It is common knowledge that Shashank Khaitan's Dhadak is a remake of the blockbuster Marathi film Sairat. So comparisons are inevitable. How good is it? Is it as good as the original? Does it do justice to the original material? Do Ishaan and Janhvi do justice to Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar? Does Nagraj Manjule's vision stay true to what Shashank Khaitan has put together on the big screen? These are valid questions and the answers are a mixed bag.

Adapted from Nagraj Manjule's stupendous hit Sairat, this one picks up the plot points that delivered in the story of forbidden love and makes a dal baati churma of it. A reserved Romeo from Udaipur meets a brusque chori. Madhukar (Ishaan Khatter) wants a 'pappi', while Parthavi (Janhvi Kapoor) aspires for "maara ghar" over "badi kothi".

There's something inherently disturbing, almost in a stomach-churning way, to watch a young, beautiful couple, lost in puppy love, knowing well exactly the unfortunate fate that awaits them. So yeah, like most of you, I have seen Nagraj Manjule's Marathi, semi-rural masterpiece, Sairat (2016) that Dhadak is an official adaptation of.

Madhukar (Ishaan Khatter) falls heads-over-heels in love with Parthavi (Janhvi Kapoor). She isn't as smitten as he is initially but the allure is mutual. She's headstrong, he's a little timid and shy. She belongs to an upper caste family and her father has political aspirations. He belongs to a lower caste than hers but love, as they say, knows no bounds.

The highly awaited launch pad of Janhvi Kapoor daughter of the one and only (late) Sridevi, DHADAK also stars Ishaan Khatter who made his presence felt in the Iranian master Majid Majidi's Bollywood debut BEYOND THE CLOUDS. Such an important movie, having such a topical subject of caste divide and honour killing, coming from a banner of repute like Dharma and Zee and look what we get... A poorly thesped, unimaginatively conceived, reboot of Nagraj Manjule's SAIRAT - a brilliantly weaved chronicle of love on the margins that twined the classic tale of star-crossed love into the caste cauldron.

I think the way to enjoy Dhadak is to completely forget about Sairat. But those of us who've seen Sairat know that this is impossible. Because Nagraj Manjule's 2016 Marathi film was a landmark. Sairat combined swoony romance with a searing critique of the caste system. So we danced in a joyous frenzy to Zingaat but we exited the theatre, scarred forever.

Sairat - Nagraj Popatrao Manjule's critically acclaimed Marathi blockbuster of which Dhadak is an official remake - was a film about love across caste divides, chilling and entertaining in equal measure. What made it unique on India's cinematic landscape was that though it placed the gravity of casteism firmly at the centre of its narrative, it was an unapologetically commercial film with a determination to be viewed as mainstream and massy, complete with glossy packaging, striking visuals and Ajay-Atul's fantastic, cheerful songs.

Made under the banner of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, 'Dhadak' presents Shahid Kapoor's half-brother Ishaan Khatter and introduces legendary actress Sridevi's daughter Janhvi Kapoor. The film opens with a small tribute to Sridevi by Janhvi, whose sudden demise earlier this year sent a shockwave across the nation.

Societal opposition, manifesting itself through angry parents, have formed the backbone of classic love stories. In Sairat (2016), filmmaker Nagraj Manjule took the tried-and-tested Romeo and Juliet formula and placed it in a setting where the conflict rose from caste and socio-economic divide, firmly rooted in a region and its culture.

In 2016, Nagraj Manjule shook the country up with his depiction of the brutality of caste apartheid in Sairat. The film struck a chord with the audience for its hard-hitting realism, naturalistic performances and departure from cliches.

Once young romance and rebellion looking at life with rose coloured glasses defined the course of condemned love until Bollywood made it a yardstick of sorts. But no one considered the practicality of such fervour or tested its endurance after first flushes of love wear out until film-maker Nagraj Manjule's Marathi blockbuster, Sairat.

Nagraj Popatrao Manjule's Sairat was a sleeper hit of Marathi cinema, which minted over Rs 100 crores at the box-office. Sairat had its remake in Kannada, Punjabi, Odia, Bengali and now Hindi. Sairat was a commercial movie unlike Manjule's previous works but was as hard-hitting as his other creations. The story revolved around two college students who fall in love but their caste difference triggers mayhem.

Dhadak: WINNER. Comparisons with Marathi blockbuster #Sairat are inevitable... Viewed as a stand-alone film, #Dhadak has several dramatic highs, scintillating music and importantly, the young pair [Ishaan and Janhvi] is electrifying...

'Dhadak' is an adaptation of the mammoth Marathi hit, 'Sairat' (2016). Obviously, the plot line is similar. However, this one is based in exquisite Udaipur and has a rich texture and feel. Wealthy girl Parthavi (Janhvi Kapoor) loves poor boy, Madhukar (Ishaan Khatter).

Dhadak revolves around Madhukar (Ishaan), a boy from a lower caste, who falls for the feisty Parthavi (Janhvi), the daughter of local politician Ratan Singh Rathod (Ashutosh Rana). Needless to say, when Parthavi reciprocates his feelings, things get complicated for both of them after Ratan Singh discovers the affair and comes down heavily on the lovers.

Falling in love in India comes with its share of major problems. This is especially true when the lovers belong to diverse castes or religions or regions. Honour killing is still prevalent in many parts of India and so many cases have been reported and talked about so openly in media that it doesn't even shock us anymore.

Dhadak, remake of 2016's Marathi blockbuster Sairat, is a love story of Parthavi (Janhvi Kapoor) and Madhukar (Ishaan Khatter). They belong to Udaipur where Parthavi is daughter of the influential politician Ratan Singh and Madhukar is the son of an ordinary man running a small hotel in the city. The bold, beautiful & all-heart Parthavi falls for the simple, sweet and innocent Madhukar.

Set in the picturesque city of Udaipur, director Shashank Khaitan tries too hard to bring out the magic of Sairat with the fresh pairing of Janhvi and Ishaan but somehow fails to even woo. Keeping the commercial aspect alive, yes, Dhadak is nicely packaged, but the dragged screenplay will make you revisit '90s.

Two years ago, Nagraj Manjule's Marathi film Sairat took the classic Romeo and Juliet trope of forbidden love and gave it a rural twist. Even with a running length of almost three hours, the audience went along on the journey with teenagers Archi and Parshya, played with surprising skill by newbies Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar.

Remaking Sairat for mainstream Bollywood was always going to be a tough ask. The edges of that searing 2016 tale of love-in-the-time-of-caste were necessarily going to have to be blunted and softened, because too much 'realism' is hard for us to handle.

Udaipur in Rajasthan functions as a battleground in Dhadak, the remake of Marathi hit Sairat (2016). Beneath its shining heritage hotels breathes a population that's not free to fall in love, at least not outside the bounds set generations ago. The high domes of erstwhile palaces and the deep lakes are only a facade to conceal the real identity of its people that is defined by caste.

Madhukar (Ishaan) and Parthavi (Janhvi) fall head over heels in love with each other, but the fact that they belong to different castes of society, becomes an obstacle in their romance. The lovers dare to go against societal norms and battle all odds for the sake of love.

An attempted makeover of a tested storyline is never more than a handful of missteps away from turning into an outright mauling. The latter is exactly what Dhadak metes out to Nagraj Manjule's 2016 Marathi sleeper hit Sairat. A muddled screenplay, bland storytelling and uneven lead performances leave this glossy Karan Johar production without a proper, palpable heartbeat.