Dil Dhadakne Do-Let the heart beat

By:  Shilpa Desai Goel
Dil Dhadakne Do is yet another attempt of director Zoya Akhtar to understand fragile human relationships and this time through the eyes of an animal. Pluto-the dog, the pet of the family seems to be the “normal” voice in the Mehra family. Anil Kapoor as Kamal Mehra, the philanderer husband and Shefali Shah as the “nowhere to go” wife, Neelu Mehra come up with very engaging performances, showing their seasoned and experienced acting. Ranveer Singh as the son, Kabir Mehra, who is willing to give his parents a dose of their own game playing to save his airplane, is effortless in his acting as is Anushka Sharma, in the role of Farah Ali, his girlfriend. The surprise is Priyanka Chopra as Ayesha Mehra, the daughter who has been married off and who is the brain behind many business ventures. Her character as the meek daughter and wife of Manav, played by Rahul Bose with intensity, shows her growth into a daughter and wife who finds her voice enough (with her brother’s support) to let her family know she is not happy in her marriage. Chopra shows her versatility as an actress in the lead role. The Mehras’ 30^th anniversary cruise which starts with a lot of masks on slowly peals off layers of hypocrisy and Sunny Gill-Farhan Akhtar in a special appearance-hits it home when he points out that when men think they “allow” women to do something they are not being liberal, but are putting themselves in a position of authority over women. Sunny and Ayesha wanted to get married but Ayesha is married off while Sunny is studying in America. The whole cruise reaches a corny climax where all things come out in the open and each family member realizes they can do anything for each other. And Pluto, -Aamir Khan’s voice-the voice of rationale and reason is happy to see his family come together again! Morals are many in the story but the most obvious one is let each heart beat to its own dru