Dhadak 2 Review: Why Siddhant and Triptii’s Love Story Cuts Deeper Than Expected
Dhadak 2 stars Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri, and Saurabh Sachdeva in a love story that dares to question everything. First-time director Shazia Iqbal takes a big swing with this Dharma Productions film that hit theaters on August 1, 2025. It’s based on the Tamil movie Pariyerum Perumal, but this Hindi version finds its own voice.
This isn’t your typical boy-meets-girl romance. The film puts caste discrimination front and center, showing how love becomes dangerous when it crosses invisible lines. Zakir Hussain and Vipin Sharma round out the cast, giving the story its needed weight and believability.
The Story Hits Hard
Neelesh Ahirwar walks into law college thinking education will be his ticket out. What he gets instead is a daily reminder that some people believe he doesn’t belong there. The film doesn’t look away from the ugly truth of how students and teachers treat him differently.
Things get complicated when Vidhi Bharadwaj enters his life. She’s from an upper-caste family but likes to think she’s different, more open-minded. Their growing closeness becomes a problem for everyone around them. The question becomes whether Neelesh should keep his head down or stand up, knowing what that might cost him.
Siddhant Steps Up
Siddhant Chaturvedi surprised me here. He plays someone constantly reading the room, trying to figure out when to speak and when to stay quiet. There’s no hero moment where everything changes. Instead, we watch someone learn to live with unfairness while trying not to break.
What works is how his character changes slowly. You can see it in the way he walks, talks, even how he sits in class. Chaturvedi makes you feel every small defeat and every tiny victory. This role could open new doors for him.
Triptii Gets It Right
Triptii Dimri plays Vidhi like someone who means well but is just starting to understand how deep the problems go. I liked that the film doesn’t make her perfect. She makes mistakes, says the wrong things sometimes, but she’s trying to learn.
The scenes between her and Chaturvedi work because they feel real. You believe these two people would find each other and care about each other. When Vidhi finally realizes that good intentions aren’t enough, Dimri nails that moment of painful understanding.
The Rest Deliver Too
Saurabh Sachdeva plays the kind of person you probably know someone who believes their position in society is natural and right. He’s scarier because he’s so normal. Nothing about him seems extreme, which makes his actions more disturbing.
Zakir Hussain and Vipin Sharma bring experience that steadies the film. Every actor here seems to understand they’re telling a story that matters to people living these experiences daily.
Direction Walks a Fine Line
Shazia Iqbal does something smart. She lets the story speak without adding drama where it doesn’t need to be. The uncomfortable moments stay uncomfortable. She trusts the audience to sit with that discomfort.
My problem is that she pulls back when the original film pushed harder. The ending especially feels like it was softened to make people feel better. I understand the choice, but it weakens the message the rest of the film builds so carefully.
What Really Works
The film shows you exactly how discrimination happens in ways both big and small. It’s not just one violent incident. It’s a thousand tiny cuts that add up. The way people look at Neelesh, how they talk over him, the jokes that aren’t jokes. The film gets this right.
Both lead actors commit completely. They make you forget you’re watching a movie and start feeling like you’re watching real people. The camera work makes the college feel suffocating, like the walls are always too close. The film makes you understand what it feels like to never be able to relax.
Where It Stumbles
The middle section drags a bit. Some scenes could have been cut without losing anything important. The film makes its point, then makes it again, then makes it once more just to be sure. A tighter cut would have been stronger.
That ending is still bothering me. After everything we’ve seen, the way things wrap up feels too easy. The Tamil original had the courage to leave you shaken. This version wants to send you home feeling okay, and that’s not always the right call.
What Others Are Saying
Critics have been split but mostly positive. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 63% with an average score of 5.5 out of 10. Several reviewers called it brave while noting it doesn’t go as far as its source material.
Bollywood Hungama gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. People watching it have been calling it one of the year’s most important films. On social media, many praised the leads and the film’s willingness to tackle topics Bollywood usually avoids.
Rating: 3.5/5
