Dhadak 
3.5
Romance, Drama
Cast: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter, Ashutosh Rana, Ankit Bisht, Shridhar Watsar
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Story: Parthavi and Madhukar fall in love but are held back by societal norms and caste restrictions and have to elope in order to be together.
Review: With stunning locales ( courtesy the gorgeous Udaipur), soulful songs and expressive actors the first half of Dhadak paints a pretty picture. The experience of watching the film’s first half can be compared to eating a cake. When you take your first bite it is delicious but by the time you dig into it, you start feeling a bit full. Though vibrant and somewhat glamorous the first half of Dhadak lacks the charm that Director Shashank Khaitan’s previous films, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaia and Badrinath ki Dulhania had in abundance. Just before the interval there is a particularly thrilling scene that helps the film pick up its pace significantly. Post interval the setting of Dhadak drastically changes. We move from the cozy beds of royal looking palaces to unswept floors of humble dwellings. This is when the real emotions of the characters come out and the leads get to flex their acting chops.
The second half is simple yet effective.
As many people are claiming Dhadak is the sugar coated version of 2016’s Marathi blockbuster Sairat. It has a certain understated charm that shows the hardships of the characters without making us feel uncomfortable. Now talking about the climax scene of the film , it was not handled well. We knew something was going to happen but it took too long to materialise.
It made the audience restless and the last 10 minutes or so of the film grew monotonous. The characters of the film should have got some closure. If the build up to the climax was speeded up the impact of the film would probably have been more. Nevertheless the film definitely deserves a watch if for nothing else then for the impressive leads. This film
had one of the best performances by newcomers in a long time. While Ishaan Khatter has done one film before this was Janhvi Kapoor’s first film. She is confident and appears to be super comfortable on camera. Ishaan Khatter is mature and a natural. The freshness that these two bring to screen is what makes dhadak so watchable. Do watch the film, it may make your heart skip a beat or or as Karan Johar puts it, a Dhadak!
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