Dilwale (2015) Review!!!

Synopsis – The children of two competing families meet again after a 15-year separation.

My Take – I am a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan, & I take pride in saying that! The Bollywood superstar has been reigning the industry (along with his two other Khan counterparts) for more than 20 years. So for a fan like me, watching SRK on the big screen is not just an experience but a phenomenon. Yes, I completely agree when it is pointed out about the quality of films he has chosen to star in (& usually produce), films like Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Chennai Express & Happy New Year are way below his caliber. But this film has his ever popular on screen pairing with the very selective Kajol, thats a good thing right? Be it Baazigar, Karan Arjun, DDLJ, My Name is Khan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham – his dimples, her smile, their endearing chemistry and that infectious naughtiness ensures we can never quite have enough of them. So naturally, what could be better than the prospect of seeing our favorite jodi make another memorable appearance together. And so, in spite of Rohit Shetty and his absurd fixation with toppling cars, I went in for this one. Its hard to share my very personal sense of betrayal and grief after having seen a film that made a mockery of my favorite star. Have I, an unsuspecting fan been tricked? Looks like it. The first hurdle in writing a review of a Rohit Shetty film – how do you describe it? It’s not entirely a comedy or romance. It is not a slick action thriller either. The director’s filmography is abundant with these Hodge-podge stories that can easily be slotted as “Rohit Shetty” films. Following masala entertainments like Golmaal series, Singham series, All the Best, Bol Bachchan and Chennai Express, Rohit Shetty gives yet another spineless film which is full on masala entertainment but easily the most forgettable one of the lot. Rohit Shetty pretends to try and capitalize on the romance angle by shamelessly lifting scenes from DDLJ, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The action is stale, the romance is fizz-less and the plot is predictable. Even Shetty’s trademark jumping jack cars fail to give us any thrill. Frankly, purely as a Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon film, this would have worked. We could even have lapped up the infantile jokes and bizarre story, but how can we go in for a Shah Rukh–Kajol starrer with low expectations? Such blasphemy to even suggest it! The 158-minute movie opens in one of the many brightly colored neighborhoods in which director Rohit Shetty usually finds himself.

The story follows modified car designer Veer (Varun Dhawan) who has lost his heart to Ishita (Kriti Sanon) shortly after giving her a lift. He wants to marry her almost immediately, but not so fast. His doting elder brother Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) has a dark past, which involved running a gang with their father (Vinod Khanna) in Bulgaria for seemingly no reason other than that the country’s tourism board offers Bollywood crews cheap rates for shooting there. In Bulgaria, Raj, whose real name is Kali, had lost his heart to Meera (Kajol), only to have it broken. Fifteen years later, it turns out that Ishita is Meera’s sister. Coincidence? As Vir and Ishita plot to bring the star-crossed lovers together, a local hood named King (Boman Irani) chases a missing consignment of drugs, Johnny Lever puts on a generic Southern accent, Sanjay Mishra does his thing, and Pankaj Tripathi and Mukesh Tiwari, who are the only ones who know Raj’s antecedents, pick up their pay cheques. The film has a mostly weak first-hour, where the humor & the characters, both, don’t engage you. The only element in this hour that works to an extend, is the flashback. The portions in the flashback fair better, than what is served in present. The twist at the interval point is predictable & the second-hour also scores low on energy. The half baked love story that relies heavily on the chemistry between Kajol and Shah Rukh works. They still have the magic and you can’t help but sway to the music that plays in the background every time they cross paths. Shah Rukh Khan plays the adopted older brother rather well. Remember Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham with Hrithik? Here too the scenes between him and Varun bring warmth to the heart and smile on the lips. Rohit Shetty knows how to entertain audiences, but sadly, this is his weakest effort to date. The Entertainment Factor is missing here. All you take home is a few moments & some comical punches. Yunus Sajawal‘s Screenplay needed a bigger heart. There are too many loopholes in the narrative, although a few sequences are decently done. There are nods to Hum, How I Met Your Mother and Love Actually, but the main reference point seems to have been Shetty’s own money-spinning Golmaal comedies. Careening from romance to action to comedy like one of the zooming cars that pop up in every Shetty production, this is a movie in need of a road map. Shetty is best known for comedies and action flicks, but he can neither sustain a drama nor build a convincing love story. The film is a tired, factory-generated film from frame one, right from the overdone color palette to the exaggerated, comical violence. There are, admittedly, some things about the film that keep motivating you to give it a chance.

It’s impossible to be a millennial and not be at least momentarily captivated by scenes that include SRK-Kajol making googly eyes at each other. The presence of Johnny Lever & Sudhir Mishra as mandatory comic relief are always welcome. The films has many funny moments (when Vir confessed his love story to Raj) but there aren’t as many as in Rohit‘s Golmaals and All The Best. The funniest scene of the film comes from Pankaj Tripathi and Mukesh Tiwari when they reveal the Raj’s past to Vir and Ishita. The action scenes are very well shot, no one does that better than Rohit. Among the performances, Shah Rukh Khan is more restrained than the usual. He hams in the comic scenes but is excellent in the dramatic. Kajol gets to play a role with more grey shades here than she usually does opposite Khan and, hell, it’s kinda nice to see her again. The star of this film is Varun Dhawan! The young lad despite some experienced actors towering over him, stands his own ground. Kriti Sanon looks pretty & shares a great chemistry with Varun. Of the supporting cast, Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Mukesh Tiwari & Pankaj Tripathi lend great comedic energy & deliver some of the most rubbish lines, with ease. Boman Irani, Vinod Khanna & Kabir Bedi are wasted. Music by Pritam is likable. On the whole, ‘Dilwale‘ is a cheesy, predictable and a boring slapstick comedy which fails to work despite a strong star cast. Personally, I would suggest to rather sit back & wait for Shah Rukh Khan‘s upcoming genre films (Fan & Raees), but if you like typical massy masala films like his previous two outings, then check this out. The only purpose of “Dilwale” is to chant every known Bollywood mantra for a successful film and cash in on its celebrated lead actors. In that aim, the film is hugely successful.