The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and Dil Bechara (2020)
‘The Fault in Our Stars’ released about six years ago and instantly earned its place among the best teen romances of all time. Its impact on the audience was so deep that now, as of six days ago, India finally has its own version of ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, adapted and restructured to suit our tastes a little better. While the emotional storyline of the movie did make us cry, there was another reason for the Indian audience to mourn Manny’s untimely death- the untimely death of the actor who played Manny too, Sushant Singh Rajput.
Like Gus Waters, Manny Rajkumar Junior too had a deep impact on Kizie Basu’s life, as well as our own. He made us laugh, he made us cry, just like Gus. But, the best part about Manny was that SSR brought him to life. We lived with Manny, breathed with him. And his death hit us harder than we thought, especially when the climax of the movie blurred the distinction between Sushant and Manny. They were one and the same.
While ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ made us believe in the power of true love, ‘Dil Bechara’ gave us an emotional pie to devour. TFIOS was, and will always be one of my favourites but now that we have our own rendition of TFIOS, I don’t think any movie can take the place of ‘Dil Bechara’, ever. And I mean it.
