Dilwale (Hindi) (2015)

Ever get a feeling that you tried to do something differently but could not change who you stand for and ultimately landed up making a big hash of everything? If the answer is yes, then Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale will give you that sense of déjà vu.  It would have definitely given Shetty that feeling.

Dilwale starts with a flash of Karan Joharish top shot of a man at a piano before quickly giving the Rohit Shetty fan some joy with the typical Goan house surrounded by Dilip Chhabria cars.  The cast is also identical.  Shetty goes with his trusted team of Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Mukesh Tiwari, and Pankaj Tripathi in the character roles.

In walks our hero Raj … naam toh suna hoga…. (Shah Rukh) who is supposed to be the good guy about town.  He has a younger brother who he dotes on – Veer (Varun Dhawan).  They run an auto modification shop that can put his highness Shri Chhabria to shame.  Of course, our hero’s brother has to test drive it in a location that is not Goa to ensure Rohit Shetty gives his audience some much needed consolation that it is not a Karan Johar movie.

The audience – if its patient – will take about an hour or so to get accustomed to this new style of direction that can be best described as Karan Shetty or Rohit Johar.  But don’t get too ahead of yourself.  Just as they get used to it, in walks Abbas Mastan!!! What??? Yes, you heard me right!!! It now becomes Karan Shetty Mastan or if you are good at Permutation and Combination, figure out the options.

In between this khichdi that Rohit Shetty calls DILWALE there are some moments for the Shetty fan like Sanjay Mishra and his cheesy one liners that only he can deliver with such elan.  Stuff like, “Tera kya vatt hai!!! Domino’s Pizza Hut hai!!!” and if that doesn’t impress you then, “Aagaya mera #1 chor. Boxer. Labrador”. Absolute nonsense but its Sanjay Mishra and he can very rarely put a step wrong.

Of course Kajol looks super stunning.  Surely a lot of work gone behind that look.  The chemistry between the best pair that India has known since the 1990s is still intact.  I don’t think we have seen a better couple on screen in the past quarter of a century.  In all, some good moments interspersed with what us Mumbaikars call a “Falooda” of direction gives Dilwale 4 on 10 on my scale.

Watch the trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuOo1DLcRc