Aye Zindagi movie cast: Revathi, Satyajeet Dubey, Mrinmayee Godbole, Srikant Verma
Aye Zindagi movie director: Anirban Bose
Aye Zindagi movie rating: 2 stars
- Advertisement -
The real-life story ‘Aye Zindagi’ is based on is the kind which leads one to repeat the saying that truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction.
A young man who has only a few months to live manages to get a liver transplant, and goes on to flourish. The film doesn’t hide the identity of the donor from us, but by the time the recipient stumbles upon it, it becomes a matter of great strain. Looming death is a terrible thing; can the burden of gratitude become too much to bear, especially if the donor is someone you know?
‘Aye Zindagi’ asks these inter-connected questions, whose profound weight has to be borne by 26-year-old Vinay (Dubey), who is counting down his days after a diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver. The counselling by Revathi Rajan (Revathi), attached to the Hyderabad hospital he is admitted to, is a mixed blessing, leaving him hopeful and despairing at the same time. Back at his workplace, his colleagues are being ultra-supportive, as are his superiors (Verma). And then comes the news of a donor, the greatest for him, and the worst for someone else.
- Advertisement -
The connection between a therapist who counsels the loved ones of brain-dead patients, the ones who can be potential donors and save many lives, is tricky. Battling shock and grief is bad enough. For a stranger, however empathetic they may appear to be, to ask for the organs can result in anger and point-blank refusal. We see this playing out in the film.
But for an origin story which is so extraordinary, the treatment of ‘Aye Zindagi’ is bafflingly ordinary. The actors do their job, and Godbole as the nurse who hand-holds her ‘impatient patient’ and wills him to be better, does leave a mark. The rest, including the wonderful Revathi, make you wish they were in a better film.