A fascinating tale of love, self-discovery, personal growth, and most importantly the thing that is a basic need of a person's life - "FRIENDSHIP." As the title says Zindagi (Life) Na (Never) Milegi (get) Dobara (Again), you will never get life again so live in the moment without thinking about the future or past.
The theme of the movie ixs 'live life to the fullest because it only happens once' which was beautifully portrayed by the flawless writing of Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti and the perfect characterisation of not only the main characters but the supporting characters too.
In the opening scene if you have or will watch the movie you can see that Kabir is engaged mistakenly to his girlfriend Natasha, why mistakenly you will know once you have watched the movie. He wants to go on a bachelor trip with his two childhood best friends Arjun and Imran before his wedding. Kabir somehow manages to reunite these two for the trip to Spain for three weeks. On an interesting note, all three agreed that each one gets to select one adventure sport and the other two can't refuse it whether they like it or not.
The casting was done so perfectly keeping each character in mind.
Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) is somebody who works in London, he works in the financial district. Arjun comes from a world where people are working like dogs and cats. He wants to do nothing but work and basically build a bank balance where he can after 40 start living his life. He starts the film in a kind of very tight silhouette where everything fits him perfectly where you get a sense of his work and the strictness of his day-to-day life. As things change and things happen to him you see his clothes getting slottier, looser and in a way lovelier.
Kabir (Abhay Deol) is the most balanced between the three of them. He is very polite, very politically correct, he really misses his friends, he wants to bring them together, and he is the one who plans the whole trip. Kabir has got a little twisted side and he is a bit edgy. He has many facets of different characters.
Imran (Farhan Akhtar) is a funky character, he lives in the moment. He gets his attention not by being a clown but being humorous. In the film he is the most stylish character, he is in a lot of linens, a lot of layers, some slightly cooky things. The best thing Imran did in the whole movie was the introduction of "Bagwati."
Laila (Katrina Kaif) is a very open person. She is very chilled, she is very natural, she is very strong in what she believes, and she goes about life very casually unlike Arjun. She is a very non-judgmental person. She is studying fashion but she is a professional diver. In a scene Arjun says to her that he will earn till 40 and then enjoy his life but her point of view is different, she says how do you know that you will live till 40, live now in the present.
Natasha (Kalki Koechlin) is a very rich kid. She is an interior designer, she has been working with her father now she's decided to get married and that's what her life is about. She is someone who is extremely proper and well brought up and very classy.
Cinematography by Carlos Catalan deserves a special mention as he is the man behind the breathtaking shots of all the adventure sport and scenic landscapes of Spain. The entire film looks so colourful and rich. Every frame looks picture perfect and it will totally engage the audience till the end with his impeccable work behind the lens. The exhilarating adventure sports starting from deep sea diving, sky diving and running with the Spanish bull were beautifully captured.
Director Zoya Akhtar's flawless writing really helped to bring out the core theme of the film.
The characterisation of three friends can be related to our own life. It is not the regular cinematic friendship connection but it was built on the individual character conflicts with another. Arjun seems to be workaholic with a broken love relationship, Kabir always has second thoughts of his marriage for various reasons which was shown towards the end, Imran has a disjointed family connection with his biological father and has a personal conflict with Arjun in the past upon a common fling. All these back stories were nicely tied up in the script and the adventure sport was perfectly placed in the screenplay to break out the fear factor of each individual and how they stand for each other was beautifully portrayed.
The one scene which touched my heart was the scene when the three of them go for their first activity "deep sea diving🤿", indeed Arjun is scared of water as he doesn't know how to swim but when he goes in the water, a new Arjun emerges from the sea conquering his fears. When he goes deep inside the water he sees fishes, corals, etc. and sees a new way of experiencing life. When in the end they all come out of the water and sit on the boat getting all relaxed and get changed, he realizes that his fear is overcomed, and Farhan Akhtar's poetry in the end.
Javed Akhtar's poems in the movie gave a special touch to the scenes.1st: In the scuba dive scene his poetry describes the fear that everyone has in life and every person just waits for it to overcome. 2nd: In the scene where they leave from Bruno to Seville leaving Laila behind, the poetry tells of one-sided love or the love that both of you feel but never express it or the things that you left unsaid to another person. 3rd: In the scene where Imran meets his real father and then leaves after getting the closure that he wants from his real father, the poetry presents the pain and suffering a person suffers and asks the heart 'Why does it cry'?
4th: In the scene where the three of them are running away from the Bulls (Sanfermin) the poetry plays and it showcases the passion, eagerness to live, eyes filled with dreams, and says to live life to the fullest.
All three characters have equal screen space and the introduction of Laila is a sweet twist in the plot and it adds spice to the film. Arjun and Laila's chemistry on screen is natural and there are quite a lot of beautiful conversations between them about life, money, friends and relationships. The proposal scene in the film is quite romantic and poetic. Hrithik's charismatic look with well-built physique is very much suitable for the role. His magical dance move for the Spanish song is great to watch. Imran's character is built to bring out the subtle dark humour and he brings out the right amount of laughable performance throughout the film. He also performed well for the emotional scene with his biological father. Kabir's character was quite intense as he was doubtful about the marriage due to his possessive fiance but he plays the role of connecting chain between Arjun and Imran. He acted well along with Kalki in sorting out their difference of opinion.
The songs, hats off to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy the music directors. The music they created for the movie is not only one song, all the songs they created are so beautiful. 'Senorita' is a Spanish and Hindi mixed catchy song, the great thing about the song is that it is sung by Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan, and Abhay Deol the trio. 'Khaabon Ke Parindey', 'Ek Junoon', 'Sooraj Ki Baahon Mein', and 'Dil Dhadakne Do' showcase the beauty of life in terms of enjoyment, peace, motivation, and happiness.
The trip to Spain turns into an opportunity to mend fences, heal wounds, fall in love with life and combat their worst fears. It teaches them to value life and live in the moment.
The movie ends with the wedding of... to find out watch the movie, if you have already watched it, watch it again because ZNMD is a movie one can watch many times.