'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' is one of my all-time favourite movies. I watch it every time it airs on TV, at least in part, and want to live my own version of it with my girl friends. I also loved the shortie that Zoya Akhtar made for 'Bombay Talkies' - a small boy who loves to dress up in costumes and dance, and the pressure he faces from his family to act like a boy and not a girl. It was a touching story told compellingly in 30 minutes.
Naturally, I was looking forward to 'Dil Dhadakne Do'. I had read that it was a story about a brother-sister relationship and with a stellar cast comprising of Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, PC and Ranveer Singh (yes, Anushka Sharma as well but I just can't get myself to like her regardless of what she does), I thought it would pack a punch. Zoya Akhtar can really express the voice of our generation in a realistic and impactful way. However, DDD was anything but that!
I thought it was a classic case of a good concept let down by poor execution (pardon my market researcher voice ;)
Zoya had a couple of good messages on hand - existence of gender inequality even amongst the creme-de-la-creme of Indian society, and how important it is to give the people you love the freedom to live their lives in the way that they want. These messages really resonated with me. I've been so fortunate to grow up in a family where I have experienced neither gender inequality (or seen it happening to my cousins), nor a stifling of my freedom. My parents have never stopped us from living our lives the way we wanted be it in the friends we made or the clothes we wanted to wear or the careers we wanted to pursue. Also, having grown up without a brother we never saw preferential treatment given to a boy vs. a girl, even something small as the time you need to be back home from play (neither are our parents the sort). But I know these pressures and discriminations exist in many families.
Unfortunately, the movie left me really bored. The slow pace was a killer. All through I was waiting for it to pick up pace...and when it did, in the last 15 minutes, it was in the most idiotic way! It's like Zoya & team suddenly realized that they've bored the hell out of the audience for the last 3 hours (no less!), so let's make the last 15 minutes as stupid and Bollywoody as we can.
Also, I didn't feel that the brother-sister bond coming across too strongly. Yes, there were a couple of scenes showing their camaraderie but I think with 3 hours in hand Zoya could've focused more on that relationship. Instead she chose to waste a lot of time on side characters that did not necessarily contribute as much to the storyline...like the track with Parmeet Sethi and his rival and the love story between their kids (I didn't think she needed two stories to convey that space and freedom are essential in every relationship). Or the scenes with Shefali Shah's high society friends...I mean we are all well aware of what they are like, Zoya wasn't showing anything new here.
Farhan Akhtar too was completely wasted. He hardly had much to do except a couple of scenes where he stood up for PC. Such a talented actor...so dishy...what a waste!
I loved Shefali Shah...such a terrific actress! And Ranveer too. He can be quite putting off on live tv shows with his over flowing energy but he was so restrained in the movie. He really got into the skin of the poor-little-rich-boy character.
Oh well...so much for DDD. Zoya better make up for it with her next movie. And please...give us more of Farhan Akhtar next time. Promise we won't complain!
Naturally, I was looking forward to 'Dil Dhadakne Do'. I had read that it was a story about a brother-sister relationship and with a stellar cast comprising of Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, PC and Ranveer Singh (yes, Anushka Sharma as well but I just can't get myself to like her regardless of what she does), I thought it would pack a punch. Zoya Akhtar can really express the voice of our generation in a realistic and impactful way. However, DDD was anything but that!
I thought it was a classic case of a good concept let down by poor execution (pardon my market researcher voice ;)
Zoya had a couple of good messages on hand - existence of gender inequality even amongst the creme-de-la-creme of Indian society, and how important it is to give the people you love the freedom to live their lives in the way that they want. These messages really resonated with me. I've been so fortunate to grow up in a family where I have experienced neither gender inequality (or seen it happening to my cousins), nor a stifling of my freedom. My parents have never stopped us from living our lives the way we wanted be it in the friends we made or the clothes we wanted to wear or the careers we wanted to pursue. Also, having grown up without a brother we never saw preferential treatment given to a boy vs. a girl, even something small as the time you need to be back home from play (neither are our parents the sort). But I know these pressures and discriminations exist in many families.
Unfortunately, the movie left me really bored. The slow pace was a killer. All through I was waiting for it to pick up pace...and when it did, in the last 15 minutes, it was in the most idiotic way! It's like Zoya & team suddenly realized that they've bored the hell out of the audience for the last 3 hours (no less!), so let's make the last 15 minutes as stupid and Bollywoody as we can.
Also, I didn't feel that the brother-sister bond coming across too strongly. Yes, there were a couple of scenes showing their camaraderie but I think with 3 hours in hand Zoya could've focused more on that relationship. Instead she chose to waste a lot of time on side characters that did not necessarily contribute as much to the storyline...like the track with Parmeet Sethi and his rival and the love story between their kids (I didn't think she needed two stories to convey that space and freedom are essential in every relationship). Or the scenes with Shefali Shah's high society friends...I mean we are all well aware of what they are like, Zoya wasn't showing anything new here.
Farhan Akhtar too was completely wasted. He hardly had much to do except a couple of scenes where he stood up for PC. Such a talented actor...so dishy...what a waste!
I loved Shefali Shah...such a terrific actress! And Ranveer too. He can be quite putting off on live tv shows with his over flowing energy but he was so restrained in the movie. He really got into the skin of the poor-little-rich-boy character.
Oh well...so much for DDD. Zoya better make up for it with her next movie. And please...give us more of Farhan Akhtar next time. Promise we won't complain!
4 comments:
lol!!
One thing I agree with you, wish the movie had more of Farhan Akhtar. He is too good.
Not to mention they had been promoting him as one of the main cast members. Given a proper role and screen time he would have elevated the movie to a different level single-handedly! I'm waiting for 'Wazir' with him and AB...it's supposed to release in December.
Your critique is spot on!
@Paro - Thanks Paro. First time for you here, I believe. Thanks for reading my blog :)
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