Remember the brief airplane scene in Dear Zindagi when Alia Bhatt is having a hurried and irritated conversation with her mother over the phone? There was more to that, which sadly didn’t make it to the final cut, but could’ve done wonders for Alia’s character. Not that Gauri Shinde’s film lacked substance, but this scene could’ve given the first half of the film a stronger punch.
So she walks over to her crammed economy seat as Kunal Kapoor gets comfortable in business class. But an older gentleman is already in it. He asks her to take his seat instead, because he wants to sit next to his son, an ungentlemanly demand more than a request. She’s annoyed but goes to his seat anyway. As expected, it is a tiny spot between two large men and Alia decides she won’t have it. But when she walks back and tells the man that she’d like her seat back, he gives her the ‘aaj kal ke bachche have no respect for elders’ spiel, something we’ve all rolled our eyes at at some point or the other.
That triggers a rather angsty reaction from Alia, that every young person can relate to. It makes for a compelling scene that we wish had made it to the final cut. It’s strong, valid and even gets Alia a thumbs up from a co-passenger on the flight.
This scene would have been one more thing to love about the Gauri Shinde film.
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