Chand Mera Dil Review : Ananya Panday and Lakshya shine in a 'delulu-to-selulu' romance

Ananya Panday and Lakshya, two beautiful faces, play a young couple in Vivek Soni’s Chand Mera Dil. Bollywood love stories often follow a familiar pattern: a young boy and girl meet, fall in love, and their bond deepens. Then they are separated, either due to family or some other twist of fate. But destiny somehow plays its game, and they find their way back to each other for a happily ever after. In a few films, the ending is tragic. So the real test is how the story unfolds from that first meeting to the final scene.

That’s the game, and in this game, Soni scores a four, but when the ball somehow just manages to touch the boundary. This love drama is undeniably messy, but think about real life. Love lives are messy. Drama is there, tears are there, and not everything ties up neatly. However, what makes Chand Mera Dill different is how everything in this film is beautifully executed with the realism intact, where the hero is not doing over the top for his girl, he has his limits, the anger, frustration and more. So does the girl, who has her respect and choices.

But the real question is, is this the new take on what happens when love takes the backseat? Does it actually work on screen, or get lost in its own drama?

What is Chand Mera Dil about? Spoiler free

Starting in Michigan, USA, we see Aarav (Lakshya) getting a call from Chandani (Ananya Panday) after he has topped at his college. There’s something awkward in the air. She congratulates him, and he replies with an awkward smile. Then we learn they are not together anymore. How? What happened? The story goes in a flashback and starts from 2017, when the two first met at a college in Hyderabad. For Aarav, it was love at first sight. He hovers around her but never speaks. Chandani is the one who initiates the first conversation. What follows are their lovey-dovey days. But things take a dramatic turn when their families refuse to support them, and the two are left on their own to take on responsibilities they never imagined.

From happy days, they reach a point where they barely have time for each other. Still, they stick together, juggling studies, placements, and running a home. Then one day, Aarav and Chandani’s beautiful, or rather, struggling, phase hits rock bottom, and she walks out of his life. She secures a good job and builds a life of her own. Aarav continues to struggle, stuck in a mundane job and in regret of what he has done. Yet there are still strings attached that keep pulling them toward each other. How they navigate this adult romance and life, and whether they will choose each other or not. Or it will be destiny's game? All this makes up the rest of the film.

Chand Mera Dil: The delulu world

Still from Chand Mera Dil Photograph: (X)

From daydream to reality

Soni doesn’t waste much time setting up the drama. He divides the two-hour film between childhood romance and an adult relationship. Starting with a dreamy world of Aarav and Chandani, their sweet and cringeworthy romance from texting each other to spending every second of their lives together and all this with the music in the background, something that we have seen multiple times in movies, but never gets boring. Aarav is the cool boy of the college, with six-pack abs and a cigarette in one hand. At the same time, Chandani is the girl who always prefers to wear pastel-coloured churidar with a dupatta. Their romance phase looks beautiful and entertaining on the screen. But soon, you may get bored with the cringiness or over-the-top dialogues when it comes to proving love. The good and different thing is that the movie never gets heavy with misogyny, where the boy wants the girl at any cost, and no other guy in college can even look at her. Thankfully, that kind of stuff is skipped.

Still from Chand Mera Dil Photograph: (X)

So the journey goes from delulu, the college-wala fantasy pyaar, to selulu, where both Aarav and Chandani’s relationship hits rock bottom as difficulties kick in and things take a different turn. Beyond romance, there is regret, emotion, tears, and above all, the certainty of choosing each other despite everything they have gone through. The movie shows the millennial reality of a grown-up woman choosing herself over her past traumas. The movie is well-written and executed, but it lags when it's dragged over the repeated drama and portions that were exaggerated. The emotions of the movie are too much, and at times, the plot is predictable. Backed by Dharma, the movie is shot beautifully and captures both the greenery of Hyderabad and the city’s tech hub equally well.

Lakshya and Ananya: Two anchors of this drama

Lakshya, who was impressive in Kill and Ba***ds of Bollywood, delivers a praiseworthy performance as a boy in love and shows how he grows up by learning from his own mistakes. He shouts and fights, but instead of choosing violence and flexing his manhood, which is very common in the Bollywood films, we see the boy’s soft side; he cries and sometimes chooses silence when he realises he’s losing in his life and dreams. His chemistry with Panday works well, and she also gives one of her best performances. I loved her in Call Me Bae, where she was loud and energetic; here, she carries the character’s innocence and calmness on her face. When the writing and pacing drag, Ananya and Lakshya become the anchors holding the film together.

Final verdict

Like any relationship with its ups and downs, this movie also goes through highs and lows. In some parts, you will love the actors and their performances. In others, you will roll your eyes and might want to skip ahead. But overall, Chand Mera Dil works for its performances and execution. With music by Sachin-Jigar and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, the soundtrack never overpowers the film; it runs parallel to the story and adds a layer to it.

Chand Mera Dil is a love drama that you can choose if you’re in the mood for a low-stakes, casual evening out.