Rating : 3.2/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 30 minutes
Director : Shashank Khaitan
Cast : Ishaan Khatter, Jahnavi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana
Kid rating : PG-15
I loved Sairat, as you know. For a while, everywhere I went I would get up on my soapbox and exhort everyone I met to watch this masterpiece. Then came Dhadak, Karan Johar’s remake of Sairat. It was expected that he would inject sheen and glamor into this earthy, rural tale, and after watching it, despite my initial prejudice, I have to say it wasn’t too bad at all.
In Dhadak, Parthavi (Kapoor), high caste “princess” of Udaipur falls in love with low-caste Madhukar (Khatter). Her orthodox politician father (Rana) promises swift and fatal retribution and causes the lovesick pair to run away to Kolkata. Of course, both miss their families, but Parthavi’s dad is still baying for their blood . . .
Director Khaitan moves the original tale out of a village to a city, and modernizes it a bit. It works in part, but there are still some awkward contrivances for the public pool/bathing scene – I cannot imagine a city-bred girl going on a public bathing outing with her friends. The leads are better looking, there is more color, sheen and fanfare to this production as compared to the original Sairat. While this might make it more “watchable” for some, from my point-of-view there is a flip side to this injection of glamor – and it is this: muting or softening of the original tale takes away the impact. Casteism is a harsh and narrow truth, and must be portrayed as such.
So my problem with this film is more philosophical, as in I’m not sure this was a good pick for the Dharma Productions stable. From them I look forward to seeing glitzy, slick tales which for all their trials and tribulations end satisfyingly, if not happily. There is no way to tell Sairat’s story in that fashion, no matter the amount of color and pomp you inject into it. And if we are talking story, I will say that Dhadak’s ending, which is different to that of Sairat, is weak.
Now, I liked both of the leads – they were well-cast and looked good together. Dhadak is Jahnavi’s debut, and she does bring to screen the pouty innocence of a girl born to wealth. She is not quite the actress her mother was, but shows promise. Ishaan was really good here. His natural persona oozes vulnerability so this role suited him to a T. Dhadak borrows two of its songs directly from Sairat; the lovely “Yad Lagla” becomes “Pehli Baar” even being sung by the same singer Ajay Gogavle, and Zingaat remains its own catchy self, only in Hindi.
On the whole, Dhadak is a passable watch, if wishy-washy. If you’re looking for realism, watch Sairat instead.
Kidwise: Some scenes of violence, one pretty grotesque. Ghastly violence is implied.
