Dhadak: A Story Lost Somewhere In The Midst Of All That Glamour!

Dhadak ticks all the boxes when it comes to style, but lacks in its very soul. Here’s a quick peek at the movie.

Lovers. New found love. First Kiss.

The girl places a bet. The boy wins. They go to a forbidden backyard of the girl’s palatial estate. Only the two of them, away from the bustle. The boy – eyes fixed. Then looks nowhere. Searches for her lips. Trembles. Precarious. Tensed. Knows not what to do. Doesn’t want to fail. Inadequacy. Hands finding a hold. Fails. Then a peck. Somehow. Unaware. Unassuming. And, then a little more. Their first kiss. Thus.

You can scream, shout, punch, and serve lofty dialogues. It’s easy. But when you are left with only emotions and actions with no words, an actor is tested to the core. This boy was impressive. His alacrity with emotions coupled with an infectious smile was a thing to watch. Effortless and unassuming, Ishan Khattar is definitely a name to watch out for.

But, Dhadak fails to impress as much it should have. No, I am not comparing it with Sairat. Even without Sairat as a benchmark, this flick falls flat on various parlances. I anyway have very little hope from the Johar clan when it comes to launching newbies. It’s money power-play, and just that.

To begin with, why Rajasthan? Why that dialect? It fails at the very first go. If you don’t get what I mean, watch Dangal. Again. You will know what language does to a movie. Major put off. Janhvi Kapoor’s voice too didn’t match the tone of the lingo. The songs were average. The title track is sweet though. Heroine looks elegant in Malhotra’s ensembles. There was nothing much the editors were meant to do here. The supporting cast in fact nailed it reasonably well. Needless to mention, Ashutosh Rana.

Janhvi Kapoor. I am not yet ready to write off this girl. Because I believe Johar and his directors can’t get the best from their actors. Especially new ones. Example: Alia Bhatt. But, she has a long way to go. I will again say, what I said before. I missed that love and passion in her eyes. She was good when she was vulnerable and desperate. But I missed that warmth. The warmth that makes you fall in love with their love on celluloid. I stayed detached. Janhvi Kapoor was acting. And acting too hard. You know what I mean, right? She needs to chose her flicks wisely henceforth. Or else, there won’t be any soul singing ‘Janhvi…o…meri Janhvi’ for her.

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Dhadak lacks soul. It lacks what makes a love story worth it. It lacks moments to feel, to gulp, to cherish. It fails to pain. It doesn’t linger. It leaves you parched. It is loud. It should have been subtle. Thus, it fails to create a ‘dhadak’ in your heart. My heart.

To sum it all up I just couldn’t sing the way I wanted to sing, “Jo mere dil ko dil banaati hai, Tere naam ki koi dhadak hai na”!

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