Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) – Movie Review

We live in a hypocritical world. Especially the society we live in never fails to amaze me. Bollywood is touching new margins wherein the young directors are bringing up topics of present-day relevance. While commercial success is surely a parameter taken into prime consideration when it comes to high-budget film production, Zoya Akhtar has once again proven that she is exceptionally fine at working on details of any subject.

Dil Dhadakne Do is like a breath of fresh air in the cinematic haphazard. While the film revolves largely around relationships, it is not only about love relationships or finding true love. On the periphery, it looks like a story of an upper-class family that is bound by its self-imposed norms and how the young ones in the family break it. But on the inside, it is about family bonding that is lost in all the high society drama, a bond that seems non-existent in the first part of the film, which is not built but is found during the course of the journey of the characters.

Anil Kapoor and his wife play a typical upper-class modern couple who have no chemistry in person but wear a plastic perfect couple image in society. Every small thing they do is either a business move or a gimmick to maintain their pseudo-public image.

Their daughter Priyanka Chopra, whom they married a few years back with a well-settled man Manav played by Rahul Bose, is visibly disturbed and unhappy in her marriage. She does not love her husband to the limit that thoughts of divorce keep crossing her mind but is bound in her relationship to maintain her family image.

However, the real drama starts when the parents plan to rule the life of their only son Kabir, played by Ranveer Singh (Kabir) by engaging him with a business giant’s daughter for his own company’s benefit. A lot of drama takes place. Complicated situations followed by heated arguments in the family and painful revelations happen but towards the end, not only relationships but the understanding between the family members also improves.

Dil Dhadakne Do – Movie Trailer

The film does not elaborate but touches on the subject of women’s empowerment and equality. Despite being one of the top self-made entrepreneurs, Priyanka Chopra is expected to perform the role of a typical Bahu. Her mother-in-law never fails to taunt her for being modern and ambitious. Her own mother underestimates and neglects her capabilities and tells her that her sole purpose in life should be governing the responsibilities of her family.

The film raises a very sensitive topic which questions the need for a male heir to a father’s empire. Why can not a woman run and lead the business of her father if she is good at it? Why her capabilities are marginalized and her career ambitions considered useless?

Kabir would be loved by ambitious and career-oriented females for pleading to his dad to make his sister their business inheritor. The film also questions the role of women who are wives to powerful men who can “enjoy” outside the bond of marriage but remain glued to their wives officially just for the sake of public image. Do women accept this silently to save their marriage or are they just too dependent to break out of it or do they even care about saving the marriage when everything in their life has become so materialistic?

The film also questions the mentality of every Indian parent who thinks that their children are their property and they can use them the way they want. Right from the career of their children to the kind of marital lives they should lead, they want to control it all. In order to achieve perfection in the eyes of society, we fail to play our real roles – the role of a father, a mother, a husband, and a lover.

Dil Dhadakne Do as the name suggests, makes us realize that we are not born to please the world but to LIVE BETTER, to keep ourselves happy, and understand our loved ones. Love does not mean possession, it means freedom that we should give to people we love for their own good and for ours too. Dil Dhadakne Do – let us make the world a better place to live in…

Genre: Drama
Starring: Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Farhan Akhtar, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah
Directed by: Zoya Akhtar
Written by: Reema Kagti & Zoya Akhtar

Dil Dhadakne Do Movie Poster
Movie Review Movie Dil Dhadakne Do



Where to watch Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)
Shivani Gupta is a poet, writer, film-maker, photographer and a creative communication expert. She has completed her Masters in Mass Communication from Jamia Miia Islamia University and is the co-founder of Pakhi Weddings.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Disclaimer: The images and/or videos used are not owned by Cinecelluloid. No copyright infringement intended.

Back To Top
error: Content is protected!