Dil Jaise Dhadke.. Dhadakne Do the new Star Plus show is the next big offering from the creative duo of Mahesh Bhatt and Guroudev Bhalla.
After the success of Naamkarann their earlier concept on Star Plus, this new show carries with it a lot of baggage, and with it comes the huge task of delivering in numbers.
To talk of it, Dil Jaise Dhadke.. Dhadakne Do is not the usual concept that we get to see on television at regular intervals.
It touches upon the subject of a man who has sacrificed worldly pleasures for the well-being of humanity and goes on his search to find Devi, who he thinks is the ultimate answer to spreading happiness around. A tough subject, we must accept, but the start has been really good.
In today’s era, we live in a society wherein the concept of God-man and God-woman is quite relevant and the faith and belief that a huge sect of followers has in them are unbelievable and unbeatable. Traversing on similar lines, this indeed is a new concept on Indian Television.
And trust me as I say, viewers will have to sample this show for sure, if they feel Indian television needs to follow the experimental route and attempt topics that remain untouched. A brave move this, by the broadcaster as well as the maker!!
Before we get into anything in specific related to the review, I find it really important to talk about the way the show has been shot. After watching the first week’s episodes (Monday to Friday), I can surely say that this is a visually brilliant show that packs a punch from its very first scene which gives us the glimpse of Varanasi and moves to the brisk walk of the central character, Devguru (Rahil Azam) as he decides to take ‘jal samadhi’ by diving into the river and ending his journey in it. The brilliant landscape shown in the background as Devguru walks, amidst the streets, and through the shores of water to end his life, are breathtaking.
The shot underwater wherein Devguru is calm, holding his breath as he awaits his end, and from nowhere, comes a ray of hope with a white paper coming right in front of Devguru’s eyes baffled us. Immediately, with Devguru starting to breathe, looking at the picture in the paper, the utter joy on his face on finding his Devi, was sheer brilliance.
Kudos to Guroudev Bhalla who has shouldered the responsibility of being the Director on the show. He has put in all his experience and it shows in the final product.
Moving on, we have a very innocent, pale-looking silent girl Iti (Hirva Trivedi) who has gone numb after witnessing the fire accident that claimed the life of her dear mother. It has been more than a year since Iti spoke or even smiled.
But there is yet another underlying reason as to why Iti remains to herself, mostly afraid of everything around her. Her father’s sister who lives with her son (with brother Pankaj) is one of the reasons why Iti has not shown any improvement. It comes as a startling surprise to see her and her son showing the video of her mother’s death (which got shot accidentally) to Iti time and again, so that she does not recover from the loss that she faced. Indeed, a touching scene, to see a small kid watching the video of her mother’s death.
Coming to the livewire on the show, Yug Gautam (Jared Albert Savaille) the spunky, flamboyant, street-smart boy who bumps into Iti only for his life to get changed completely. He is now striving hard and is on the mission to make Iti speak and smile. Yes, he has been privy to the shocking video that Iti gets to see, of her mother’s death. Hence, the boy wants Iti to get back to normalcy.
Being a boy who does not like to see pets and animals getting caged, it is very obvious that he will not want Iti to live the life of Devi, leaving behind the life that she presently leads.
So what is it about Devguru that has forced him on his search for Devi? Well, Devguru is actually a renowned and learned doctor, Shivraj, well-versed in English, who was all fun and jolly till the time he met with an accident wherein he literally died for a few minutes, only to get back to life as a reformed man.
From a man curing people through medicine, Shivraj transforms into Devguru, a man who has renounced all the colours in his life, lives the life of a saint, with the only hope of getting Devi back on earth to help the needy.
And yes, Devguru has a connect that always draws him closer to finding Devi, whether it is during his jal Samadhi or when he lands in Prayag Raaj, and senses her being there.
The opening scenes of Devguru entering Prayag Raaj was again a sequence to watch. The scene where his man finds Iti and Devguru worships the place where Iti set foot on, brought goosebumps.
And now, Iti is just a whisker away from Devguru and we wonder how this story will proceed, considering that Yug has succeeded in his mission of making Iti talk and get back to normalcy. And for a girl so young to even consider renouncing the world and wearing the pure white as Devi, will be a sight to watch when it happens.
However, with the bond between Yug and Iti becoming stronger, it is to be seen how Yug moulds the life of the girl from hereon.
Devguru as a character is strong, determined and purely positive. His devotion towards Devi is immense, and he believes firmly that in the same way as he left the colourful life to serve Devi, Devi will also join him one day to serve humanity.
Will this really happen? Only time will tell.
Coming to the performances, the show is studded with the best of actors, starting from Rahil Azam to Shruti Seth and Sandeep Baswana. Rahil is at his best, probably in a role that would go on to rank high in his already studded career. He is resplendent, devoted, serious when it demands. He can also get very casual and sweet talk when needed. The scene with kids wherein they do not want Devguru to go out was indeed cute. It shows the class in Rahil’s acting.
Sandeep Baswana is brilliant as the brooding father who wants to give the best of life to his daughter. The tussle between Devguru and the father in Pankaj will be very interesting when it happens. I personally look forward to that.
Shruti Seth makes her comeback to daily fiction after years, and looks strong in the role she plays. The right hand of Devguru, Bhavini is sharp, smart and intelligent. She is the one who notices Prayag Raaj in the photo that Devguru gets underwater. It will be interesting to see if Bhavini stands tall as Devguru’s support system or wavers when she sees the plight of a small girl who is caged with huge responsibilities, that of being the Devi.
Coming to the kids, Jared Albert Savaille and Hirva Trivedi are a real find. They are simply superb, with the boy shining all the more. His dialogue delivery, facial expressions are top-notch. Hirva has not had much to do till now in terms of dialogues, but her innocence comes across in the character. She is cute and has already shown glimpses of carrying out scenes well. It will be interesting to see a child actor like her sharing screen presence with a versatile actor like Rahil Azam.
The other kids in the show, Gaurika Sharma (Bansuri), Virad Tyagi (Kashi) and Atharva Bhatt (Mewa) are very good in their roles.
Himangi Kavi who plays Yug’s mother is really impressive. Himmanshoo A Malhotra as Dr. Sanjay, the friend of Shivraj who sees his transformation happening as Devguru, and later decides to get back to India to stop his friend from ruining the life of an innocent small girl, is doing a good job. In between all this, is Dr. Sanjay’ sister (Sonal Parihar) who appears to be the past love-interest of Shivraj before he became Devguru. In addition to everything that he sacrificed, he probably gave up on the girl too.
Archana Singh who plays the role of the negative Bua of Iti, by name Savita is another impressive actor who forces the viewer to take note of her with her powerful dialogues and mannerisms.
Overall, a good start to a different kind of a show. But let us accept it, viewers are so used to watching the saas-bahu sagas, the supernatural and eerie concepts that they might fall short of watching this slightly off-beat content. Having said this, it will be good for television if shows like this do well. Dil Jaise Dhadke… Dhadakne Do is rich in its content, has good performers and all this is reason enough for the show to have a good word of mouth.
If the opening numbers are good enough, guess the show will surely make a mark as it builds on in the minds of viewers.
The background score of the show is gripping and adds more value to the narrative, especially scenes where Devraj’s devotion towards Devi and his restlessness to find her, are shown.
Another plus point the show has is the cute kids and the legacy of watching them, which a show like Kulfi Kumar Bajewala has left behind… The void left by the kids Aakriti Sharma and Myra Singh can easily be filled up by Jared and Hirva.
We at IWMBuzz.com credit Dil Jaise Dhadke… Dhadakne Do with 3.5 stars out of 5.