ILead Films’ Before You Die is an inspirational story of a terminally ill patient and how her boyfriend tries to make the most of the few days left before she departs.
Kavya Singh Rathore (Kavya Kashyap) and her father, Pratap Singh Rathore (Pradip Chopra), go to Darjeeling, where she takes up a job in a tea estate while the father joins a college as a professor. In the tea estate, Kavya befriends Kuldeep Singh (Puneeth Raj Sharma). Before long, Kuldeep Singh falls in love with her. But Kavya is devastated and angry on learning this. And that’s because she is terminally ill and, therefore, does not want attachment of any sort. How Kuldeep makes Kavya’s last few days memorable by fulfilling all her wishes is what the crux of the film is.
The film is inspired by a true-life story by Pradip Chopra, which is not written in an engaging style. Sanjeev Tewari’s screenplay is simplistic but it fails to evoke the emotions which a story of this kind should. Although the leading lady has death staring her in the face, the audience never feels like shedding a tear for her — and that’s because the screenplay does not give emotions any scope whatsoever. Even the romantic track is superficial. The love and fondness between Kavya’s father and his school friend, Ram Singhania (Mukesh Rishi), fails to warm the cockles of the heart. Another minus point of the screenplay is that the story takes too long to come to the point. The scene in which Kavya leaves the party in a huff looks weird because there was no reason for her to be angry; rather, she ought to have been distraught or emotional. Even the climax is not sentimental enough to draw tears. Sanjeev Tewari’s dialogues are routine.
Kavya Kashyap does an ordinary job as Kavya Singh Rathore. Puneeth Raj Sharma is okay as Kuldeep Singh. Zarina Wahab lends ordinary support as Kuldeep’s mother. Mukesh Rishi is okay as Ram Singhania. Pradip Chopra provides average support as Kavya’s father, Pratap Singh Rathore. Mushtaq Khan looks out of place as a priest. Kiran Jhanjahni (as the doctor) gets limited scope and he is alright. Arha Mahajan, Badshah Moitra, Rita Dutta and Lovekansh Gar provide dull support.
Suvendu Ghosh’s direction is below the mark. Music (by Bob S.N. and Shaarib-Toshi Sabri) is good. Two songs — Hum tere ho gaye and O saathiyaan — are well-tuned numbers. Lyrics (Azeem Shirazi and Buddha Mukherjee) are meaningful. Song picturisations (choreography by Raja Sarkar) are nothing to shout about. Background music (Bob S.N.) is below the mark. Arabinda Narayan Dolai’s cinematography is nice, and so are the locations. Mehmood Khan’s action and stunt scenes are functional, at best. Ummat Prosenjit’s art direction is alright. Raj Singh Sidhu’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, Before You Die may be well-intentioned but as far as its commercial prospects are concerned, they appear almost nil.
Released on 18-2-’22 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Pictures Ltd. Publicity: okay. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak at most of the places.