Dhadkan

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.

I enjoyed the songs and Suniel Shetty's performance as a child. Akshay Kumar's character in this movie was too boring for me as I was used to seeing him kicking and fighting in all movies. But when I look at it now, It was a nice subtle performance. However the film looks and feels outdated today.

I watched this movie on TV. The acting of Sunil Shetty is very good & convincing, Akshay was OK. Watch it for Sunil Shetty. Back in 2000 actors usually suffer from overacting problems but Sunil Shetty is too good even when compared to today's standard.

This was one of the nicest movies in a while. Im not a great Sunil Shetty fan, but he was amazing in a role it seems was made for him. The story was basic, yet another bollywood love triangle, with a twist this time. Instead of the old, the new prevails. Not only is Sunil good, but the rest of the cast performs as well. Shilpa Shetty was solid, and Akshay...well, what can i say, im a fan, so im bound to be biast! He looked fantastic. I loved the softer side to his character, it contrasting so startlingly with Sunil's character.

However, where there are ups, there has to be downs. i have to say that there are a lot of unanswered questions in the story.

* How does Sunil become rich? * What exactly does he do to bring Ram to an almost bankrupt state, and * How does her fall in love with Mahima's character so quickly? Rebound? Her father doesn't look to pleased with the news of Dev as a prospective son-in-law...Why?

Unanswered, and a bit frustrating. But the bad outweighs the good. A must see if you love romance mixed with emotion. O! and if you're an Akshay fan of course!

wow! this film was certainly one of the best ones ive seen in recent times. though the story was similar to last year's grand hum dil de chuke sanam, dhadkan is still a memorable film. the film is helped a lot by a clever script, well-choreographed songs, well-written lyrics, and a deep-rooted emotion that no other film has grabbed in recent memory. this movie is also a major weepfest, with absolutely no comic relief (but thats not a bad thing--its nice to see a movie with no annoying comic relief!)

my advice is.. go watch this movie! allow yourself to be swept off your feet for the entire duration of the film, allow yourself to laugh, to cry, to marvel at the excellent dialogues, and the flawless performance of sunil shetty.

my only problem with the film is that the ending is too "bollywood"! they could have improved the ending a lot.. anyways, still a great movie to watch..