Character Spotlight: Jab We Met’s Geet Dhillon

Geet broke into the film declaring her record of never missing a train. Only soon we see her real journey begin when she misses one for the first time. She was careless, yet she cared even for strangers. So when Aditya least needed her help, she pounced to offer some.

Geet’s dialogue “Main apni favourite hoon” taught us that self-love was not always bad. She also had her way to come out of a break-up – by abusing your ex or flushing down their photo. She loved to speak her heart out, even if no one seemed to be listening!

Geet Dhillon was nothing like the women we had seen in our films for the longest time. She arrived just when female characters were trying to break free from just being the glam quotient in films. She was like a storm that smashed whatever came in her way.

Alongside Geet, came other female characters the same year in films like Om Shanti Om, Welcome and Partner, all of them glossy parts. Even those in Chak De India and Bhool Bhulaiyaa needed a Kabir Khan and Dr Aditya Shrivastav to lend support to their trajectory. It was the other way round for Geet.

Kareena Kapoor Khan as Geet Dhillon and Shahid Kapoor as Aditya Kashyap redefined new age romance in Jab We Met (2007).

Geet made her own rules so that she can own up her mistakes too. She refused to settle for a compromise in love. When life actually falls back on her, she doesn’t curse anyone but herself. Didn’t she teach us how to build back your life from the pieces?

Director Imtiaz Ali is known to weave very strong women characters in all his films. And Geet is his best-created gem.

Also read | Character Spotlight: DDLJ’s Raj Malhotra

Geet was flawed, just like any of us. She was colourful, just like any of us. She taught us how to love oneself unabashedly, make mistakes and move on in life.