What Is the Story About?
Chalti Rahe Zindagi follows a poignant retelling of the many relatable, pleasant, unpleasant happenings and testing times during the Covid-19 pandemic times. The film follows 4 families in particular and their navigation through turbulent times as the pandemic induced lockdown put the world on a standstill.
Performances?
Chalti Rahe Zindagi has a very charming cast. Seema Biswas‘s performance as Leela, an aged woman with extreme anxiety and OCD is just so commendable. She mirrors many of the senior citizens we’ve seen around us during the pandemic times.
Indraneil Sengupta and Barkha Sengupta portray Arjun and Aru (whose partners cheat on them with each other). The real-life couple’s chemistry is so good that one would wish for them to have an unlikely romantic arc in the film.
Manjari Fadnnis plays a single mother (& widow) who teaches dance for a living. She oozes dignity and maturity while juggling between the roles of a care-giver and a career-oriented woman whose career goes through a low. Siddhant Kapoor‘s Krishna gives a humane angle to an otherwise mundane story and Rohit Khandelwal is just about fine as a journalist with a conscience.
Analysis
Written by a team comprising of writers Aarti S Bagdi, Arun Bhutra, Shakir Khan and Varsha Kharidaha, Chalti Rahe Zindagi is a drama set during the onset of Covid-19 lockdown that changed lives. Directed by Aarti S Bagdi, it follows four families and their individual journeys against the backdrop of Covid-19 and is a humbling reminder of how fickle life is.
Chalti Rahe Zindagi opens to a society in Bandra and predominantly focusses on two couples where one of the partners are engaged in infedility with one another, a dance teacher’s family comprising of her daughter and mother-in-law (who also has OCD), Journalist Akash’s family of three (his mother and sister) and Krishna, a local bread supplier and his family.
The narrative drives through Arjun and Aru’s partners’ extra-marital affair and their eventual exposure owing to the covid-19 pandemic lockdown. This leads to the duo being quarantined together while Arjun and Aru share an interesting camaraderie with each other.
Chalti Rahe Zindagi then moves to Krishna’s family and financial troubles alongside Journalist Akash’s. A tragedy strikes, thereby changing Akash and the way he sees and perceives life. Chalti Rahe Zindagi takes a pivotal look at how tumultous has it been for the migrant labourers during the lockdown through Krishna and his family.
While the rich and privileged had to only worry about sanitising their homes and hands, the country’s poor had their lives and ambitions crushed mercilessly. The movie doesn’t forget to address the importance of caregivers’ mental health and acknowledge frontline workers’ sacrifice during challenging times through Naina and her mother-in-law’s arc.
One of the strongest assets of Chalti Rahe Zindagi is it’s charming and likeable cast. They make wafer-thin characters on paper way more impactful. Cutting short to the point, Chalti Rahe Zindagi doesn’t have a novel story per se. We have seen multiple similar films set against the backdrop of covid pandemic. But it oozes immense positivity and reminds us of challenging times we all overcame without getting too melodramatic.
However, Chalti Rahe Zindagi fails to stitch convincing character arcs in totality. It fails in giving propure closure to some of its characters : Aru and Arjun in particular. The score and music doesn’t fit the mood of the film either. With a run time less than 110 minutes, there’s not much the film’s characters could achieve.
Regardless of all these setbacks, Chalti Rahe Zindagi felt like a tender film. It silently admires the bravura and grit of people all around the world, caught in the whirlwind of Covid-19 pandemic while breathing freedom and humanity. It makes or breaks no grounds, but is a moving reminder of testing times.
Music and Other Departments?
Chalti Rahe Zindagi has a very positive tonality in its story-telling throughout, but Sajjad Ali Chandwani and team’s music and background score massively disappoints. The songs takes you out of the narrative quite a few times and the score doesn’t sync with the mood of the scenes. Dharmendra Burji’s camerawork is very banal and ordinary.
Highlights?
Cast & Performances
Absence of Schmaltzy melodrama
Run-time
Drawbacks?
Rushed character arcs
Overdone premise
Background music
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, in parts.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, but with reservations.
Chalti Rahe Zindagi Movie Review by Binged Bureau