Dil Dhadakne Do

Plot

Kamal Mehra is a self-made billionaire businessman based in Delhi who faces imminent financial ruin as his conglomerate, AyKa, teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. This corporate stress compounds his deeply fractured relationships with his wife Neelam, his daughter Ayesha, and his son Kabir. Ayesha operates a highly successful corporate travel enterprise in Mumbai but is profoundly trapped in an unhappy marriage to Manav Sangha, a narcissistic and controlling executive whose wealthy family harbors an underlying contempt for the Mehras. Meanwhile, Kabir is forced to undergo grooming to inherit his father's industrial empire, despite harboring a personal dream of becoming a commercial pilot.

To project an illusion of corporate stability and celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, Kamal and Neelam invite their affluent social circle for a ten-day luxury cruise across the Mediterranean Sea. Among the guests are the Sood family. Kamal and Neelam covertly plan to orchestrate a marriage alliance between Kabir and the Soods' daughter, Noorie, in a strategic bid to secure a massive financial investment from her father, Lalit, to liquidate AyKa's debts. However, the plan derails when Kabir falls in love with Farah Ali, a British-Pakistani dancer performing on the cruise. Concurrently, Noorie has secretly fallen for Rana Khanna, the son of her family's bitter rivals.

As the voyage progresses, social pressures mount on Ayesha and Manav to conceive a child; unknown to anyone, Ayesha has been consistently taking birth control pills to avoid anchoring herself to her husband. Tensions escalate further when Sunny Gill, the son of Kamal's long-term manager, joins the cruise as a journalist. Sunny and Ayesha were deeply in love during their youth, but Kamal had intentionally separated them by financing Sunny’s scholarship to Yale University to prevent a marriage below their social standing. Unlike the patriarchal Manav, Sunny openly respects Ayesha's fierce independence, and the two find themselves reviving their repressed romantic feelings.

Neelam witnesses Kamal flirting with a female guest, driving her to confront her own long-standing compliance in tolerating his historical infidelities for social prestige. Ayesha, overwhelmed by her environment, confronts Sunny regarding their past, culminating in a sudden, passionate kiss. To buy time, Kabir and Noorie construct a deceptive, fake engagement plan designed to placate their families while allowing Noorie to sneak around with Rana. However, when Farah discovers the impending arrangement, she terminates her relationship with Kabir. Shortly after, Kamal catches Noorie making out with Rana and realizes the prospective business merger is collapsing. The shock induces a severe physical panic that mimics a heart attack but is medically diagnosed as a acute case of gastritis.

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 demeanour, 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, Zoya spent a whole year persuading Anil Kapoor to sign up for the film. Zoya's brother Farhan also spoke to him about the role. However, when Javed Akhtar approached him on his daughter's behalf, he finally accepted the role. 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 [his business empire] and 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.

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 reconnoitred 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's 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.

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.

Emphasising 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 centres, 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, humour, 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 "[pulling] off 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 humour 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 criticised 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 [and] too 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".

Box office

Dil Dhadakne Do had a decent opening, with collections of ₹100 million (equivalent to ₹150 million or US$1.6 million in 2023) on its opening day. Collections rose 20% on its second day, collecting ₹120 million (equivalent to ₹180 million or US$1.9 million in 2023), and another 20% on its third day, with collections of ₹140 million (equivalent to ₹210 million or US$2.2 million in 2023) for the opening domestic weekend of ₹360 million (equivalent to ₹540 million or US$5.6 million in 2023). Upon its release, the film recorded the highest overseas opening of the year for an Indian film, collecting ₹195 million (equivalent to ₹290 million or US$3.1 million in 2023) in its opening weekend.

Notably, the film debuted at number 9 at the UK box office, where it earned $330,000 in its opening weekend. The total worldwide opening weekend collections stood at ₹675 million (equivalent to ₹1.0 billion or US$11 million in 2023), 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 (equivalent to ₹87 million or US$900,000 in 2023). It earned ₹550 million (equivalent to ₹830 million or US$8.6 million in 2023) in its first week at the domestic box office and over ₹980 million (equivalent to ₹1.5 billion or US$15 million in 2023) worldwide. In its second weekend, Dil Dhadakne Do earned ₹100 million (equivalent to ₹150 million or US$1.6 million in 2023). During its theatrical run, the film grossed over ₹1 billion (equivalent to ₹1.5 billion or US$16 million in 2023) in India and a further ₹450 million (equivalent to ₹680 million or US$7.1 million in 2023) worldwide, for a worldwide total of ₹1.45 billion (equivalent to ₹2.2 billion or US$23 million in 2023).

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.