Apart from exploring adultery and the complex human bonds, director Shakun Batra’s dramatic work also explores the concept of childhood trauma, how it affects one’s adult life and why it needs to be accepted and moved on. The film builds on this idea slowly – without turning back from the challenges – but with the characters becoming stronger and more stable.
How do the depths reflect childhood trauma?
The film revolves around Alisha Khanna, the central figure played by Deepika Padukone, who lost her mother to suicide at an early age. For a long time, she blames her father Vinod, played by Naseeruddin Shah, for her mother’s tragic end, only to uncover the real truth at the end.
The story is based on how the passing of his mother, his bad blood with his father shaped him into an adult. Not only is she struggling to overcome this, but she is also battling with a lot of anxiety, which is why she is on pills. From fear of conflicts to being insecure about losing more people in her life, Deepika’s character is always ‘stuck’, unable to move on from the past, to overcome the present she is unhappy with.
But it’s not just Alisha who struggles with childhood trauma. Siddhant Chaturvedi’s character Zain in the film has his traumatic experiences. He mentions witnessing domestic violence, where his mother was a victim, but decided to remain in that abusive relationship. His life as an adult is therefore shaped by the way he is raised. Poverty-stricken and subjected to abuse inspired him to come out of the darkness. This in turn prompted him to strive for more, more and more prosperous life, only to lead him to his grave.
Why is there a need to ‘talk’?
The first half of the film touches on the thrill and excitement of infidelity, how it helps two people to be happy, almost forgetting their painful past. But in the end it takes a dark turn, leaving the audience uneasy with the whole setting. This is when it comes in handy for the characters to ‘talk’. After losing the love of her life, Tia, a character played by Ananya Panday, chooses to reveal the truth about her father and Alisha’s mother about how they were in an extramarital affair.
Suddenly everything starts to make sense. Why did Alisha’s father decide to leave, why did she break it up with her brother, why was Alisha’s mother sad and why did she take her own life.
For so many years he blamed his father for his mother’s death, but at the same time he was equally a victim.
A scene shared by Vinod and Alisha, where the father-daughter ‘talk’ at the end, highlights the need for communication to overcome trauma. Though it cannot cure a person immediately, but it gives the power of hope.
Talking about his wife Alisha’s mother and the mistakes she has made in her life, Naseeruddin aka Vinod in the film does not downplay her choices in life, but instead asks her daughter to remember this. That’s how she was more than just her mistakes. “Her life was bigger than that one mistake, and so is yours. There was so much more to her.”
When Alisha asks, “Does my choice matter too, Papa?,” he replies, “Yeh jaane ka to ek hi tarika hai.” You give yourself a chance.”
How beautifully this scene portrays the importance of elections. But while it can be difficult to move on and choose a better life, this is a shot we should all take.
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