The much awaited and now a must watch “Dil Dhadakne Do”(DDD) is finally set to accelerate your heart beat. The movie takes you on a Cruise Ship to exotic locales in Europe amidst an emotional drama involving Indian elite families, their lifestyle, culture, emotional blackmail and decisions that are influenced by how others would think, talk or react in the Society.
Story: Kamal Mehra(Anil Kapoor) is a renowned Delhi businessman, Chairman of AYKA and married to Neelam Mehra(Shefali Shah). Ayesha(Priyanka Chopra) is their daughter who is married to Manav(Rahul Bose) and settled in Mumbai. Ayesha is a self-made woman who runs a successful online travel portal. Kabir Mehra(Ranveer Singh) is Ayesha’s brother, sole heir of AYKA Empire and the reluctant CEO of AYKA. Kamal celebrates his 30th wedding anniversary by inviting all close friends & relatives on a Cruise to Europe. AYKA unfortunately is on the verge of bankruptcy and Kamal is desperately in need of funds to sustain his business. He invites Lalit Sood(Parmeet Sethi) and his family including daughter Noorie(Ridhima Sud) who he wants Kabir to be paired with so he could get the much needed finance.
Kabir however fancies his chances with Farah Ali(Anoushka Sharma) a dancer performing on the Cruise Ship. Sunny(Farhan Akhtar) is a journalist stationed in Egypt and writes for a Geographic paper. He is the former boyfriend of Ayesha but also the son of one of the Managers at AYKA which was the stumbling block in their relationship. Ayesha finds Manav incompatible and unable to carry on the relationship and is delighted to see Sunny on the Cruise ship. Kabir is determined to marry Farah and inspires Ayesha to make her own decisions. Finally after a lot of review and rethinking, both Kabir and Ayesha hold on firmly to their decision which forms the climax of the movie.
Plot: The script was well written and the plot demonstrated real family relationships and gossips that go around with it. Each character etched its place in the storyline providing you an honest family entertainment. Whether it was humor or family problems, the viewers will empathize with the characters coherently displayed.
Aamir Khan lends his voice to Pluto Mehra – the family dog of the Mehras who is instrumental in introducing the family members and friends providing the best amusing narration as seen through the eyes of a dog. He makes a valid point that good communication and commitment is the key to ideal relationships.
Cast: The roles of entire cast either in the lead or as support were so intertwined that the movie would have failed without the presence of even one of them which means it would be unfair to pinpoint and praise any specific actor. Cast across the board looked perfect in their role. However, Anil, Shefali, Ranveer and Priyanka did have the most screen presence and their characters stood out. Ranveer and Anoushka shared excellent chemistry reviving memories of’ Band Baaja Baarat’. Anoushka I felt ran out of the shooting of’Bombay Velvet’ and landed on the sets of DDD as her looks and role looked almost similar.
Songs: ‘Love is in the Air’ – a plain insert as a party song was quite impactful. The Title song and ‘Girls like to Swing’ are nicely picturized. Lyrics of Javed Akhtar were meaningful and nicely composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.
Direction: The ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ director has hit gold once again with DDD. Kudos to Zoya Akhtar for pulling out realistic performances from each of the characters. It was quite detailed and could not have been executed without a good insight & homework. Gender inequality and stereotyping was nicely highlighted and humor was in the right places. Cinematography and Screenplay was excellent.
Conclusion: There is nothing that has gone wrong for the movie except that the ending does make you feel as if something was left incomplete maybe due to lack of resources or script. The lifeboat scene was a bit too stretched and unconvincing. Overall, the movie talks about you and your neighbor and forces the viewer to empathize with the characters, each of which is crafted to suit the screenplay quite effectively. At a time when trash is thrown at the viewers by senseless Producers & Directors giving us no-brainer entertainment, DDD is most welcome and I see it as one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2015 and ruling the box office in coming weeks.
Watching once is not going to be enough. DDD gives you breath of fresh air. The 3+ hours of emotional drama is gripping and it will make you seriously reflect on your life & relationships rather than taking you on an utopian trip of everlasting happiness.