‘Tadap’: Ahan Shetty’s Romance with Tired 80s Cliches
By Shubhra Gupta
Local Mussoorie lad Ishana (Ahan Shetty) falls hard for London-returned fair maiden Ramisa (Tara Sutaria). But the path of true love is strewn with tiresome 80s cliches, bombastic dialogues and stereotyped characters, so what we get is same old same old. Many questions arise. Given that star-son launches riding on ‘ghisa-pita prem kahanis’ have been tanking continuously post Harman Baweja, why would filmmakers not think of something fresh? Is it because the star-son in question is pretty standard-procedure new hopeful? Or is it because the original Telugu ‘RX100’ became a blockbuster using these self-same elements?
That Ahaan Shetty, son of Suniel, has been readied for-the-movies we are left in no doubt from the beginning: we see a bare, muscular back, a revving motorcycle, a brooding, intense look, and smoke curling from the lips. Full money shot. Then we see him use his fists. Check. And then, soft-focus romance, double check.
But the plot, groan. There’s your disapproving ‘ladki-ka-baap’ (Kumud Mishra). Then there’s Ahan’s understanding dad whom the whole town cutely calls Daddy (Saurabh Shukla). A helpful cop is called upon to fix the hot-headed laddie who refuses to take no for an answer. A few ‘fight’ scenes are bunged in, so we can see our ‘hero’ being battered and bruised but never giving up on his ‘pehla pyaar’. Even if the debutant hero wanted to come off different, the jaded plot wouldn’t have allowed it.
By the time the twist — verily, yes, there’s a twist — comes along, it’s too late. By that time, we are buried under the love track, and the best friend (Sumit Gulati) track, and the action track. The two people who make the best of this mothballed ‘Tadap’ are, no, not, the lovebirds, but the two daddies, Mishra and Shukla.
Meanwhile, we are left with such lines as: ‘jawaani mein FD kara lo, budhaape mein kaam ayegi’. Or words to that effect.
Tadap movie cast: Ahan Shetty, Tara Sutaria, Saurabh Shukla, Kumud Mishra, Sumit Gulati
Tadap movie director: Milan Luthria
Tadap movie rating: 1 star