Dil Dhadakne Do

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under the Excel Entertainment banner. The film features an ensemble cast of Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar in lead roles, with a voice-over performance by Aamir Khan as the family dog Pluto, the narrator of the film. The supporting cast includes Rahul Bose, Zarina Wahab, Vikrant Massey, Pawan Chopra, Parmeet Sethi, Dolly Mattdo and Manoj Pahwa. The film tells the story of the Mehras, a dysfunctional family who invite their family and friends on a cruise trip to celebrate the parents' 30th wedding anniversary and later reconcile.

Zoya conceived the film as a family drama centered on a brother-sister relationship. She wanted to depict a more realistic sibling relationship in contrast to the dubious and over-the-top portrayal for which Bollywood is known. She later wrote the script with her friend and longtime collaborator Reema Kagti, while Farhan penned the dialogues. Much of the principal photography was done on Pullmantur Cruises' ship MS ''Sovereign'' while sailing across the Mediterranean and Europe, and on land in France, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Italy.

The soundtrack was composed by the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The film was released worldwide on 5 June 2015 to positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Kapoor, Shah, Chopra and Singh, who portrayed the members of the Mehra family, as well as Akhtar's direction, the film's music, cinematography and costumes. The film was commercial failure.

At the 61st Filmfare Awards, ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' received 5 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (for both Shah and Sharma), winning Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor). It also received 9 nominations at the 2016 Screen Awards, including Best Film and Best Director (Zoya Akhtar), and won 2 awards – Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor) and Best Ensemble Cast.

Plot

Kamal Mehra, a billionaire businessman in Delhi owns AyKa, a company on the verge of bankruptcy, and has a troubled relationship with his wife Neelam, daughter Ayesha and son Kabir. Ayesha has a successful travel business in Mumbai, but is unhappy with her marriage to the narcissistic and controlling Manav Sangha who along with his mother Smita hates her family. Unwillingly Kabir takes part in the business, instead dreaming of becoming a pilot. Kamal and Neelam invite their family and friends for a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

Their guests include the Sood family. Kamal and Neelam plan Kabir's wedding to the Soods' daughter Noorie, in exchange to her father Lalit investing in AyKa, aiming to prevent bankruptcy. Aboard, Kabir falls in love with ship performer and dancer Farah Ali, a Pakistani Muslim girl. Noorie falls for Rana, the son of the Soods' sworn rival Khannas. Ayesha wishes to divorce Manav. Sunny Gill, the son of Kamal's manager Amrish enters aboard. Sunny is a childhood friend of Ayesha and Kabir, and he and Ayesha were in love as teenagers. However, Kamal had paid for and arranged Sunny's Yale University scholarship to separate him from Ayesha. Ayesha and Sunny, now a successful journalist, still harbor feelings for each other. Unlike Manav, Sunny appreciates Ayesha's strong personality and is a feminist.

Neelam sees Kamal flirting with a local guest and wonders why she did not divorce him despite his past infidelities. Ayesha confronts Sunny about their separation and kisses him, which shocks them both. Farah hears that Kabir is going to marry Noorie and storms off. Kamal sees Noorie making out with Rana and learns that Kabir and Noorie are not together as he had thought, causing him to have a gas attack.

Kabir reveals to his family that he is in love with Farah and intends to leave the family business. He asks them to consider Ayesha, who is actually interested in business. When he tries to persuade them to let her proceed with her divorce, Kamal and Neelam refuse, believing marriages are lifelong commitments. Infuriated, Kabir bursts out that they are hypocrites for talking of marriage, values, and morals, as the whole family circle is aware of Kamal's adultery and that Neelam has been suffering silently for years. Kamal asks Neelam why she had not left him; she reveals she had no choice because her family would not accept her back due to dishonour. Kamal realises his mistake and asks for Neelam's forgiveness. While trying to reconcile Manav and Ayesha, Kamal sees how his son-in-law mistreats his daughter and orders him and Smita to leave, finally agreeing to the divorce and apologizing to his daughter.

Farah is dismissed from her job for being romantically involved with a passenger and told to leave the ship. Kabir learns about her dismissal after the ship has set sail. He breaks news of Ayesha's now-impending divorce to Sunny, and after publicly rejecting his impending marriage to Noorie, jumps off the ship to swim to shore, believing his family will rescue him. Kamal, Neelam, Ayesha scramble aboard a lifeboat and go after him with the help of their friends. While leaving, Ayesha asks Sunny if he will wait for her, to which he replies "forever". The family rescues Kabir and head toward shore to help him find Farah while being chased by the ship's crew. The Mehra family is seen happy in each other's presence for the first time.

Cast

The cast is listed below:

Production

Development

When Excel Entertainment announced its upcoming films in March 2012, one of them was Zoya Akhtar's next film following ''Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'' (2011). It was reported that she was working on a script and that filming was due to start in December 2012. Akhtar dismissed the reports, saying she was yet to start writing her next script. In May that year, media reports suggested Akhtar was already writing her next film. That July, it was reported the script was about siblings partially based on Akhtar and her brother Farhan Akhtar. Farhan Akhtar later denied reports of the film being autobiographical, saying it had nothing to do with their real life relationship and that it is entirely a work of fiction. In November 2012, Akhtar said she was still writing the script and that the film was a family drama.

Akhtar co-wrote the screenplay with her long-time friend and collaborator Reema Kagti. Akhtar had always aspired to make a family drama with a brother-sister relationship at its core. She felt such topics not been well represented in Indian films, and that the brother-sister relationship bond has always been shown "wrapped in rituals" and never portrayed as it really is. She believed the theme of brother-sister relationships "generally have cheesy representations. They are never at ease. This is one of the most important relationships in the world because nobody else shares your parents. I wanted to show that relationship in ''Dil Dhadakne Do''." Akhtar also wanted to showcase the quirkiness of a dysfunctional family, with different layers to each family member, saying, "the beauty of families lies in their flaws".

When asked whether the film had any similarities with her own life and family, she said it had none and that the only thing common to herself and the film's characters was the bond between her and her brother; all their problems and conflicts were unalike. Akhtar said the film was a partly fictionalised version of people around her, such as her friends and their families, and her observations from literature and news articles. Kagti and Akhtar revealed that some of their material came from observing people of Delhi during their friends' back-to-back, elite-class wedding parties as they were finishing the script; they made notes about people's behaviour and demeanor, and incorporated these into their script. After finalising the characters, they felt something was missing, so they added Pluto, the family dog, as an observer. The completed film has 25 characters and a dog.

When asked about interweaving travel in the narrative, Akhtar said she and Kagti wanted a device to bring all the characters—the entire family—together. She said the film could have been set anywhere, such as a hill station, but they chose to set it on a cruise ship because the characters would not be able to leave. Akhtar called it a metaphor for the bigger journey that every family undertakes; the characters are stuck together on a ship in the middle of an ocean and could not leave if they wanted to. The film's title ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' was chosen because Akhtar wanted a catchy, easily identifiable title; it makes a reference to an eponymous song, featured on the soundtrack and in the opening credits of ''Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara''.

Casting and characters

During the initial scripting phase, in May 2012, media reports suggested cousins Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor had been approached to play the siblings and had accepted the parts. In late December 2012, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif joined the cast to play the Kapoors' characters' love interests respectively. In June 2013, Ranbir Kapoor dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with his other projects; he was replaced by Ranveer Singh. It was then reported that after her cousin dropped out, Kareena Kapoor was having second thoughts about appearing in the film; the opportunity to act alongside her cousin had been the main attraction for her. She left the production later that month, saying she could not leave her family for the required three months and calling her decision "her loss". In late June 2013, Akhtar approached Priyanka Chopra to part that role, and Chopra accepted. In October, Anil Kapoor was confirmed to play the role of Chopra and Singh's father in the film. It was also reported that Dimple Kapadia could possibly play his wife, but this was not to be.

In December 2013, Farhan Akhtar confirmed he was playing a crucial role in his sister's film. In January 2014, Anushka Sharma was cast for the role of Singh's love interest. Madhuri Dixit, Tabu and Raveena Tandon were all approached to play Chopra and Singh's mother in the film; although they liked the part, all of them turned down the role because they did not want to play a mother. Akhtar later approached Shefali Shah for the part, which she accepted. Newcomer Ridhima Sud joined the cast in June 2014. A few days later, Rahul Bose was cast to play the role of Manav (Chopra's husband) in the film. Zarina Wahab joined the cast to play Chopra's mother-in-law. Parmeet Sethi was later cast in a supporting role.

Although meant for a surprise, the details about Aamir Khan's voiceover performance as the family dog Pluto was leaked before the film's release. Javed Akhtar had initially provided the voiceover for Pluto. After watching the film weeks before the release, however, Akhtar asked Aamir to do the voiceover and the actor accepted, saying, "I had loved the film so much that I was just happy to be a part of it ... I think it is a great film to be part of".

Compared with the rest of the cast, Akhtar spent a whole year persuading Anil Kapoor to sign up for the film. Akhtar's brother Farhan and father Javed Akhtar also spoke to him about the role. However, when Aamir Khan approached him on Akhtar's behalf, he finally accepted the part. Kapoor described his role of Kamal Mehra as a "manipulative patriarch" and a businessman who "has no qualms about manipulating people, even his own family members, to achieve his goal". He said, "Kamal is a self-made man and does not want to lose is business empireand will do anything to save it". Kapoor found playing his character very exciting, being completely opposite to his real self; a patriarch whose company, rather than his family, comes first.

Shah called her character, Neelam Mehra, a "Delhi elite society queen bee" with multiple layers, saying, "It looks like nothing can put a chink in her armour, but inside, she is a vulnerable and lost person". She said her character shows an artificial side about her marriage while facing the world, opposed to her behaviour in their home: "It's not one of the best marriages. She hates what’s happened to both of them. But when they come in front of the world, she will stand by her husband". Her character discriminates between her son and her daughter; she said, "She is evidently partial to her son. With her daughter, she displays a mentality typical of many Indian mothers. Even though her daughter is in a bad marriage as well, she discourages her from taking a divorce." Shah said accepted the part because it "was one of the best scripts I had read in a very long time. It was sharp, wicked, and emotional, without being melodramatic." To prepare for her role, she formed an outline of her character by forming Neelam's history and personality.

Chopra has described her character, Ayesha Mehra, as strong but also feminine and gentle, noting her inner strength. She said Ayesha has complicated emotions, and that she "has no idea what she wants and she keeps changing her mind, probably like most women ... that is exactly what Ayesha does. She doesn't know which direction to go in. She actually has no opinion on love or marriage, but just wants to be able to feel that she can be loved." Chopra had to shed the muscle weight she gained for playing the boxer in ''Mary Kom'' (2014). She said, "I was not muscular but had acquired bulked-up physique. I had to be in right shape as I was playing a girly role. I had to ... go on a crash diet and lose shape." Singh called his character, Kabir Mehra, a privileged, "born with a silver spoon" kind of person who wants to pursue different things other than inherit his father's fortune. He said, "Ever since his childhood, he was raised to take over his father's company. But this isn't what he wants to do. He loves planes, he wants to be a pilot. Because of this miscommunication he is in a lot of pain." Khan described Pluto as a "very philosophical" dog who is "really into observing human nature and has a take on everything".

Filming

Principal photography began on 17 May 2014 on the Pullmantur Cruises ship MS ''Sovereign'' throughout the Mediterranean Sea and onshore in France, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Italy. Filming on the ship was done over a non-consecutive period of five weeks; the cast and crew members would board the ship at Barcelona and would film the scenes while en route to different destinations; five different places in five weeks, where the cast and crew would shoot the onshore scenes. Onshore filming took two months, finishing on 18 July 2014. Filming took ninety days, finishing in early August 2014. The second and final schedule began in mid-August 2014 in Mumbai, and was completed on 23 September 2014.

Filming also took place in several locations in Turkey, such as Antalya, Cappadocia and Istanbul. For one scene set in Istanbul's Sophia Museum, tourists and museum staff were used as extras for the sequence, which took six hours to film. For a sequence featuring Chopra and Bose's characters playing squash, Chopra, helped by Bose, had to learn the sport on set. The pre-production work was a challenge for the makers, who had to plan everything in detail; Akhtar and her team reconnoitered to find perfect places to shoot the film. Akhtar found the filming unforgettable, saying, "Can you imagine the whole crew is in a new country everyday! That is what it is like to be on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. It was logistically insane, visually gorgeous and emotionally cathartic."

Neil Patel handled the production design. Akhtar's frequent collaborator Carlos Catalan provided the cinematography, and Anand Subaya and Manan Mehta edited the film. Arjun Bhasin designed all of the film's costumes. Bosco–Caesar choreographed the songs; The entire song "Gallan Goodiyaan" was shot in a single five-minute take. It required detailed planning and choreography, which the cast rehearsed before filming it.

Soundtrack

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' soundtrack was composed by the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and Javed Akhtar wrote the lyrics. The album consists of five original songs. The vocals are performed by Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Sukriti Kakar, Siddharth Mahadevan, Shankar Mahadevan, Yashita Sharma, Manish Kumar Tipu, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vishal Dadlani, Divya Kumar and Alyssa Mendonsa. It was released on 2 May 2015 by T-Series.

The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics, who labelled it more narrative-based than a chartbuster. Chopra's singing on the first fully-Hindi song she had recorded was also lauded by critics. Joginder Tuteja of ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5, describing it as "a classy soundtrack hatis unadulterated when it comes to quintessential Bollywood scheme of things". ''The Times of India'' also gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5, calling the compositions "foot-tapping and swingy". In another positive review, ''Filmfare'' said the composers had "done a good job despite the hurdles", noting the limiting setting of the film. ''Koimoi'' rated it 2.5 out of 5, terming it a mixed bag. However, it praised the songs "Dil Dhadakne Do" and "Pehli Baar", noting them as standouts. The reviewer wrote that Chopra particularly "impresses with her vocals" in the former song.

Release

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' was one of the most highly anticipated films of 2015, owing to its ensemble star cast and the success of Akhtar's previous films ''Luck By Chance'' and ''Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara''. The first-look teaser poster, photographed from behind the 6 pivotal characters and their family dog sunbathing on a cruise deck was released on 21 July 2014, almost a year before the scheduled release. The poster did not reveal the actors' looks, instead making the audience puzzle about the actors from behind. A few days later, the first full poster revealing the position of the actors photographed from the front was revealed. In April 2015, seven character posters, including one for the family dog Pluto, were released. The poster releases generated much hype for the film. The trailer release was highly anticipated in the media because the plot was kept secret.

Emphasizing the theme of the film, Akhtar and Kapoor hosted a private screening of the trailer for their friends and family. The official theatrical release posters were released before the trailer. The almost-three-minute official trailer was released on 15 April 2015, garnering over one million views in less than 24 hours. The trailer was well received by the media, who deemed it promising. Alaka Sahani of ''The Indian Express'' called it "overwhelming" and wrote, "The top-view of the cruise line with expansive ocean as the backdrop, stunning foreign locales and beautiful people in their stylish best make for compelling visuals. But scratch the surface, and you find a dysfunctional family trying hard to act normal to the world."

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' released on 5 June 2015 in 2,300 screens worldwide on a budget of 580 million. According to an analysis by ''Box Office India'', the film was likely to perform better in major Indian cities than in smaller centers, but predicted it would perform much better overseas due to its niche content. Distributed by Big Home Entertainment, it was released on DVD in all regions on 30 August 2015 as a two-disc pack in NTSC widescreen format; bonus content included the making of the film and deleted scenes. A VCD version was released at the same time. The film's Blu-ray version was released on 5 September 2015. ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' had its Indian television premiere on 24 October 2015 on Zee Cinema.

Reception

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' received positive reviews, receiving praise for the cast performances, humor, cinematography, music, costumes and direction, but it received criticism for its running time and climax. In a 4-star review for ''Mumbai Mirror'', critic Kunal Guha described the film as an "emotional roller-coaster", comparing Akhtar's direction to that of Woody Allen and Wes Anderson, and complimented the performances of the cast. Rajiv Vijayakar from ''India-West'' gave a rating of 4 stars, describing it as "entertaining with stellar performances", praising Akhtar's direction and writing, "Zoya gets the emotions right by making the entertainment riveting and the experience full of many perceptive insights into basic relationships". Srijana Mitra Das of ''The Times of India'' gave the film 4 stars, praising the performances of the lead actors and writing, "On this ship, a few bolts could be tighter. But these are fleeting clouds on an otherwise beautiful sea, hosting a cruise ... while searching beyond Bollywood's emotional Botox for a family's warts - and its heart." Shubha Shetty-Saha of ''Mid-Day'' gave the film 4 stars and complimented the story, stating, "If this film looks like an entertaining, escapist film at the outset, it is, but it is also much deeper than that". She also appreciated the performances, particularly those of Chopra and Singh, writing, "These two blazing talents are magical when they come together sharing what perhaps could be one of the best sibling chemistry in Hindi films".

The reviewer from ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave the film 3.5 stars, praising Akhtar's direction for " ullingoff such a magnificent film with such utmost ease". Writing for ''Hindustan Times'', film critic Anupama Chopra rated the film 3.5 stars, commending the performances - particularly those of Kapoor, Shah and Chopra - and the high production value, writing, "There are soaring top shots of the ship, of gorgeous towns in Turkey and Greece, and of staggering fashions". Rachit Gupta of ''Filmfare'' described the film as a "spunky comedy, straight from the heart", attributing the performances of the lead actors as the prime reason for the film's success. Sonia Chopra from ''Sify'' also gave 3.5 stars, calling ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' a film with a "robust heartbeat", admiring Akhtar's ability to create "real and interesting" characters and writing, "Zoya Akhtar brings in several delightful elements of her filmmaking style - there's the gorgeous cast playing interesting characters, the overt and covert equations between them, the hints at societal hypocrisy and sexism, the romance, the gorgeous locales, and the measured pace".

Raja Sen of '' Rediff.com'' gave a 3 out of 5 star rating explaining that "Despite its flaws, I find myself looking back at ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' and smiling. Because of Kapoor, a man who is unerringly good when given enough elbow room, and here he’s silver-maned and smooth and selfish and playing his part with superb gusto...And because of Ranveer, who owns his moments of frustration, of resignation, of outrage and of wry comebacks." Film critic Rajeev Masand of ''News18'' gave 3 stars, appreciating the performances of the lead actors - especially that of Kapoor and Shah - calling them "absolutely riveting". He praised the humor in the screenplay and concluded that the film is "easy and breezy, and packed with terrific actors who appear to be enjoying themselves", although he criticized the pacing and climax of the film, calling it "silly". In a 3 star review, film critic Mayank Shekhar of ''ABP News'' said that "patiently drawing out emotions from every character" made the film "horrendously long ndtoo languidly paced", although he called the film ""intensely real, intrinsically adult, with several sharp observations about relationships and life". Scoring the film 3 stars, Sukanya Verma of '' Rediff.com'' wrote that ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' "unravels like an entire season of soap opera condensed into a nearly three-hour movie", but found it "too facile to rise above the charming fluff".

Ritika Bhatia of ''Business Standard'' wrote that the film "does have its enjoyable moments, but with a three-hour runtime, it fails to sail the high seas", and termed the film "ambitious" but "meandering". Shilpa Jamkhandikar of ''Reuters'' called it "Akhtar's weakest film yet, because she tries to tell too many stories at once and tells none entirely". Sarita A. Tanwar of ''Daily News and Analysis'' gave the film 2.5 stars, and said it would have "been a lot of fun fhad it been shorter, crisper and less indulgent".

Box office

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' had a decent opening, with collections of 100 million on its opening day. Collections rose 20% on its second day, collecting 120 million, and another 20% on its third day, with collections of 140 million for the opening domestic weekend of 360 million. Upon its release, the film recorded the highest overseas opening of the year for an Indian film, collecting 195 million in its opening weekend.

Notably, the film debuted at number 9 at the U.K. box office, where it earned $330,000 in its opening weekend. The total worldwide opening weekend collections stood at 675 million, making it the top worldwide opener among Indian films at the time of its release. On its first Monday, the film's collections dropped 40%, earning another 57.5 million. It earned 550 million in its first week at the domestic box office and over 980 million worldwide. In its second weekend, ''Dil Dhadakne Do'' earned 100 million. During its theatrical run, the film grossed over 1 billion in India and a further 450 million worldwide, for a worldwide total of 1.45 billion.

Accolades

''Dil Dhadakne Do'' received a number of accolades, particularly for the actors. It earned 5 Filmfare nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for Kapoor. The film was nominated in 9 categories at the 2016 Screen Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Akhtar and Best Actress for Chopra. It went on to win two; Best Supporting Actor for Kapoor and Best Ensemble Cast. At the 2015 Stardust Awards, the film garnered 5 nominations, including Actor of the Year – Female for Chopra and Actor of the Year – Male for Singh, winning three awards: Best Supporting Actor for Kapoor, Best Supporting Actress for Shah and Best Costume Design.

References

External links

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2010s Hindi-language films
2015 comedy-drama films
2015 films
Films about couples
Films about vacationing
Films directed by Zoya Akhtar
Films scored by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Films set in Istanbul
Films set in İzmir
Films set on ships
Films shot in Barcelona
Films shot in Istanbul
Films shot in İzmir
Films shot in Mumbai
Films shot in Turkey
Indian comedy-drama films
Reliance Entertainment films
Seafaring films
Films about dogs
Films about pets