Tadap (2021) Review!!

Synopsis – A remake of the 2018 South Indian film RX 100

My Take – Though the controversy around nepotism in the Hindi film industry continues to be hotly debated, last weekend saw the launch of Ahan Shetty, son of Suniel Shetty and brother of Athiya Shetty, in a well packaged big screen debut.

In the sense, it is backed by Sajid Nadiawala, who had also launched Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon in Heropanti (2014), helmed by Milan Luthria and penned by writer Rajat Arora, both who have proven to possess enough panache and commercially winning prowess with films like Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai (2010) and The Dirty Picture (2011), and is a remake of a successful Telugu film, RX 100 (2018), which was apparently based on a real incident.

As one would expect, the Milan Luthria‘s directorial unabashedly plays to the gallery and serves all the necessary action with heavyweight dialogues, old-school romance, passion, deceit, bloodshed, music and tinge of humor to keep the masses entertained.

But while the film mostly sticks close to its original, it unfortunately tones down most of RX 100‘s essence, something which made it stand out from a typical affair, a result of which the remake ends up struggling to find its right footing to drive home and become a memorable love story.

Nevertheless, what holds the film together and makes it watchable is Ahan Shetty’s impressive screen presence and prowess as an angry action hero who is fueled by his passion for his ladylove, played by Tara Sutaria. With the sound of Pritam‘s tunes in the background, he channelizes his inner angry young man avatar and lets his dictators know that he is here for the long haul.

Set in Mussoorie, the story follows Ishana (Ahan Shetty), a young man who once had a promising future, but now spends his time smoking, getting drunk, and consuming drugs, but most importantly beating up and destroying people and properties owned by Damodar Nautiyal (Kumud Mishra), a local MLA.

Three years ago, Ishana had fallen in love with Ramisa (Tara Sutaria), Damodar’s London based daughter, but due to the recent falling out of Damodar and Ishana’s adopted father, Daddy (Saurabh Shukla), Damodar forcefully married her off to a London businessman and sent her away. Now filled with remorse and anger, Ishana lives to only destroy Damodar. But what he doesn’t know that there’s a lot more to the story than what meets the eye.

The first half subsequently focuses on Ishana and Ramisa’s love story through a series of well-executed flashback sequences. Without anything spectacular, just the done-to-death love story between a rich and influential girl and a common man. But these portions work reasonably well because of the crackling chemistry between the two. It’s in the second half where the film takes serious turns.

While the film hits the same highs and lows of the original, in a surprising turn, director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora tone down the violence and the lust angle. Something which ends up impacting the originally intriguing climax, and the proverbial twists in the tale are forced to carry the burden of adding freshness to a generic love story. Had the film been backed by a better and more satisfying screenplay, the film could have been a sure shot winner.

Thankfully, Ahan Shetty and his character arch leaves a long impression. It won’t be wrong to say that in a couple of scenes, he gives you strong flashes of his father. As a young, angry action hero, he makes an intense and impressive debut. With a strong screen presence, he owns every frame from the very first scene.

Ahan is also well supported by Tara Sutaria, who puts her best foot forward and looks incredibly gorgeous. While she is not able to highlight the character’s mean streak due to the aforementioned toning down, this one is definitely a better outing for her to make her presence count.

Though both Saurabh Shukla and Kumud Mishra are underutilized they remain a charming presence throughout. On the whole, ‘Tadap’ is a watchable romantic-thriller with an impressive debut performance from Ahan Shetty.