Deep Sarkar

Let me say this at the outset: if you have experienced love and loss at some point in your life, then this movie likely resonated with you. The first one hour and fifteen minutes of the movie shows a flashback of Avik's past after the movie opens with him greeting a wildly cheering crowd in his present moment (implying that he is a big-time vocalist). The flashback tells us about Avik's struggle with his self-doubt, his childhood scars from being abandoned by his father, and his inability to accept Anwesha's feelings toward him. The flashback ends with Avik and Anwesha parting ways for good. Depending on how the audience perceives the two protagonists of the movie, they may blame Avik or sympathize with him (the same being true for Anwesha) but perhaps neither of them are blameworthy. Avik's reaction to Anwesha's advances is clearly a reflection of his childhood trauma (fear of abandonment) and Aditya's presence in Anwesha's life doesn't make things any better. His rejection of Anwesha's support is not nearly a reflection of his pessimistic worldview as it is an expression of repressed envy towards Aditya and a desperate cry for reassurance. Anwesha, unfortunately but understandably, fails to see this. Not being familiar with Avik's childhood, she cannot fathom Avik's crippling anxiety and his jealousy towards Aditya. Moreover, she is frustrated with Avik's refusal to pursue his dream (not seeing it for what it is) and is likely why cannot find it in her to reassure Avik that it is he she really is in love with. One might think this is strange but it is, in fact, pragmatic. It's no use professing one's love for someone if you cannot see a future with them. And while Anwesha does want a future with Avik (reflected in her desperate attempts to convince Avik to pursue his dream), she is unable to commit without Avik's reciprocation. In the end, neither gets what they're looking for. Avik's fears turn into a grim self-fulfilling prophecy while Anwesha goes back to Aditya. As the trajectories of their lives unfold and their present situations are revealed to us, with Avik still stuck in the past and Anwesha trapped in an unhappy marriage and a soulless job, we pine for them to reunite. After all, don't they deserve to be, after all the misery they have been through? They are clearly still in love! (The interview prep scene makes it delightfully obvious, as both Avik and Anwesha struggle to practice a professional composure with old memories flooding their mind) The universe, however, has other plans. And perhaps for the best. Because, as unromantic as this might sound, love is not enough. It is not Anwesha's purpose in life to heal Avik and neither can Avik rescue Anwesha from her misery. Rather, both must shoulder the responsibility of getting their own lives on track and becoming fulfilled individuals before responding to the golden thread of love that unifies their lives. Because, for love to bloom at its best, we deserve the best versions of one another and sometimes that means we cannot be a part of each other's lives. Perhaps the most important takeaway message from the movie lies in Anwesha's last words to Aditya: one cannot love another person if one cannot love oneself first. As the movie comes to a close, both Anwesha and Avik manage to choose self-love and, in doing so, become the versions who are finally ready to love each other.