Dhadak - BO/Review Thread - Critic Reviews Start from Pg 12 - Page 30

Originally posted by: -JaprilForever-

^the climax is not the definition of honor killing' according to me...its more like revenge.

Originally posted by: cricketfan1

What is honor killing?

Originally posted by: cricketfan1

All said and done, it IS about honor killing...

About the caste differences..Its possible they didn't want to talk about it at all because except for the one passing mention by Madhu's dad, I haven't seen anybody else talking about it...Its more about the class differences...Madhu clearly belongs to the working class while Parthavi belongs to royalty!

@Bold:Its funny you mentioned that because that's the first thought that came to my mind when I was finally able to grasp the climax scene...Can't say much without giving anything away about it, but arghhh I hope the second part is about kicking some ass@$%&##

Originally posted by: SrideviFan4ever

This is not a review but some of my thoughts about the film.This is going to be a long essay cum rant so apologies in advance.My thoughts below will contain spoilers since I can't talk about it without them. I'll mention them whenever necessary.

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So finally got to watch the film and I'm glad it met up to my expecatations. I'm a HUGE Sairat fan so I did not even expect this film to be as good as the original so I didn't even try comparing the two.I watched Dhadak as a standalone film and found it to be a pretty good attempt at creating something similar to the original. I think one of the reasons why this film clicked with me and is clicking with the rest of the audiences is because after a long time, we got to see young, innocent first love on screen which is so pure and so honest starring very young lead actors. It did not look like a Dharma film or even a Shashank Khaitan film from the begining to the end and I think that's the freshness of the film despite it being a remake. It's always nice to see a remake trying to stay true to the source material yet bringing in something new to the table. Unlike what most of the critics complained, I did not see the caste hierarchy missing in the film. It's obviously not in your face but in the dialogues and behavorial patterns of the characters right from the begining.

(SPOILER) Be it Ratan Singh handing over the second prize to his family member but refusing to hand over the prize to Madhu and instead asking Parthavi to do it, Ratan reprimanding his son for acting like a waiter in front of the foreigners to Parthavi, Parthavi threatening to kick Madhu out of the college for not giving him attention to many more such things. It's all there throughout the film.(SPOILER ENDS)

I don't know why people only associate lower caste to only poverty stricken families. Yes, those who are poor and are of the lowest rung of the ladder as per societal norms are the most vulnerable but that doesn't mean others of a slightly better class automatically gives them a better life to live. I found something similar with the Baglas as well. Yes, they do have a concrete roof over their head and run a cafe from their house but at the same time Madhu's dad fears for Madhu when he sees mingling with a higher caste girl. Is the fear only because for his son's life? No, it's because of the fear of their life and whatever little honour they have in the society as well and the way his dad is intimidated by the police later shows that. The thing I really liked about Dhadak is that it doesn't restrict itself to inter caste love but also touches into inter regional and inter faith love through Madhu's maternal uncle and his landlord in Calcutta along with showing how even someone of a lower caste will too have reservations regarding his family members marrying outside their own caste. So I loved that whole Nagpur angle to the film because it showed how caste and class is present at every single level and will never change unless people dare to break the shackles of the soceity.

Coming to the screenplay of the film, Udaipur was shown beautifully throughout the first half and is almost a character in itself with Madhu and Parthavi. Those silent little moments where both Madhu and Parthavi spend time alone, Udaipur almost looks like this silent fly on the wall witnessing the birth of their love story, the pehli tareek of their saat janam. The Dhadak title track elevates that to a complety different level altogether especially when Shreya's lines kicks in. That pure innocent first love, which you know is just a beautiful dream and nothing else. Madhu and Parthavi's characters too were a welcome change in the first half of the film. Madhu is not one of those usual 'heroes' in a Bollywood film. He isn't the most loved guy in his neighbourhood. He is not macho. He is yet to step into the real world and is lost in his infatuation towards Parthavi. He dreams like young adults do. He breaks into a ball dance with his friends when he sees the girl he likes visiting him personally in the clinic and asking for his well being. He is just a 20 year year old small town boy like you usually find everywhere in the country and that is what I loved the most about Madhu's presentation. On the other hand, while I expected her to be a wild child, Parthavi here is a spoilt brat. Born in a palace with royal blood running in her body and shameless display of power being a regular sight around her house, she has been brought up as an entitled kid who is delusional about her non existent royalty. I think the reason why she actually falls in love with Madhu is because he brings in something to her life she doesn't have. A change. A believable environment. Someone who loves her for who she is and not because of her background.

Coming back to the screenplay, unpopular opinion here but I liked the second half of the film much more than the first half. As in a LOT more than the Udaipur set up. It's always nice to see dreamy love stories that have a fairy tale like treatment where everything is hunky dory but the real test of partnership in a relationship comes when a couple is at their worst and that is what forms the second half of the film. I thought the slow pace of the second half was needed to make the first half look impactful.

(SPOILER) Parthavi tells Madhu to throw away his dream of building a big mansion for her in Lake Pichola because she wants a home and not a mansion. A place where food will be made only for the two of them and no one else.Where she can feel loved and be herself. (SPOILER ENDS)

It's always easy to say such things when you are living a comfortable life but when you are thrown into the real world to fend for yourself, you do realize that it's a different ballgame altogether and this is where Parthavi shines in the film. I loved the way her character graph designed throughout the second half of the film. That whole 'apna ghar' dream of hers shattering and she being stripped off all her entitlment, power and luxury. That whole confusion of whether she made a mistake by running away without giving a thought, whether she and Madhu are really in love or was it just infatuation and then growing into becoming an independent woman was beautifully shown.

And I must give credit here to Shashank for staying true to his vision in the second half and not giving in to the 'Dharma' palette in Bollywood unlike the Zingat song which Farah said Karan had interfered in to make it like a dance number. I've been in that same environment. I've seen those people in flesh and blood around me. Those helpful dadas and didis you see in Calcutta who will open their hearts to help you and welcome you in their addas. The cacaphony of the city which is so different from the serene lake city of Udaipur. New market, the trams and the young couples like Madhukar and Parthavi. I was lietrally shocked to see the set up in the second half in a Dharma film. I mean when have we ever seen a Dharma lead heroine in a low cost 'nighty' from new market that I've seen the women in my family wear at home? I know Dharma gets a lot of hate for their gloss and glamour, even I've been a part of the same audience dissing that but when you see them trying to change the palette due to the necessity of the story, I think they should be appreciated for that. Also, like I mentioned above, I liked that they showed the secular palette of the city that welcomes everybody irrespective of faith. I'm very impressed with Shashank for his detailing of Calcutta. I found it very releatable.

One of my favorite scenes from the second half of the film which is an original here is the heart to heart talk Bhowmick Da has with Madhu and his friends of why he and his wife has chosen to not have a child. I think that scene alone sums up the motivation behind stories like Dhadak and the harsh reality of the society we are living in. I'm also glad that the friends were also given a closure and did not just disappear all of a sudden after the escape from Udaipur. Finally, the beautiful second half culminates with the soulfoul and my favorite song from the album, Vaara Re. I loved how they showed Madhu and Parthavi growing personal and career wise in the film and also Bowmick Da slightly getting inpisred by them and trying to publicly display his affection towards his wife which leads to the tragic climax.

(SPOILER) I personally liked it as much as the original. It suited the storyline of Dhadak with the constant gender politics being shown between Parthavi's mysoginist upper caste dad and the opposition leader who is a woman and his daughter having the guts to get married to a man of a lower caste, I thought the change in the ending was justified along with it being sudden and heart wrenching. The family literally erased all the blood that Parthavi shares with her lower caste husband.Also,have to give in to Shashank for giving a little thrill to those who have already seen Sairat in the scene where the baby crawls back to the house and Parthavy picks him up. There was a slight cheer from people in the theatre who have already seen the original but that didn't last long as the loud thud at the end matched with the loud scream from some people in the theatre I was watching the film. A satisfying climax to a satisying film.(SPOILER ENDS)

And now (yes there's a LOT more :P), coming to the heart and soul of Dhadak- Ishaan and Janhvi. What a spectacular debut by both of them. They created magic in every scene they were a part of. There was this feel of something very pure and very innocent during their conversations which never felt crass or cheap. I haven't seen Beyond The Clouds but Ishaan was really good in this film. His eyes speak so much in emotional scenes. He looks like a born actor. He literally owns the first half of the film with the way he deals with his first love of his life. Janhvi in comparison, is good in the first half but falls a little bit short in the first half, Like one of the reviews said, she looks like a work in progress in the first half but the progress happens rapidly pre-interval and as soon as they shift base to Calcutta. Janhvi starts playing her cards well and takes the story head on with her struggle as the runaway Parthavy. She is very impressive in the whole police station sequence where she runs away with Madhu and by the time they are in Calcutta , she manages to pull off the complicated role of Parvathy and the confidence with which she plays the grown up Parvathy at the end of the film is too good. I love how she dealt with her character graph throughout the second half and gave the necessary expressions till the end. But like I said, the magic happens when they are together. Be it that scene beside Lake Pichola where they talk about the badi kothi or the public spat or how they resolve the spat at the end.

(SPOILER) The whole recreation of the badi kothi scene but in a new city with hooghly instead of Lake Pichola. I also liked how it was Madhu who resolved the fight and not the other way because it was Madhu who brought in his insecurity and masculinity between their love story.(SPOILER ENDS)

However, it's not like the film and Ishaan-Janhvi doesn't have flaws. I wish Shashank had put in a little more meat in the first half with respect to Madhu and Parthavy.They needed a bit more time to explore their love in the city. Though, the bratiness in Parthavy makes her effective in the second half but she should've given some more depth in the first half. We see her from Madhu's eyes but we hardly see Madhu from her eyes. It would've been nice to see her fall in love as well just like Madhu did which happened very soon I felt. Those scenes would've compensated for the humour in the first half which I think was more than it was needed.Also, the Mewari accent was unecessary. We are watching a hindi film, we know the mileu so they don't have to speak in a hodge podge of hindi and mewari to make themselves believable. I think the Mewari accent was sometimes restricing the actors during dialogue delivery,especially Janhvi in the first half.

Coming to the acting, though both of them do a really good job for their first film and are such confident actors but there's always scope for improvement. Ishaan needs to bring a little bit more originality in his performance. In some places, especially the happy ones,his acting was looking like Shahid and he also needs to be more clearer with his dialogues in intense scenes. I couldn't understand some in the secod half because he was mumbling. Janhvi expresses really well, she does very good at the sober parts of the film but she needs to improve her dialogue delivery because she was struggling at some parts in the first half when she had to act like the badass Parthavy. She also needs to get rid of her accented Hindi which she does get rid off t a large extent by the second half which I guess was because of the gap between the shoot of the first half and second half.

But no major complaints because the honesty in both of their performances shows. They should be thankful that they got such a good opporunity as their debut films and must work very hard and keep on imporving further with every film and also experiment and not play safe. I don't mind seeing them in another film because these two kids have one hell of a screen presence on celluloid. I'm rooting for them.

So yeah, that what all I had to say about the film. I did want to write something similar after watching Sairat as well because I had lots to say but unfortunately couldn't because it wasn't a hindi film and I had no proper medium,Since this film is one which will be widely watched, I thought of opening my heart out and write everything I felt about the film here despite it looking like a goddamn thesis.😆

If I had to rate the film, I would give it a 3.5/5. It is definitely not what the critcis are making it out to be,atleast according to me. From ther reviews it sounds like Dhadak is a Judwaa 2 or Race 3.The film is very much watachable,atleast once and is likeable and has repeat value and also puts across the message very well.

Does it do justice to the ogiinal- No, because it doesn't try to become like the original. The main reason why Sairat will remain to be a superior film is because of the gaze of the director. Manjule is a Dalit himself so he has put in all his life experiences and anger into the film which makes it powerful. Khaitan isn't from a lower caste. Hence Dhadak becomes a film from a third person's point of view. Does that make it a terrible film? Definitely not.

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I also have a rant coming up so stay tuned. 😆

Originally posted by: -JaprilForever-

An honor killing or shame killing^[1] is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of a community or a religion, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

^copied from wikipedia.

Originally posted by: cricketfan1

But the thing is, it may not be the complete picture if you know what I mean...Though I am not yet sure if I liked what was shown...😕

@Justmoi: Is it?May be that's the plan, who knows! KJo can launch Janhvi's sister in the sequel...ha!