The birth of the sensation-filled Bollywood film Dhadkan (2000) was a chaotic affair that wasn’t anything other than the exhibition on-screen loving triangle. The movie, a quintessential 90s romantic drama, had Shilpa Shetty, Suniel Shetty and Akshay Kumar in it. But this real-life romance between Shilpa Shetty and Akshay Kumar was falling apart behind the scenes, creating a tense atmosphere which came close to wrecking the entire film. Director Dharmesh Darshan landed himself in a spot of trouble.
The very real heartbreak of his female lead could have spelled disaster for a film that revolved around a passionate & believable love story. He feared the movie would bomb as a film, a “Kaagaz Ke Phool” from its time, a comparison to Guru Dutt’s artistic classic which was a commercial disaster. Darshan’s Ballard decision and the cast’s commitment turned an individual tragedy into a film triumph.
The Cast and the Calamity
By the time that Dhadkan had gone to film, the romance between Shilpa Shetty and Akshay Kumar, the mainstay of Bollywood gossip over the past few years, was coming to its bitter conclusion. Shilpa found out that he (Akshay) was having an affair behind her back with the woman who he would soon marry (Twinkle Khanna). This created a lot of tension behind the scenes and speculation of bad blood between the two celebrities. The director was faced with this tricky problem where he had to make sure that this personal animosity did not bring the absence of on-screen chemistry which was everything to the success of the film.
In addition, Akshay and Suniel Shetty had a long existing tension between them in a previous film and this also created one more complexity to the casting strategy. Darshan tried to rescue the situation by introducing fresh energy into the film by introducing a different dimension by the introduction of Mahima Chaudhry in the second half of the film.
A Triumphant Turnaround
This proved to be a masterstroke on the part of the director in terms of the casting and on the part of the cast to compartmentalize their personal feelings. Nonetheless, despite the real-life drama, Shilpa Shetty compliments her personality, she breathed life into the heartbreak and struggle of her character, Anjali. The character of Dev played by Suniel Shetty as a spurned lover was very well received and won him a Filmfare award. One more good performance was given by Akshay Kumar who played the role of good husband Ram.
The chemistry on-screen which was a significant issue about which Darshan was much concerned was real and the music of the film composed by Nadeem-Sharavan was a classic in its own time. Dhadkan continued to become a box office hit thereby demonstrating that even the worst personal situations could be dealt with by the professionalism of the actors and the vision of the director.
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A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
