Dhadak 2: Caste in stone, reality we can’t escape

Not all love stories are about roses and wine, even when these come from the house of gossamer romance, Dharma Productions. Many love tales come laden with thorns, especially when the lovers try to cross the class divide — even more pressingly, the caste divide. Thomas Jefferson’s famous words, “when law becomes injustice, resistance becomes your duty”, set the tone of the film. The very first scene establishes that despite two exceptionally good-looking actors, Triptii Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi, helming the film, standard notions of romance will take a backseat.

‘Dhadak 2’, the spiritual sequel to ‘Dhadak’, walks the same line of deeply-entrenched caste prejudices and is once again a remake, this time of Mari Selvaraj’s Tamil film. Since one consciously chose not to watch the 2018 ‘Pariyerum Perumal’, comparisons are out of bounds. So, while we can’t say this Shazia Iqbal directorial is as searing, it does cut you through and quick.

Even in the 21st century, when several laws protect the SC/ST communities, caste discrimination is very much a social reality, yes of urban India too. As Shazia said in an interview, “Caste is everywhere”; it sure is. The privileged might ignore its insidious existence, but can’t deny its vice-like grip on their decisions.

Set in Madhya Pradesh, the moment Neelesh Ahirwar (Siddhant Chaturvedi) gets admission in the National Law College in the reserved category, the film addresses the elephant in the room: caste. At points, it threatens to become a plea for caste-based reservation as well. “Jaativaad hai, iss liye reservation hai” and not the other way round, says a key character, a Dalit student leader portrayed endearingly by Priyank Tiwari.

Our hero, too, belongs to the marginalised section of society… dare he fall in love with a high-caste Brahmin girl, Vidhi (Triptii Dimri), his classmate. Expectedly, she makes the first move. Only, their friendship blossoming into romance appears too sudden and does not flow as that gooey and mushy feeling of love which envelops us when watching a prem kahani. But then, here the love story is indeed primarily a means to expose the deep fault lines.

Besides, actors bring forth the pathos of their predicament. Triptii, who impressed in her very first film ‘Laila Majnu’ and showed her impeccable talent in ‘Bulbul’ and ‘Qala’, is back to doing what she does best. She emotes with the right beats of heartfelt passion. Her scream in the climax and the bit about what is izzat, is on point.

Siddhant carries the caste burden of his character in his diffident body language. He looks every bit the Dalit boy cornered by dominant castes, until he is made to realise that when the choice is between ladna aur marna, the option is crystal clear.

The indignation he suffers at the hands of the so-called privileged lot does become a bit excessive, but is not far removed from the bigotry our society suffers from. Saurabh Sachdeva’s vigilante act as Shankar represents that vile face of society, a symbol of the moral brigade who take it upon themselves to ‘cleanse’ what they perceive as moral evils. But more effective than his obvious hatred of such ‘mismatched lovers’ are the prejudices reflected in the behaviour of Vidhi’s father, Arvind (Harish Khanna).

Actually, it’s refreshing not to see the usual suspects in the father’s role. Khanna, also seen in ‘Stolen’ recently, is closer to the veneer the civilised us wear. It’s his inherent bias that shows us the mirror.

While the story is certainly rooted in realism and symbolism (blue colour as a marker of Dalit identity), certain diversions like the plot concerning Neelesh’s father being a trans-dancer (Vipin Sharma) appear unnecessary and become more in- your-face kind of activism than organic storytelling. Still, the writers of the adaptation, Rahul Badwelkar and Shazia, bring out the essence and spirit of what they care to convey.

‘Dhadak 2’ may not make your heart go dhak dhak, but does freeze your heart in more than one moment. Cinematography by Sylvester Fonseca adds to tension-filled scenes. Music by Rochak Kohli, Tanishk Bagchi, Javed-Mohsin and Shreyas Puranik is adequate if not transcendental. Whether Neelesh and Vidhi transcend barriers or end up as star-crossed lovers, we can only chorus the rousing anthem, “Kal hamara hai”.

Expecting a 146-minute film to usher in societal change or go deep into the entire paradigm and complexities of the caste system is asking for too much. But the fact that it’s the subject of a mainstream Hindi film, sans gloss and sheen, is reason enough to deserve a shout-out and a dekho.