vinglish. She's got some of the best talent in the industry portray some of the most sensitive characters possible and Dear Zindagi clearly screams - she's one to watch out for!

Plainly put, this is a movie I would definitely want my daughter to see because so much of what is taught here is what I would want her to know and live by.