Primarily set on a cruise for Mr and Mrs Mehra’s wedding anniversary, Dil Dhadakne Do is a family drama with a story in the format of a journey narrative. Similar to a previous critically and commercially acclaimed movie directed by Zoya Akhtar, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do explores the idea of change and transition in the main characters through travel. The film’s cinematography is a work of art by Carlos Catalan while the package is certainly incomplete without Reema Kagti’s hand in writing and Farhan Akhtar’s character giving the ensemble cast and characters a fine edge.
As in any road film, the archetypical leader exists, however instead of just one character in the possessing this role, the film left me rather unsure whether this leader was Pluto, the dog and narrator, Sunny (Farhan Akhtar), or Kabir (Ranveer Singh). Nevertheless, with a large number of characters, almost successfully representing an equivocal Indian society, the confusion is inevitable.
That aside, the story almost flawlessly captures and discusses key current issues, to do with double standard parenting, gender expectations and plastic personalities. While it was widely criticised for being a movie about the rich, for the rich, I believe the effect was rather different, the product was, as mentioned earlier, equivocal. The rich would be looking at a mirror, while the middle and lower class audiences could take comfort in the fact that the underlying realities in even the rich’s life are similar to their own. Careful observations and incremental actions ensured that the characters would reflect an entire community, which would in turn mean that almost every type of audience could relate to a character. The level-pegging in terms of acting, of what are known more commonly in the industry as A-list actors and supporting actors only made the screenplay look more thought out and comprehensive. The traditional equilibrium – disequilibrium – new equilibrium pattern was challenged as the film began with disequilibria. This continued till a climax where plans changed and the child’s choices were accepted constantly.
The sea and water was a key icons in Dil Dhadakne Do, a symbol for Kabir’s character. He was introduced by Pluto while swimming at his pool, he later fell in love with a dancer when diving into the cruise pool. It symbolised a sea of dreams and freedom, a place where he could lose the shackles of his high society life and dive into his own wishes and ambitions. The sea also presented Ayesha, his sister, an only option, in the form of death, to leave her unhappy married life. The final shot of the film, where Kabir dives in the water to swim to the love of his life is the scene where the final resolve arrives in the journey narrative, a coming of age moment for all the characters. The Mehra’s family unites to rescue Kabir and help him tread through the waters to reach his goals.
Carlos Catalan’s love for rule of thirds shot was displayed well throughout the film. With beautiful landscapes of Turkey, Italy, France, Tunisia and Spain being displayed regularly, it was hard not to be planning a future holiday. The dogma 95 style cinematography of emotional conversations also seemed to have achieved the desired effect. Overall, continuing with the same director of photography sets a motif in Hindi cinema for journey films. For all we know, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and now Dil Dhadakne Do, could be the films being referred to when talking about cinema and the establishment of iconography in Indian road films in the years to come.
Kudos to the team for producing a great piece to add to a hopefully never ending list of beautifully shot, wonderfully scripted journey films. Thank you Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti for the unconventional, risk-taking script and thank you Carlos Catalan for showing the beautiful world in his B-roll. Which I certainly believe are two elements that are significant in a making a complete road film. The reel challenged the realities of India in more than one way, and in all likelihood, brought a progressive change in some audiences.