Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri's 'Dhadak 2' movie review: An affecting love story about caste, humiliation, and honour

Cast: Siddhant Chaturvedi & Triptii Dimri

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Language: Hindi

There was a lot more to the 2016 Marathi film Sairat than its historic commercial achievement. There was a lot more to that film than its aching and sweeping love story. Director Nagraj Manjule’s ballsy, bold, and bone-chilling film was a haunting portrayal of caste politics with one of the most walloping climatic scenes in recent memory. When Dharma Productions remade this blockbuster in the form of Dhadak two years later, the cosmetic treatment never allowed the film to move beyond a banal love saga of two different individuals in love. Then came the 2018 Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal, again a take on two people united by passion and divided by politics. The leading production house of Bollywood has now eyed on this saga too. They have even given it the same title and added a 2 to it.

This isn’t a spiritual sequel but a rather scary one. From 2016 till 2025, the movies show how the nation may not have evolved one bit. The upper echelons continue to gaze at the lower strata with a sense of dislike and disdain. At least this is what the four movies tell us. The protagonists in the originals felt like they truly occupied the world they were thrown into. For the remakes, the makers cast names who you wouldn’t imagine playing these characters. But which actor wouldn’t like to expand its oeuvre? So it was Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor for Dhadak, and it’s Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri for Dhadak 2.

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Chaturvedi, who made a solid impression in the rousing and remarkable Gully Boy (2019), kind of lost track of his fluidity in his (rightful) attempt to entice a wider audience. But Dhadak 2 stands miles ahead of turgid titles like Phone Bhoot and Yudhra. For Dimri, it’s the opposite. The soulfulness and effervescence of Laila Majnu, Bulbbul, and Qala got eclipsed by the erotica and staggering success of Animal. But for this actress too, it’s a performance that isn’t as limp as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Bad Newz. And then there’s the omnipresent and overpowering Saurabh Sachdeva. His bruised eyes and brooding aura suggest hurt. The intimidating baritone always acts like a trigger warning for impending doom.

This is Aditya Thakare’s debut film, who plays Vasu, and he has done a fabulous job portraying his character. Transitioning from a comedy content creator to taking on such a serious role, he has truly showcased his potential in his very first film. Watch out for him!

Dhadak means heartbeat, but once you’ve seen both the films, you get a sense that there couldn’t have been a more ironic moniker for the stories given how impossibly difficult it is for two different people to breathe the air of love. The names and the environment may have changed in these seven years, the essence remains constant. What has also remained intact is how the censor board continues to mutilate crucial conversations about case politics snd reservation in movies. The incoherent dubbing dilutes the effect of the narrative. But it’s good to see a story touching this side of history after Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15.

And unlike the first film in the franchise, Dhadak 2 gets the heartland and humour right. Chaturvedi’s Nilesh is his most vulnerable outing yet. And despite the endless trauma he’s subjected to, Nilesh is all heart. He cracks some amusing one-liners, pays homage to Shah Rukh Khan from Veer Zaara, and his feeble body language makes you empathize with his plight. Dimri’s more composed in her language because of her caste. And the two may not light up the screen with their chemistry, you do want them to be together. That’s more than half of the job done. Such is the trauma of the hero and the nature of the story, the moment he cracks a smile, you know he’s about to be harrowed soon. And some scenes create a lump. Nilesh is urinated on, thrown mud-water on, his father is publicly mortified. The battle finally ends for him, but it may not be true for others.

Dhadak 2 may not change the scheme of things despite shedding light on the dark side of the nation. It also at times bites more than it can chew, with the screenplay juxtaposing horror and humour together. And given the wave of a recent romantic blockbuster too famous to be reminded again, it will be interesting to see how this one is received. If Saiyaara, despite a happy ending, made people cry buckets of water, this romantic drama may go a step ahead. The film may end but the caste battle won’t. What’s there in a name huh?

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Dhadak 2 releases in cinemas on August 1