It approaches its taboo topic rather cautiously.
Vikram Bhatt brings us yet another intriguing tale with his latest offering, Dil Sambhal Jaa Zara. The show had us curious since it’s initial promos and synopsis were revealed with a powerful star cast including Sanjay Kapoor, Niki Aneji Walia and Smriti Kalra. You already know that it touches upon a daring topic of a rather unconventional love saga between an elderly man and a much younger woman. Interesting?
We watched the first few episodes to find out what the hype is about and we’re telling you exactly how it all pans out on screen.
The Story:
The plot begins with introducing the viewers to the tension brewing in the Raichand house. The head of the family, Laila Raichand (Niki Aneji Walia) has a brush against her daughter Ahana (Smriti Kalra) who steps out late in the night to make an offering of a diya along with her sister’s wedding invitation at the shore of a lake. It is here that she will have her first encounter with Anant Mathur (Sanjay Kapoor) who is there to sit on the stairs near the water by himself after offering a diya alongside Ahana. Through the ensuing conversation between them, it is revealed that Ahana holds the diya as a symbol of giving her deceased father an invitation to her sister’s wedding and Anant is a regular at the shore since his wife who loved the place passed away 9 years ago. He also turns out to be a friend of Rahul Raichand, Ahana’s father.
The newly acquainted duo leave together, with Anant insisting he follow her car home to ensure she reaches safely. Back at home, we get a better look at Saloni (Chestha Mehta), the Raichand sister who is betrothed to Tarun Gupta (Puneet Sharma). Ahana is glad that her sister is getting rid of the Raichand name and on this, the two joke about too. Ahana says she’s cynical about love and Saloni mock-curses Ahana that she may find love that drives her crazy. There’s a flashback that sheds light on a the past in which Ahana witnesses her mother cheating on her father before his death.
Cut to the Mathur home, we are introduced to Anant’s children Roshini and Aarav and his adoptive nephew Rehan (Ashim Gulati). Rehan is Saloni’s fickle ex-boyfriend who sends Saloni flowers before her wedding as an insensitive gesture. Angered by this, Ahana heads over to his home to throw his flowers at him. Here, she bumps into Anant again as she cannot find a cab back home and refuses to let Rehan take her home. Ahana is so pleased with Anant that she sends him flowers. Later, we see Anant smiling adoringly at the flowers and there’s an air of suspicion in the home about him falling for Ahana.
Meanwhile, there’s trouble between the Guptas and the Raichands because Tarun’s family is uncooperative towards wedding arrangements. We later find that the root cause of the conflict is the Guptas’ lack of trust in Laila that leads Tarun’s father to force him into making Saloni sign a pre-nup agreement, something the groom is completely against. There’s a huge delay in Saloni’s mehendi as Tarun calls Ahana to meet and discuss the problem. When the information is relayed to Saloni the two sisters decide not to tell their mother but it’s too late. Laila finds out and is deeply insulted, enough to want to call off the wedding.
Ahana tells Laila that Saloni is pregnant and now Laila has a way to counter the pre-nup with an agreement of her own, one that denies Tarun of the rights on his own child. What will be the fate of the characters is a question we cannot wait to unravel in the upcoming episodes.
The Good:
The show, up untill now has handled it’s content in a very mature light. We haven’t seen any regressive scenarios yet and the actors are doing a great job in convincing roles. The backing track, stalk characters and supporting cast is also impressive. A highlight is the use of plot signs and symbols; Ahana moving away from Rehan to get into Anant’s car, the depth of field used to dignify the distance with Anant and Ahana in the foreground are already paving the way to signify that the two characters are moving closer and in between their pleasant, friendly chats there’s a certain chemistry that has potential. The makers have done a marvelous job with keeping the hints subtle and not making a big deal about it’s bold content. Sanjay Kapoor as Anant Mathura is very charming and has a warmth around him while Smriti Kalra as Ahana’s energy and rebellious nature plays out beautifully on screen. On a whole, the show looks like a very refined presentation of what one would consider a taboo topic on a platform filled with saas-bahu sagas.
The Bad:
While there isn’t much to complain, but we do think the plot moves a little fast. The show is 5 days old but there’s already two instances of characters fainting. We hope the drama is curbed and is phased out better. Also, Rehan as a character seems to over-do his parts a bit.
The Verdict:
The show looks like it has a lot of potential. We’re nodding in agreement with the treatment of the subject and the unique plot-line that already has elements of intrigue. What we really like is that nothing about the action on-screen is irksome. We’ll go as far as saying that the idea of Sanjay Kapoor and Smriti Kalra’s chemistry isn’t repulsive to the pallette but rather charming and sweet in spite of the major age gap. The attractive cast, coupled with a daring concept is what works for the show, if anyone could pull this story off, it’s this crew!
Ratings: 4.5/5