The Cinemawala

In the picturesque town of Udaipur, Madhukar Bagla falls for Parthvi Rathore, the daughter of the local feudal lord. Young love is often infatuated, yet speaks of purity when gauged from close quarters. Both fall for each other and seem to be quite enamored when destiny brings her sword, swift and fast. Caught by Parthvi’s family, Madhukar and Parthvi choose to elope. What happens next? Well, don’t you know ??

What works for me with ‘Dhadak’, is, its sheer ability to evoke the pain of its young couple and their short journey together. It’s a decent film and the lead cast is terrific. Ishaan Khattar reminds me of a young Shahid Kapoor, sans the goofiness. He’s a natural actor and comes as really easy on the eyes. Jhanvi Kapoor has a long way to go and proves her mettle, particularly in the emotional sequences. Let us hope that she does well.Which brings me to the part, which didn’t work for me. In order to change its setting, ‘Dhadak’ is filmed in Rajasthan. So you get to hear, a quite of ‘Tharo’, ‘Maro’, ‘Kathe’, and so on. While this doesn’t turn into a hindrance, but somehow affects the pan-India appeal of the film. ‘Dhadak’ chooses to ignore the caste politics and quite smartly too, considering the current mood of the country. But this somehow reduces the overall impact of the film. It chooses to remain as a love story between the rich and the poor, instead of the one where it could’ve been something more than just a love story.

Nevertheless, ‘Sairat’ and ‘Dhadak’ are two different films, where the later is an adaptation of the former. The comparison should end right there. It is futile to compare the two, considering the fact that the Puritans will always prefer the former to the later. What ‘Sairat’ manages to do, is impossible to emulate. But it’s only fair to give ‘Dhadak’ an equal chance to tell its story.

The Cinemawala Rating: 2.5/5