The romance of SRK-Kajol after a wait for 5 years is like another chance at reigniting your unrequited love story. You can never have enough of it. However, as expected, Dilwale is out there to sell only for its lead pair - Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol - who still have enough merit to make you feel giddy. We have no idea how they manage it each and every time, better than ever before, but they stand true to the tag of silver screen's last, most enigmatic on screen jodi. They are like a dream, reminding us of their past glories of Raj and Simran, of Rahul and Anjali. Somehow it is far too difficult to take the names of Meera and Raj in the same breath as these iconic ones. The actors are still earnest, putting their best foot forward but we wish the duo had returned in a film that deserved them. Rohit Shetty's Dilwale brandishes its lack of brains and has absolutely no shame in admitting its low-IQ humour and underwhelming plot. The director banks heavily on the stock traps of the actors’ chemistry. People fall in love at the drop of a hat a la ‘spread-of-arms’ pose. Shah Rukh plays himself to the gallery and quotes his famous lines from past movies. Chal koi nahin…"bade bade deshon mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai..."
The privilege of getting this electrifying pair back on the silver screen should've been best reserved by the likes of Karan Johar or Aditya Chopra, who use them to the best of their abilities. Shetty's romantic tale about an estranged pair who fall back in love is never his center stage. He continues his affair with swanky cars which fly and co-habit the motor haven as his story falls apart in parallel universe and a few talented actors struggle to make some sense of the convoluted mess that plays out on screen. Crash-Boom thrills, puerile humour and other Shetty-isms take over and that is end of all that could've been good in the movie.
Meera and Raj played by SRK and Kajol own the film, or whatever little there is of the movie. The two belong to warring families, involved in crime. Amidst everything, the duo fall in love in a tender, old-fashioned way. There's ice-cream, rain dance, candle lights. Rohit is manipulative enough to get them dance in rain and remind us of that wonderful scene in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The only reason why you might remotely soften towards this film, is for the sake of nostalgia. These actors charmed their way into our hearts on our first dates, as our childhood crushes and are inexcusably the reason for our bizarre expectations in love. They hold far too special a place that Shetty tampers with.
There are reasons to be livid but then Kajol and SRK compensate for a lot of wrongs. They alternate to own different halves of the film. Pre-interval belongs to Kajol, who nails it in a smashing sequence which gets her man go all - "Aaj ke baad shakal mat dikhana jaan le lunga". Khan takes on the mantle post that and is impressive as he vanquishes his arena of romance with panache.
There is little to talk home about the film's wafer thin story. You wish Rohit had stuck to churning out Singham clones year on year. Even though fall-in-love Rohit Shetty style wasn’t up to the mark but atleast he had fresh jokes and more fun to offer. Going by Chennai Express standards, Dilwale is a damp squib. The jokes are sparse and its heart almost untraceable. Unnecessary angst, too much pangs, you thank God for David Dhawan's streak of fun Varun has inherited. His comic timing comes handy when sappy mode reloads. Kriti Sanon is a mere prop in the larger scheme of things, whose job is to look beautiful. And hell, she manages to be an absolute cutester. Sanjay Mishra and Boman Irani are the best things in this part unbearable and part tolerable flick.
The film's breakneck pace is a problem and let’s not even get started on the lethargic writing! It is cornier and has more gags than any of Rohit’s past ventures, which after a point becomes too much to bear.
So what keeps you going when you have spent some 800 bucks a ticket? Well, some good ol' romance, Varun Dhawan, iconic DDLJ dialogues (you’ll want to make a dash to Maratha Mandir after this) and stunts that will put Vin Diesel to shame. (isn’t it?)
But Dilwale never lives up to the hype it had created around itself. For most part, it is an all-noise vanity project for stars who genuinely want to show us a good time but are held back by an impotent script helmed by a man whose competency lies is another genre.
We rate this film a 50%
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