Dhadak Hindi Movie Review

To address the most obvious first and without much ado – as with her so about her – Janhvi has screen presence and offers promise. The cineaste and the waiting audience are waiting for a verdict on the lead pair and even more particularly Jahanavi and while the foot falls do not screen overall acceptance she is surely well entrenched. The first thing working in her favour is that she does not try to mimic her Mom. She eschews (advisedly?!) Mamma’s giggle and vide eyed looks. Her voice far more rounded and presence grounded. The stiffness of inexperience does show up but that surely will be attended sooner than later. Giving her company, in fact stealing the limelight is the awesome Ishaan Khattar playing the lead romantic role. Just a pointer if not a spoiler is the scene at half time when on the run the eloping lovers get into a moving train: the look is neither one of romance or bravado but one of tiring fear capturing the nuance of what the actor can script on his face. With that kind of talent, he can carry with poise the town fashion brightly coloured shirts when others are busy updating their wardrobes and skin tonnes. An actor has arrived.
Confessedly Shashank Khaitan is not out to give us a photocopy of the extremely impact making original Sairat. There is the Dharma production gloss to the raw tale. The tale: Adolescent Parthavi (Jahanavi) daughter of the rich local politician Ratan (Ashutosh Rana) with an eye at the forthcoming election falls in love with collegemate Madhukar (Ishaan) who is the son of a small restaurateur. Madhukar has for company friends Gokul (Ankit Bisht) and comic relief Purshotham (Sridhar Watsar). The young lovers who defy the social and economic divide also play tributes to the Bard with the customary balcony scene. Soon the social order screams and the lovers are on the run.
Let us skip the tale at this stage and spend a moment on its treatment and how it pans out. The 137 minutes seem tedious and is filled with needless scenes establishing the town stereotypes. The script loiters from one cliché to another from one pigeon hole character to another. Even as per the dictates of the script one would well guess that a smooth run to the climax is critical to the narrative. Yet the attempt to handle honour killing while could be well intentioned and even well inspired but inexplicably poorly translated.
From the crew the cinematographer Vishnu Rao gives you a caressed look at Udaipur and rekindles memories of Ishwar Bidri. He captures the wealth of Udaipur and as a sheer docu revelation of Udaipur the 130 plus minutes is worth the watch. Also adding value are the music duo Ajay Atul and a fine and sensitive background score from John Stewart. The support cast specially the likes of Ankit Bisht, Sridhar Watsar, Kharaj Mukherjee add a high degree of authenticity to the film.
Also this youthful love story does not revisit the Bobby module. NO Mujhe kuch kehna hai, no Itna haseen hai yeh ek spana, badal kyon barista hai. The stink and stench replace the roses and the chiffons.
Watch the film for some fine support from the crew promise from Jahanavi and the wonderful Ishaan Khattar. This notwithstanding one would have to go on record and state this Dhadkan lacks the required beat.
L. Ravichander.