Friday, 5 June 2015

DIL DHADAKNE DO: Parents, O Parents! A long family affair! [3.5/5]

An ideal family is a myth. Issues like gender discrimination, forceful implementations of the patriarchy power, constant manipulations over fake morality, compromises for the sake of saving relationships and a flair of hypocrisy even in the most sober looking character do lie in every family. It’s only a matter of time to experience what will surface and when. A dysfunctional family as they call it is nothing but an elaborated term for any family out in this world. Zoya Akhtar's DIL DHADAKNE DO offers you a chance for a paid visit to one of these 'dysfunctional' families.

Anil Kapoor plays the ‘self-made’ millionaire Mehra, who’s celebrating his 30th marriage anniversary with Mrs. Mehra [Shefali Shah] on a cruise. The daughter Mehra [Priyanka Chopra] losing her surname now to her husband’s after marriage is irked with the invitation-card not carrying her name as a family-member. The son Mehra [Ranveer Singh] is trying his hard to fit in his father’s shoes. Along with some close friends and relatives, Mehras are out on loose on the cruise. Everything looks perfectly planned, well-designed, glossy, shiny and desirable until the real issues within the family start melting down all the plastics on the most beautiful looking faces on earth. The daughter Mehra wants to move in life and is now asking for a divorce. The son Mehra is blackmailed emotionally to marry the daughter of one of the possible business partners. The catch for the son Mehra is a private jet he finds his true love in. Parents, O parents!

Zoya Akhtar with Reema Kagti presents to you a gorgeous looking family you might wish to have in your next life but with the short and sour problems chances are you’re already facing in this very life. Who haven’t been preached all his life hearing the same-old struggle-story of his father from the horse’s mouth? Do mothers ever fail in ‘baby-ing’ the son even if he’s started dating hot babes? And then, there is this epic scheming side of the parents who are alive only to see their sons/daughters getting married. The best part is the Zoya-Reema duo doesn’t try to sink you in the murkiness of the situations but saves you with the quirk in dialogues and a flashy wit in the nature of the characters. Despite a certain kind of dreariness in the plot and the slacken off duration, film manages to keep you smiling for the most parts.

With a picturesque star-cast that looks like coming to a special edition magazine cover photo-shoot, DIL DHADKANE DO never actually has a dull frame. Even the brigade of supporting actors like Divya Seth Shah, Parmeet Sethi, Vandana Sajnani, Ridhima Sud, Vikrant Massey and Manoj Pahwa charmingly finds its place to rise and shine. Also Farhan, Priyanka, Rahul Bose and Anushka are branded names to come up with performances you can’t crib about but eventually DIL DHADAKNE DO finds its acting-giants in Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Shefali Shah. All of these three names have rediscovered themselves in their own way. Anil Kapoor’s performance as a suave, money-driven, self-centered, crude, controlling and calculative patriarch is terrific. Ranveer Singh surprises as well. Probably for the first time, he has brought something called subtly in his performance and it’s totally rewarding. Move over his ‘ever ready’ charged up energy assurance, here is an actor a lot more yet to be explored. Shefali Shah is brilliant and makes you wonder why Bollywood hasn’t given her yet what she deserves. Well done, Ma’am!

To conclude, DIL DHADAKNE DO suffers two major slip-ups. One being the length of the film of course and the other is the narration given by none other than Aamir Khan lending his voice to the younger Mehra of the family; a dog! Yes, you heard it right.  Now, this can be an ‘Aww’ moment for puppy-loving beauties but for the film, it does throw a fit of boredom on you. Watch out for some real ‘surprising’ performances and dialogue-driven humor! [3.5/5]

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