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.
