Dhadkan

This emotional musical was released in the year 2000 and I had watched it in the theatre (at Jodhpur) with my family (my wife and my little daughter).

Dhadkan (heartbeat) is based on triangular relationship between a husband, his wife and her ex-beau. Dev (Sunil Shetty) is poor and is in love with a comparatively well-off girl, Anjali (Shilpa Shetty) who gets married to Ram (Akshay Kumar) as per the wishes of her parents. After getting troubles in her married life for some time, she is able to adjust there and starts loving her husband too. Her idealistic husband is totally alone in the hostile environment of the family consisting of his step-mother (Sushma Seth) , step-brother (Parmeet Sethi) and step-sister (Manjeet Kullar). Anyway, three years pass after their marriage when the twist in the tale comes.

The twist is the return of Anjali's erstwhile poor ex-beau, Dev who is no longer poor and has become a big businessman, working in association with Sheetal (Mahima Chaudhary). Dev feeks that he can win Anjali back from Ram through his wealth and he makes attempts in this direction through many negative attempts. However, in the end, he realizes that Anjali can't be his now and without any bitterness in heart towards Ram, he moves back abroad with an intent to marry Sheetal now (who had been loving him in her heart despite knowing about his passion for Anjali).

The story starts interestingly and there are many impressive sequences in the movie, beautifully intertwined with the melodious songs. However there is little doubt that the direction is poor. The story could have been told much more convincingly. Instead, it has been told in a stupidly theatrical way and appears utterly unreliable even on the screen. All the supporting characters appear like robots having human faces with mechanical gestures, activities and dialogues. In the scene of wedding of Ram and Anjlai, Navneet Nishan has been shown as the sister of Ram. However in the very next scene (and for the balance part of movie), Manjeet Kullar is shown as playing that role. Well, the viewer can only pity at the brains of the director for this continuity-jerk.

It is told that when Anjali had left Dev, he had only 50 paise in his pocket. After three years, he is showed as owning a business empire worth Rs. 500 crores which is the height of exaggeration. Further he goes abroad so comfortably as if he had to go to Chinchpokli through a local train. He is so egoistic that he meets Anjali's father (Kiran Kumar) wearing a sleeper containing a hole. Even this is not sufficient, he shows that hole to his prospective father-in-law with pride. While watching that scene, I was feeling like taking that sleeper (with the hole) from Dev and hitting the moviemaker hard with that only.

The face-saving grace of this movie are Akshay Kumar and music. Nadeem-Shravan have composed highly admirable songs. Dil Ne Ye Kaha Hai Dil Se, Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan Mein Rehte Ho, Na Na Karte, Aksar Iss Duniya Mein and finally the wedding song - Dulhe Ka Sehra Suhaana Lagta Hai, all are worth listening to again and again. The picturization of the songs is also good.

Cinematographer has done a remarkable job. There are several eye-soothing scenes capturing the beautiful landscapes. The art-direction is also praiseworthy. The movie is not unduly long but the editing still leaves a lot to be desired (the continuity-jerk mentioned above is an example of the poor editing).

Akshay Kumar has excelled in the role of an idealist. His character has been crafted on the lines of the name given to his character (Lord Rama). His restrained performance evidences that his acting talent remained unexplored during his initial years in Bollywood. His performance in Dhadkan is unarguably one of his best acting performances. Sunil Shetty and Shilpa Shetty have also delivered admirable performances. Mahima Chaudhary is strictly OK. However the complete supporting cast has done NAUTANKI in the name of acting. Everybody is over the top and irritating.

Still I recommend this movie to the audience liking emotional stories and family dramas. The music and the performances of the key characters have made it worth a watch despite its flaws. And it is also not to be missed by the fans of Akshay Kumar (and the fans of Shilpa Shetty and Sunil Shetty as well).

I enjoyed the songs and Suniel Shetty's performance as a child. Akshay Kumar's character in this movie was too boring for me as I was used to seeing him kicking and fighting in all movies. But when I look at it now, It was a nice subtle performance. However the film looks and feels outdated today.

I watched this movie on TV. The acting of Sunil Shetty is very good & convincing, Akshay was OK. Watch it for Sunil Shetty. Back in 2000 actors usually suffer from overacting problems but Sunil Shetty is too good even when compared to today's standard.

I somehow started enjoying this film after some time but never really understood the need for the overly melodramatic script and the corny writing. I do like Bollywood for its unrestrained emotions but it is greatly overdone in this one. Not that I expected much from Dharmesh Darshan who's done some incredibly stupid films, but the dialogues were so damn cheap. Sunil's love confessions to Shilpa, high ton speeches, arguments with Shilpa's father, and his mother's sudden death are pure and old platitude. On top of that, all of a sudden he returns as one of the richest men in the city. What nonsense! His overacting does not help. He is hamming all through. But then comes the goodness himself, Akshay Kumar, whose overly generous attitude and morning prayers are similarly too cliché to be true, but you can't but sympathise with his optimistic and peaceful Ram. You somehow start feeling inevitably charmed and excited by the film's proceedings and the Akshay-Shilpa romance.

Akshay's often kitschy dialogues surprisingly don't make him look peculiar. On the contrary, he is convincing and seems to be a simple guy and a loving husband. There's something genuinely sincere and crafted about his performance that works. There is also a lovely appearance by the young hottie Mahima who is charming and beautiful in her relatively insignificant role. The film, however, is quite Shilpa's film, and she is strikingly compelling throughout the film. But if there is something that makes Dhadkan unforgettable, it's the music. All the songs without exception are melodious, beautiful and well pictured. "Dil Ne Yeh Kaha", "Na Na Karte", shot beautifully in the backdrop of stunning green fields, are very romantic and present the different sides of Akshay and Shilpa's relationship, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Dulhe Ka Sehra" is splendid, with a great appearance by Kader Khan. Dhadkan is not an extraordinary film, but it strangely manages to convince you despite the awfully ancient and unrealistic drama.

I hate it when movies that have the potential to be great end up to be messed up only because the director makes some stupid careless. That is pretty much the case with 'Dhadkan'. What was most irritating is that Darshan has left plenty of 'bloopers' and the writing is horrendous and banal. Dev's mom's sudden heart attack was such an old cliché. Despite a few good dialogues, most of them are bad, corny and ancient. The ending is forced and to an extent nonsensical. Though, having seen 'Lootere', 'Raja Hindustani' and 'Haan Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya Hai', 'Dhadkan' is way better than anything Darshan has made before and after.

But for me, 'Dhadkan' wasn't entirely a complete waste of time and I can rewatch it (keeping the remote ready to fast-forward the bad scenes) for a few reasons: the songs and performances. All the songs were beautifully picturized. My favourite visualizations were both versions of 'Dil Ne Yeh Kaha Hai' (it has some very good acting moments by Akshay and Shilpa), 'Aksar Iss Duniya Mein' (beautifully choreographed and a graceful Mahima Chaudhry), 'Na Na Karte' (romance in Zurich and Venice) and of course 'Dulhe ka Sehra' (wonderful lyrics and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's powerful voice pretty much sum up a wedding).

Sunil Shetty does mostly an okay job but does tend to ham in several scenes. A restrained Akshay Kumar is brilliant as the down to earth and optimistic Ram. The enigmatic gorgeous Mahima Chaudhry superbly stands out in a smaller role. But, 'Dhadkan' belongs to Shilpa Shetty. She finally gets a movie that centres round her character and Shetty effortlessly carries it. The supporting cast are mere clichés and caricatures. Kader Khan makes a surprising appearance.

'Dhadkan' is mainly watchable for the performances of Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Mahima, Nadeem Shravan's music and nice outdoor locations (if you're still not used to seeing them in Hindi films). And for these factors it has repeat value if I'm given full authority of the remote control.