It’s very rare ( especially in Bollywood) that you walk into the theater to watch a director’s work. Zoya is an exception though because she has shown with both Luck By Chance and ZNMD that she is a class apart when it comes to direction and is an excellent storyteller. So I had to go watch Dil Dhadakne Do and I am glad I chose to.
Dil Dhadakne Do is a treat to watch. The Mehra family is a bundle of conflicts and Zoya portrays those conflicts with such ease and conviction. Some of the scenes in the film, especially the ones with all the Mehra family members together, are cinema of the highest quality. The witty comic scenes in particular, are extraordinary and match up to ZNMD standards. The dialogues penned by Farhan go a long way in making the film entertaining and helping Zoya depict such complex characters and relationships on screen.
When you have a top notch director and such an elaborate star cast, there are bound to be some amazing performances. Almost everyone in the film (including the very fine supporting actors) put up a good show but Shefali Shah and Ranveer Singh just steal the show. Shefali is a fabulous actor and she is perfect for the role of Neelam Mehra. Hopefully, this film marks a new beginning for her and she gets a lot more meaty roles in future.
Coming to Ranveer, how much has this guy grown as an actor over the last few years? He started off well with Band Baaja Baarat but he has reached another level with DDD. He holds the film together from start to finish and his interactions with his parents are some of the highlights of the film.
A couple of days ago I was thinking that for the sake of drawing a comparison, Ranbir is potentially the next Aamir and Varun Dhawan the next Salman. While I do not see any traits of Shahrukh in Ranveer, I am sure he is going to keep doing some great work and I am really looking forward to it.
Coming back to the film, my only complain is that it was probably 15-20 minutes too long. It’s tough to say for sure because I am not able to point out any unnecessary track or scenes. Having said that, it’s the director’s job to find a way to make it shorter and I am sure Zoya must have given it a thought and would have had her own reasons to keep it at 2h50mins. The songs are another aspect which could have been slightly better but the beautiful locations and the dance performances more than make up for it.
Overall, I would say everyone should book their tickets to board this cruise with the Mehra family and their friends, and explore a world full of conflicts, hypocrisies, intricacies and complex relationships. Keep an eye out for those special moments that the Mehras’ create on screen because those are the ones you would like to revisit some other day. I surely will.
Vishal Anand's Blog 