Movie Review: Dil Dhadakne Do

An insight on the lives of the rich and famous is something we all like to read and watch. Director Zoya Akhtar in her third film intends to draw us to just that with ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’- a look into a dysfunctional business family.

Welcome to the Mehra’s. Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor) is one of those business tycoons who has done it all by himself. Self-made, rich, classy but with just one problem- he boasts too much. Neither is he in good terms with his wife, Neelam (Shefali Shah) who has been with him for thirty years now. Theirs was a love marriage. He was 22. She was 18. They eloped. He got busy making money. She ended up being a bored homemaker. Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra), their daughter is unhappily married to Manav (Rahul Bose) while also being a successful entrepreneur. Kabir (Ranveer Singh) is the typical carefree rich brat; Junior Mehra has no inclination to become the CEO of his rich Dad’s company but he likes flying. During a time when Kamal Mehra is on the verge of facing bankruptcy, the family invites their friends to a cruise for the occasion of Kamal and Neelam Mehra’s 30th Wedding Anniversary. Not to forget the narrator Pluto Mehra (voiced by Aamir Khan), the family dog who claims he is the only normal one around. Kabir falls instantly for Farah (Anushka Sharma), a dancer at the cruise while Ayesha decides to divorce Manav and her ex Sunny (Farhan Akhtar) joins the family during the holiday.

 The only problem I had with DDD was its length. At nearly three hours, it does make you restless and that is because there is not much of a plot here. It’s a humorous story of a family so fake and superficial; pretentious parents trying to dominate their children. And then it’s about how this family get together with each other during a holiday. It delivers what the trailer promised and I simply loved DDD. Director Zoya Akhtar lives up to both ‘Luck By Chance’ and ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ and while comparisons are inevitable, DDD has its own charm. The whole set-up, the humour, the drama, the performances… all work! A few scenes will have you laughing out loud. The script and dialogues are perfect for the mood of the film. While you may not necessarily be able to relate with the characters, they are after all imperfect people with issues. So the drama doesn’t at all feel weighty or even contrived. Take that scene for example when we expect Kamal Mehra had a heart-attack but it turns out to be just a severe gas problem. Even the scene right after that when Junior Mehra unveils the hypocrisies of the family is brilliantly done. Music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is too average.

 All performances are simply brilliant. A rare grey-haired Anil Kapoor as the self-obsessed selfish business tycoon gets a good role after quite some time and he gets the character bang on. His comic timing is perfect. Watch him in the scene when he bribes his son to marry. In another scene, a business contemporary makes Kapoor an offer which he himself played for and he makes it look surprising. Shefali Shah is marvelous as the wife who is deprived of all the love she once probably got from him; so bored and heart-broken yet she still loves him and gets jealous when he is with another woman. Ranveer Singh continues to be a bundle of energy. An actor par excellence, he has a wild boyish charm which he uses well for this character as well. Watch him in the scene when he confronts his parents making them aware of their hypocrisies and you will know what a great actor he is. Equally fascinating is Priyanka Chopra as his mature sister. She plays this woman who was forcefully married to someone she could never love and somewhere through Ayesha, Director Zoya Akhtar makes a point on women empowerment. There is this gem of a scene when her husband and ex get into an argument when the former says he ‘allowed’ his wife to work. Anushka Sharma doesn’t really have much to do here but she is good as usual. Ditto for Farhan Akhtar who is more into a cameo here. Rahul Bose in a character you would dislike is nice and we should see more of this talented actor in our films. The supporting cast is perfect.

Watch it or not: DDD is certainly not for the masses. Watch it if you like a well-made humorous film.

At the Box Office: Not really a film for everyone, it should do well only in multiplexes and A Centres. Average at best.

• About the Author

About Abhirup Dhar

I don't watch movies... I live them! Let me introduce myself. Abhirup Dhar was born in Kolkata and is still being brought up in India. A banker by profession, he is filmy to the core and is passionate about reviewing movies and writing. He likes to live on his own… he likes to be blunt, sarcastic, famous, infamous, confident, over-confident, moody at times… he likes to be himself. He is imperfect because perfection is boring. His love for movies dates back to his childhood days when he studied in a boarding school. A three-month Winter Vacation every year… and he made sure he watched as many movies then. Parents thought it was a phase... he knew it was Passion and he knew it back then itself. The craziness to watch movies on the Big Screen began during the last two years of school when he literally bunked to town so that he could catch up with the new Hindi Movie releases. Some thought he was plain crazy. He confirmed it was Passion... yet again. The hard fact is that not always can you walk a path you are passionate about. You have expectations to fulfill and Life to be made. But Life gives you chances and you have to grab them. So... here is he... your friendly critic who will be giving you his Verdict every week so that you can decide which release is worth your moolah and which is not! See you at the Movies! Stay connected at Facebook and Twitter!