Featured image: Official promotional poster for the Netflix film Haseen Dillruba (2021), directed by Vinil Mathew. Copyright © Netflix. All rights reserved. Used under fair use for the purpose of movie review and commentary.
Long-term endurance in love stories is ensured by the nature of life-long sacrifices made for one another—collecting memories through actions and emotions rather than being limited merely to words. Such a love should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. It does not always contain happiness; sadness, pain, disappointment, a sense of defeat, and, additionally, thrill and terror may be included. The 2021 film Haseen Dillruba can be described as a creation made from a collection of many such human emotions. Oscillating between love, lust, suspense, and murder, this Indian cinema film is directed by Vinil Mathew and written by Kanika Dhillon. Indian actors Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, and Harshvardhan Rane have contributed their acting performances to this film.
The opening scene of the film is a powerful explosion in the small town of Jwalapur, India. Rishabh
Saxena dies in this explosion, and his wife, Rani Kashyap, is arrested on suspicion. The story unfolds as a background story told by Rani during police interrogation. The police question her on suspicion of murdering her husband by conspiring with her paramour, Neel Tripathi. According to her background story, she is a modern young woman raised in Delhi. However, her husband is a non-social, shy, simple person living in a small town. He works as an engineer. Their marriage takes place through an arranged marriage, and due to the differing personalities of these two, their married life is not successful. Meanwhile, with the arrival of Neel, a cousin of Rishu, the story turns upside down and flows forward with suspense. At the end of the story, it concludes by showing the true meaning of love, adding an ending that the audience does not expect.
The acting skills and character portrayals of the actors can be pointed out as a main reason for the success of this film. Taapsee Pannu demonstrates a very complex character through the role of Rani. She is a frustrated, innocent wife; at times, she is a deceitful lover; at other times, she is a lover defeated by love. Due to her excellent character portrayal, the audience feels sympathy for her even when she commits wrongs. Furthermore, by the way she behaves before the police, she can be seen as a very intelligent woman.
Vikrant Massey presents a magnificent performance through the character of Rishabh alias Rishu.
A deeper meaning is shown through his character than what appears on the outside. Although he portrays the character of an innocent husband at the beginning, he later turns into a dark character filled with the intention of revenge.
Harshvardhan Rane adds lust and sensuality to this film through the character of Neel. He is also the turning point of this film. Truly, I feel that he is the real loser in this film.
Love and hate are like two sides of the same coin. Haseen Dillruba can be shown as one creation that proved that the things a person can do in the face of sacrifices in love are limitless. Furthermore, distracting the audience’s attention and presenting a story different from the background story as the truth at the end is another strong factor that attracts the audience to this film.
However, a certain negative and harmful impact could be added to society through the depiction of domestic violence and brutality included in certain scenes of this film, and by highlighting such actions for revenge in some instances. Also, justifying the reasons for the occurrence of extramarital affairs is another point. But, overcoming all these factors, showing the dangerous situation that can arise regarding such matters at the end, may be a reason to mitigate these negative points. Although some scenes here may be difficult for some viewers to watch, the curiosity in this story manages to keep the viewer engaged until the end.
VERDICT
Although this film, which screens for 135 minutes, is a very long duration, it does not tire the viewer due to its curious screenplay. If you are ready to watch a film filled with thrill, terror, and suspense that goes beyond romantic simplicity, you must definitely watch Haseen Dillruba.
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