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Dil Dhadakne Do

DIL DHADAKNE DO

The best part about being on vacation is that you can catch an early show without the clutter of the reviews. However even then I did glimpse reviews that had rated the movie 4 and 4.5. Those almost made me dig in my heels and not go for the movie. But addicted as I am, I was at the movies and this movie if I had to rate, would say 4 for the first half and a 3 for the second…. Certainly not a 4 or 4.5 overall!
So Zoya Akhtar’s forte is eking out histories and back stories for her characters. Like she did in Luck by Chance and even her counterpart Reema Kagti did in Honeymoon Travels. And she does this so well here again. Also her angst against the upper crust continues in its own subtle way. The movie portrays a dysfunctional family headed by Anil Kapoor, who is busy trying to prop up his business by bartering his son. His wife is Shefali Shah who is assertive yet submissive, a trait shared by her daughter Priyanka Chopra who is stuck in a loveless marriage. The spark of the family or literally the chiraag of the khandaan is Ranveer Singh.
And the sutradhaar with a continuous voice over by the most beloved family member – the dog is a fine touch and goes down so well. The voice over is done by Aamir Khan and took me until the end of the movie to figure that one out.
Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar have special appearances but that doesn’t matter coz the movie belongs totally to the Uncle-Nephew team of Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. Also superb is Shefali and Zarina Wahab is perfect. A rare appearance by Parmeet Sethi was also good. I love the fact that Excel Entertainment keeps bringing back these people.
What surprised me is that in Zoya’s movies the city, or the locale plays the part of a character almost, like Mumbai did in Luck by Chance and Spain did in Zindagi … I missed that here. The first half of the movie does have a very Woody Allen type feel to it, it is the second half that meanders along and could have been crisper. The total length of the movie was 170 minutes…. Too long…
After The Slumdog Millionaire, this has to be Anil Kapoor’s best movie. He is too good. Also Ranveer Singh take a bow, you have outdone yourself. I wish the music had been better. The dialogues are by Farhan Akhtar ( God! Isn’t there anything this man can’t do?) They go down well, my fave was Zarina Wahab saying – “ I don’t drink because my arthiritis doesn’t let me hold a glass” Hee hee!
Although I am wary of donning the mantle of a soothsayer, I would say this movie isn’t going to pull in crowds the way Tanu weds Manu did or even Piku did.
Saw the trailer for Wazir and Bangistan and am awaiting them eagerly.

Ciao till Hamari Adhuri Kahaani…..

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