'Dil Dhadakne Do' - Pulsates With Fine Performances

Ranveer Singh as Kabir and Shefali Shah as Neelam Mehra outshine the other actors. Ranveer is a complete package, with a blend of a restrained, as well as an exuberant performance. He steals your heart, as he plays the charming Kabir with panache.

On the other hand, Shefali Shah emotes with her expressive eyes. Her expressions are worth a freeze, especially in the scenes; when she is depressed and binging on the chocolate cake and when Ayesha tells her about her intention to divorce.

Farhan Akhtar, in a special appearance as the journalist Sunny Gill and Anushka Sharma as the dancer Farah Ali, play Ayesha and Kabir's love interest. With limited on screen time they both leave an indelible mark -- Farhan with his controlled and understated performance and Anushka with her usual vibrant and uncomplicated demeanour.

Ridhima Sud as Noorie Sood makes an impressive debut. She is cast opposite Vikrant Massey and they make a competent pair.

Anil Kapoor as Kamal Mehra walks through his performance in the first half of the film but breathes life into some intense scenes in the latter half. Priyanka Chopra had her share of wow moments as Ayesha, while Rahul Bose as Manav, her stiff-upper-lipped husband, is his usual self and offers nothing spectacular.

Among the character actors, Zarina Wahab as Manav's mother and Ayesha Raza Misra as Indu, Kamal's sister-in-law, have their moments to shine.

Treated as a family drama and mounted on a wide canvas, the writer duo Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar maintain a perfect pulse of humour and drama, balancing the well-etched character graphs to the plot. They succeed in presenting the dichotomy in the relationships. With spurts of entertaining and poignant moments, they hit the right notes and emotions, but falter at places by taking cinematic liberty in certain scenes with respect to the point of view.

The dialogues by Farhan Akthar are as quirky as the characters in the film and they liven the scenes.

The voice lent to Pluto, is that of Aamir Khan, which you realise only once the credits roll.

The music and background score is well-meshed into the narration. It is the cinematography by Carlos Catalan that is impressive. His one-take shot of the entire song "Gallan goodiyaan" is remarkable.

With a run time of nearly three hours, the pace of the film is slow, but it's entertaining!
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