Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Despite the few flaws, the film boasts of a robust heartbeat. Dil Dhadakne Do is definitely worth your time! ___________________________________________________

Akhtar family is one of the oldest dynasty of writers in Bollywood. Zoya’s great grand father Jan Nisar Akhtar was one of the greatest poet of his time. Then came Javed Akhtar  who married to Honey Irani  who herself is a great screen writer.  So as we know like parents like kids, Farhan and Zoya carried this gene of writing in their blood.  Farhan’s first film  Dil chahta hai was a major hit which proved Farhan’s writing and directorial power to the audience. Then came Zoya with film like Luck By Chance which was critically very well received.  But with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’s tremendous success everyone knew that Bollywood has got one more writer and director from the Akhtar family who can give great content to Bollywood. This is the reason people were waiting eagerly for Zoya’s dil dhadkne do. But this time was Zoya able to quench the thirst of audience for  good content , lets find out. 

Story:-

'Dil Dhadakne Do' is a story of a business tycoon Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor) and his wife Neelam Mehra (Shefali Shah), who has two children, Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) and Kabir (Ranveer Singh). Kamal and Neelam love Kabir more than Ayesha, being a male child and unwillingly marry her to a Mumbai businessman, Manav Sanga (Rahul Bose).

Ayesha is unhappy, but tries to focus all her interest in her own travel business. Kabir being a spoilt brat has no interest in business what-so-ever and only wants to ‘fly’. Amidst all the tension, the family decides to go on a cruise to celebrate Kamal and Neelam’s 30th anniversary.

Here Ayesha meets her first love, Sunny Gill (Farhan Akhtar), while Kabir falls for a dancer, Farah Ali (Anushka Sharma). . Kamal Mehra on the other hand is going through a financial crisis and so, wants his son Kabir to marry Nuri (Riddhima Sud), daughter of business tycoon Lalit (Parmeet Sethi). As time passes by, more complications arise in the family. How will each one of them get out of their misery and lead a happy life? Forms the rest of the story…

Positive Points:-

This is one elite and good-looking film, I say. The actors, the costumes, the setting and the locations, everything looks rich and how. One fact that remains universal is that no one can make travel movies as good as Zoya Akhtar. The director first made us love Spain and its culture with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and now I am sure every viewer would ones want to experience going on a cruise in life.

The two huge saving graces of the film are Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra. Ranveer’s amazing punch lines and dialogue delivery calls in for an applaud for sure. His liveliness never lets us down. Priyanka on the other hand plays a unhappily married businesswomen with perfection.

Shefali Shah too provides good support. Ranveer and Priyanka’s sibling chemistry is to watch out for, however, Ranveer and Anushka’s lip lock will surely get the whistles going. Anil Kapoor is a delight to watch. The actor, at this age too has the capability to overshadow all the other young actors in the scream with his charm.

Negative Points:-

The first thing negative about the film is that it is extremely lengthy. The 170 minute long extravaganza is nothing short of boring at times, especially the first half. Farhan and Anushka’s characters have not been explored and the actors did not have much to showcase their talent.

The narrator of the movie is a dog named Pluto Mehra, whose voice is that of Aamir Khan’s. Makes Sense? Not to us. Ranveer and Anushka’s track makes no sense at all and so does Priyanka and Farhan’s romantic angle. A little more explanation would have worked here.

Technical Points:-

Zoya Akhtar is a talented director, who always showers insights of relationships through her movies, but Dil Dhahdakne Do has certain excessive melodramatic moments and losses pace from time to time. The narrative in the first half takes ages to get over, making the viewers bored. The music album of the film is average. The screenplay is too slow, while the editing is fine.

On the whole, Dil Dhadakne Do is a not as classy as Zoya's debut film 'Luck By Chance' or highly entertaining as 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara', but still has its own merits to end up as a decent watch. The masses might find it tiring, bland and boring, but for the ones who love such types of ensemble films will not be disappointed for sure. On an overall basis, 'Dil Dhadakne Do' is like having a Pani Puri in a five star hotel, which is totally healthy and looks visually appealing, lacking a bit over the spices.