Dil Dhadakne Do Reviews and Box Office thread! - Page 38

Why isn't Anupama and Masand reviews out :( feel a little worried.. i thought at least Anupama would really like it..

waiting for them..

Originally posted by: chocolover89

Review: Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do

A round-trip luxury cruise is a perfect metaphor for Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do: it's glossy, it's picturesque, everything on board costs far more than it ought, there are some pretty people, a few of whom make a scene, a family shakes a leg quite memorably, there is some motion sickness and " for something that ends up precisely and predictably where it started " it takes a helluva long time going nowhere.

None of this is necessarily a bad thing. We need great movies and trashy movies and insightful movies and clever movies, sure, but sometimes we duck into a darkened theatre looking for comfort food, and that's when we need movies that do just what they promise on the label.

Modest ambitions notwithstanding, Dil Dhadakne Do takes a while to hit its stride, starting off choppy and feeling " at least for the first ninety of its indulgent 170 minutes " like a weak sitcom. Society types sniping at one another while the background score functions like a laugh track? Ouch. It's like a really long episode of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai where Satish Shah doesn't show up. And it doesn't help that in DDD, the narrator is a dog. The Mehra family, the frustrated foursome at the heart of this film, have a fifth member, an adorable bullmastiff who happens to be narrating the film. (Not kidding). And he's voiced by Aamir Khan. (I wish I were kidding.)

Thus does Aamir's Pluto Mehra pontificate on about people and their peculiar ways, but this too-literal voiceover " full of homilies about how strange humans are " is shockingly reminiscent of Khan's last film, PK, where he played an alien, full of homilies about how strange humans are. The gimmick could conceivably have been cute, but the film embraces it as an afterthought: it's fundamentally messed up that Pluto has nothing to do in the entire movie except talk reproachfully about people; and secondly that Khan, delivering platitudes written by Javed Akhtar, does so with a disturbingly pompous all-knowing voice. Snapdeal-Dhadakne-Do, the dog appears to be saying.

The project is lifted by a couple of actors, Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh playing the Mehra father and son and injecting Dil Dhadakne Do with energy and repose respectively. The film is about a family on a cruise with their friends, a nearly-bankrupt family taking a last-gasp holiday because saving face is too important, and it is Kapoor's undying ebullience and Singh's perplexed inwardness that defines the film and sets it on course. Zoya Akhtar's film doesn't provide much insight and leans too heavily on repetitive, sitcom-like reaction shots to underline its own obvious points over and over again " this is a film that generalises too much, one where all the parents are regressive, all the women are marriage-bait " but in the cacophony of these belaboured caricatures, Singh provides tremendous calm and brings nuance to the table. He's excellent. It's as if an understated actor from a Pakistani TV show walked out into a deafening Balaji crowd.

To be fair, however, the crowd is mostly on point. Farhan Akhtar, who has done a spiffy job with the film's often sardonic dialogue, is rather charming in the film. Shefali Shah is reliably strong as an unhappy, delusional wife, though she does appear to be channeling Shabana Azmi too much, and intriguing new actress Ridhima Sud is memorably cool as a young girl who knows when her shotglass needs another splash. The striking Priyanka Chopra can carry of a yellow sun hat with immense flair, but her Beyonc-level swagger (and her auditioning-for-America accent that randomly makes some English lines jar) is at odds with her character's innate mousiness in front of her parents. Anushka Sharma, playing a dancer but assuredly more comfortable on stage here than during her last debacle, is pretty great here as she concocts heady chemistry with Singh, the two infectiously grinning at each other as they fool around.

Sharma and Singh are smashing together, starting off their courtship hurriedly, with the kind of conversation people used to have on the Internet back in the day " throwing factual stats about their life out onto the table as if playing verbal Uno " but rather than seeming unnatural, it works because they make it seem believable that these two characters urgently want to get really close really fast. Sharma, more world-weary, is at times hesitant, and Singh " playing a leading man, who, refreshingly enough, has achieved nothing and knows nothing about where he's headed " approaches the romance bullishly, in that reckless way we do when we finally know what we want. There's a fine, fine moment where he pins her down and declares his love to her theatrically, in blustery, Bollywood-y dialogue, and she yanks him down for a kiss " tenderly, yes, but also simply to shut the fool up.

There is much, thus, that is wrong with Dil Dhadakne Do " the way it treats chauvinism as an absolute aspect of personality, the awful Priyanka Chopra plotline, the total lack of progressive parental figures on board the ship (where is that Daadi from Queen when you really need her?) " but it has a few sharp character-driven moments and, unlike most Hindi films, it ends stronger than it started, an impressive feat considering it always intended to finish things off in obviously feel-good fashion.

Despite its flaws, I find myself looking back at Dil Dhadakne Do and smiling. Because of Kapoor, a man who is unerringly good when given enough elbow room, and here he's silvermaned and smooth and selfish and playing his part with superb gusto. His character is so self-obsessed that in his head he's frequently confounded by just how obvious things seem to him and not the rest of the world, and Kapoor is superb as he restlessly swells up while waiting for everyone else to catch up to him. And because of Singh, who owns his moments of frustration, of resignation, of outrage, of wry comebacks. There is a scene where he loses all his calm and throws out the facts threateningly, like a grenade bobbed at his family, that he's in love with a girl. "She's a dancer and a muslim," he says, daring them to react, and Singh is scarily good. But he's even better when wordlessly standing on the deck, helplessly looking at his own shoes instead of daring to embrace his sobbing sister.

Dil Dhadakne Do translates to let the heart beat. The heart, it wants what it wants, and that's all very well, especially if it wants the kind of watery climaxes where hugs solve everything. But ah, how I wish this film hadn't gone doggystyle.

Rating: 3 stars

http://rajasen.com/2015/06/05/review-zoya-akhtars-dil-dhadakne-do/

This thankuuu ❤️ 😳⭐️

i may watch this film tomorrow .As its my parents anniversary .I hope i get the tickets . As i have not booked my tickets yet...

Reviews coming great .Happy for each n every one ...

MTV INDIA

'Dil Dhadakne Do' - Pulsates with fine performances

Narrated from Pluto, the omnipresent family dogs point of view, "Dil Dhadakne Do" is a classic and an oft-seen tale about love, freedom and hypocrisy in a dysfunctional family.

The story is the usual, run-of-the-mill; a family meets for a grand occasion followed by a catharsis. Here it is to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of Kamal (Anil Kapoor) and Neelam (Shefali Shah) Mehra, the most envied couple in Delhi's high-flying society.

To keep up with his standard and image, Kamal Mehra sponsors a cruise to Turkey and Greece for his family and friends. But unknown to the rest of the world, Kamal Mehra and his family are battling their own demons.

The senior Mehras are an estranged couple, Kamal is a shrewd businessman, whose every move in life revolves around his business. His wife Neelam leads a pretentious life. Son Kabir (Ranveer Singh), a good-for-nothing in the eyes of his father, desires to take up flying, but is expected to take the reins of his family business. Daughter Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra), married to Manav (Rahul Bose), is a promising entrepreneur locked in an unhappy marriage.

The rest of the troupe too, come with their own baggage of grouses and heartbreaks.

On the cruise, the inevitable happens. It is fascinating to observe the layers of their persona and drama unfold with stimulating performances from the ensemble cast.

Ranveer Singh as Kabir and Shefali Shah as Neelam Mehra outshine the other actors. Ranveer is a complete package, with a blend of a restrained, as well as an exuberant performance. He steals your heart, as he plays the charming Kabir with panache.

On the other hand, Shefali Shah emotes with her expressive eyes. Her expressions are worth a freeze, especially in the scenes; when she is depressed and binging on the chocolate cake and when Ayesha tells her about her intention to divorce.

Farhan Akhtar, in a special appearance as the journalist Sunny Gill and Anushka Sharma as the dancer Farah Ali, play Ayesha and Kabir's love interest. With limited on screen time they both leave an indelible mark -- Farhan with his controlled and understated performance and Anushka with her usual vibrant and uncomplicated demeanour.

Ridhima Sud as Noorie Sood makes an impressive debut. She is cast opposite Vikrant Massey and they make a competent pair.

Anil Kapoor as Kamal Mehra walks through his performance in the first half of the film but breathes life into some intense scenes in the latter half. Priyanka Chopra had her share of wow moments as Ayesha, while Rahul Bose as Manav, her stiff-upper-lipped husband, is his usual self and offers nothing spectacular.

Among the character actors, Zarina Wahab as Manav's mother and Ayesha Raza Misra as Indu, Kamal's sister-in-law, have their moments to shine.

Treated as a family drama and mounted on a wide canvas, the writer duo Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar maintain a perfect pulse of humour and drama, balancing the well-etched character graphs to the plot. They succeed in presenting the dichotomy in the relationships. With spurts of entertaining and poignant moments, they hit the right notes and emotions, but falter at places by taking cinematic liberty in certain scenes with respect to the point of view.

The dialogues by Farhan Akthar are as quirky as the characters in the film and they liven the scenes.

The voice lent to Pluto, is that of Aamir Khan, which you realise only once the credits roll.

The music and background score is well-meshed into the narration. It is the cinematography by Carlos Catalan that is impressive. His one-take shot of the entire song "Gallan goodiyaan" is remarkable.

With a run time of nearly three hours, the pace of the film is slow, but it's entertaining!

India-Forums

Dil Dhadakne Do - Movie Review

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Farhan Akhtar; Director: Zoya Akhtar;

Rating: 3 star

Yet another holiday movie from Zoya Akhtar's kitty but this time more than a feel good factor this time it leaves you thinking about how we have started living different lives under the same roof these days.

Here are the things we liked and disliked about this ensemble movie:

What we liked:

Oh! The Mehras and every single one of them: Anil Kapoor who plays the dashing daddy in the film. He is an effortless actor. His chemistry with each and every one in the movie is bang on. His salt and pepper looks makes him look even more handsome. The only drawback to him is, he still can't dance to save his life, pun intended. Shefali Shah is the surprise package in the film. Every frustrated married woman would relate to her somehow. There is a silent melancholy in her character which she exhibits brilliantly. Ranveer Singh, the young brat you would fall in love with. He has the best comic timing in the film. You see the natural Ranveer Singh in Kabir Mehra who is a very lovable character in the film. Priyanka Chopra who plays the role of Ayesha Mehra in the film is simply fabulous. Whether it is acting, singing, dancing or just her stunning looks Priyanka Chopra has it all. She is the perfect package. Last but not the least Aamir Khan, yes you read it right. Pluto Mehra, the adorable dog in the film has been given voice by Mr. Perfectionist himself. He is simply adorable and in his own words the most intelligent member of the Mehra family.

Special appearances: Farhan Akhtar plays the long lost love of Priyanka in the movie, and oh does he look delicious to the eye or what! Even though he has a small role he is pretty good and has some awesome screen presence. The other one to mention here is Rahul Bose who plays the role of Priyanka Chopra's husband in the film. Having been away from the screen for a long time now, Rahul comes with an awesome and powerful performance.

Oh! The cruise!: We all know what a brilliant director Zoya Akhtar is. But one thing she just doesn't go wrong with is her locations. This time around it is the cruise! We ourselves feel like we are sailing along the Mediterranean and what a journey it is!

Galla Goodiyan: Then comes the big fat Punjabi number. The only foot tapping number of the movie and you can feel the pulse of the entire unit with each and every member of the ensemble coming together for this heart thumping song!

What we didn't really like:

Anushka Sharma: A mere waste in the movie. She has nothing much to do and whatever little she does and plain and simple boring. She plays a dancer in the movie and surprisingly is bad in that too in the film.

The rest of the album: Other than Galla goodiyan all the other songs in the film don't really do much to the film. And that kind of puts you down, coming from such terrific music directors like Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy.

The long journey: The film is 175 minutes long. Yes that length tends to get very tiring eventually. Especially the first half is very draggy, though the second have is reliever. But you tend to undergo a feeling of sea sickness eventually.

All in all the movie is fun experience but just that a very long one indeed. Even though the movie has its share of loop holes you end up having a good time. In case you have a dysfunctional family do go for this one with that entire family, if nothing else you could at least spend three hours together in the otherwise busy lives.

Anita Menon

The best lines of #DilDhadakneDo have been given to @RanveerOfficial

Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh have just nailed it !

IBNLive Movies @IBNLiveMovies

The scene where @RanveerOfficial and @AnushkaSharma meet for the first time is so well done! Such chemistry! #DilDhadakneDo