Being the sort of person who reads a book before watching the film based on the same, it was imperative for me to watch Sairat before I went to watch its reprised Hindi version, Dhadak. That and some egging on from my fellow colleagues, who had watched the Marathi film and were bowled over by it, made me tune into it on Netflix (yes, they have it and that too with subtitles). I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was stunned by the narrative and all along I found myself praying and hoping that the Hindi remake, starring Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter, would live up to the standard set by the original, if not surpass it. But did it really? Here’s what I thought…
Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat was a lot more than a love story or a horror story about honour killing. It was a commentary on how on one side India claims to be a globalised nation and on the other side, a girl and a boy can’t even fall in love on their own accord. It attempted to highlight the caste divide that is so pronounced it still changes the way people live. It was a tale of undying friendship. It was all about standing by love even in the most adverse of situations. It also pointed out the vast class difference. It was real, raw and unapologetic. All in all, the love story of Archie and Parshya was only a prop to address more pertinent issues, which is why it worked on so many levels. And in the end, when the climax hits you with its brutality, it seems like a natural conclusion to the story of lovers who were never meant to be. Having witnessed the challenges that the society posed at them and their refusal to accept the norms and defy them seems to all have culminated to the carnage.
Shashank Khaitan’s Dhadak, on the other hand, set out to be an epic love story. It went in the space of Romeo-Juliet and Laila-Majnu, perhaps because it had a tragic end. While the build up of the love story and the romance itself was sweet, there was nothing more for the audience to take home. Not once did we feel the helplessness that lovers must feel when families revolt against their union simply because they were born under a different caste. The major problem instead, in Parthvi-Madhu’s love story seemed to be the class difference, and her father’s political clout. Which is why Dhadak didn’t seem any different from other Bollywood films dealing with the issue of honour killing. In the end, all you walk away is numb, having just witnessed a grim scene that seems too harsh given that the rest of the film was almost too pleasant.
I also had problems with the manner in which Dhadak wastes all its supporting characters. In Sairat, most characters had fleshed out roles in addition to Archie and Parshya. Like the lame friend, who is shamed with a moniker till Archie asks him his name and tells his friends to address him by his name. It was a two-dialogue scene but it established so much about the characters. In a minute we found out that though Archie might appear to be snobbish, having been brought up in a upper-income family, but she still was kind at heart. This further cements Parshya’s love for her. Or take the character of Archie’s friend, for example. There have been so many instances, when, as Indian kids, you had to rely on your friend to help you because your parents would clearly disown you the minute they find out you were in a relationship. This element is almost entirely missing from Dhadak, with all the other characters reduced to being mere caricatures. Such a waste! (Also read: Dhadak Box Office: Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar’s Dhadak collects Rs 39.19 cr in 4 days)
Then comes the issue of glossing up everything. Sairat was real because it was set in a real village and then moved to the shanties of a tier two city. It worked because we saw the characters wear clothes that they would be able to afford while working as daily wage labourers. They looked grim and dirty when they returned home at the end of the day. Their love seemed more real when they fought because their lives were so drastically uprooted and changed. In Dhadak, despite some good performance by Ishaan and Janhvi, I couldn’t really relate to the love. More than love, it seemed like a wrong decision had landed them in a new city and now they rued the fact. Of course, they should rue not being able to go back home but their love is what they did run away for.
To sum it all up, Dhadak on the 70 mm screen didn’t work for me as well as Sairat did on the 14 inch screen of my laptop. And that is enough to tell how disappointed I was with the adaptation.