Siddhant Chaturvedi, Tripti Dimri's 'Dhadak 2' is powerful cinema

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”

Dhadak 2 opens with this famous quote by Thomas Jefferson. I can’t remember the last time the words ‘resistance’ and ‘injustice’ were invoked in a big-ticket Hindi film. Seeing these lines written boldly on screen, one immediately gets the sense that this movie from Dharma Productions — a banner known for fluff and fantasy — is going to strike a very different note.

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Let’s give credit where it's due. Bollywood has long been (rightly) called out for its pusillanimity in depicting uncomfortable social issues. While the parallel cinema of the ’70s and ’80s produced powerful films that questioned the status quo, they were largely categorised as ‘arthouse,’ with mainstream movies avoiding or whitewashing trickier subjects like politics, caste and communalism.

In recent years, the industry has more or less fully acquiesced to the dominant narrative, with filmmakers choosing to play it safe rather than risk inviting the wrath of the online or offline troll brigade. This stands in sharp contrast to the South, where Tamil and Malayalam cinema in particular, continue to produce hard-hitting films on these very issues. (Do watch Jai Bhim in Tamil and Nayattu in Malayalam to see the difference for yourself.)

So once again, kudos to producer Karan Johar for backing this ‘spiritual sequel’ (the new term for unrelated part 2 and 3 of a popular title) of Dhadak that has one of the most polarising fault lines facing India — caste discrimination — as its premise.

Directed by Shazia Iqbal, Dhadak 2 is a remake of the acclaimed Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal. I haven’t watched the original to comment on it but going by the plot, it appears Iqbal and co-writer Rahul Badwelkar have added a nuanced layer of gender to the potent mix of caste and poverty. What’s most applause

worthy is that the makers do not flinch from taking the tensions head on. The screenplay and narrative grants each character an identity that defines their fate and action - strikingly different from the standard Bollywood template, where identity and representation are often flattened to fit into a homogenised narrative. Of course, this is a huge irony in itself, considering Indian cinema emerges from a country as multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural as India!

Set in an urban landscape, Dhadak 2 follows the life of Neelesh Ahirwar (Siddhant Chaturvedi), a lower caste law student seeking to upgrade his life through education. The National University of Law, where he enrolls, has students from all backgrounds but it’s people like him who get singled out and ridiculed - sometimes subtly, at other times blatantly - because of his identity. Triptii Dimri plays Vidhi, his classmate, an upper caste privileged girl who falls for his simplicity and unassuming nature. However, the term ‘privilege’ loses its meaning when you realise that while Vidhi may belong to a rich family that “allows” girls to study and become independent, she is caged by her gender; in her home, it’s the men who decide the women’s fate and the limits of their independence. Yet Vidhi is no wallflower. When push comes to shove, she knows how to stand up for herself and the man she loves.

Neelesh hesitantly enters into a relationship with Vidhi but soon enough, faces the consequences when her all-powerful family harasses him physically and emotionally for daring to cross the line. The fightback comes but not before an internal awakening (resistance) that is a direct call to action to stand up against injustice.

Dhadak 2 is far from perfect. For one, the romance is rather wishy-washy for a film that was promoted as a forbidden love story. Neelesh and Vidhi fall in love way too quickly and their interactions lack the passion which make you want to root for them. Secondly, the focus of the movie is on the role caste identity plays in Indian society - from the smallest of interactions to the biggest life decisions - which leaves the screenplay with little to no time to spotlight the emotional

conflicts of the protagonists. This approach weakens the first half considerably as, despite the good intentions, you don’t really feel that invested in their stories.

Fortunately, the portions post the interval pick up steam and pack an absolute punch. Neelesh’s slow but steady evolution from a timid student to a man ready to fight for his pride and self-respect is entirely believable. In some parts, it does get a bit too “Bollywood” but thankfully the hero remains human and not a superhero. The female lead too is given enough agency that leads her to question the choices she’s been dealt with.

But what makes the film an important one is the conversations it triggers. Through supporting characters and situations, the makers try to answer the regular questions surrounding discrimination, reservations, affirmative action, campus politics and the like. At times, the film seems to counter the arguments dominating WhatsApp discourse in the country. But by simplifying the complexities of these subjects, it makes a plea for greater understanding - from the perspective of the oppressed. It also calls for more political engagement, confronting the privilege of those who can afford to ignore society’s harsher realities. “You got into politics the day you were born,” says a character to Neelesh, who later reminds his upper-caste friends of their luxury to overlook what they never had to endure. Definitely, there is a lot of empathy in the writing which is rather rare in this day and age of aggressive cinema.

What helps the case immensely are the dialogues and the performances. Some of the lines hit hard which is precisely the purpose. The supporting cast deserves a special mention. Saurav Sachdeva as a cold-blooded killer under the garb of ‘protector of culture and caste supremacy’ is excellent as is Vipin Sharma as Neelesh’s helpless father. Others including Saad Bilgrami as the hotheaded Ronnie (Vidhi’s brother), Harish Khanna as her sensible but rigid father and Zakir Hussain as the college principal are fabulous too. As for the leads, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri have done a fair job. Siddhant brings out the vulnerability of a Dalit man hopeful of a better future pretty well but he can’t shake off his inherent urban sophistication. Nevertheless, it’s a commendable performance and in some sequences of torture and harrassment, his rage-filled eyes speaks volumes.

A few years ago, when Dhadak was released, a number of critics lamented it diluted the impact of Sairaat, the Marathi blockbuster of which it was a remake, by almost obliterating the caste reference and instead, making the conflict all about class. Dhadak 2 corrects that mistake. Given the divisive and very vicious rhetoric around caste and its politics, it’s a brave (even if not the best) attempt to highlight an important aspect of Indian society that everyone knows exists but is reluctant to acknowledge.

Movie name: Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Cast: Tripti Dimri, Siddhant Chaturvedi

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5