Ahead of 'Dhadak' release, a look at why 'Sairat' was a game changer in India

It is just a matter of a few hours now as Sridevi's daughter Janhvi Kapoor makes her debut in the hugely anticipated film 'Dhadak'. The film that hits the theatres on Friday, 20th July, is a Karan Johar production and pairs Janhvi with Ishaan Khatter, Shahid Kapoor's half-brother, and actress Neelima Azim's son. While the pressure on the two new actors is tremendous considering they belong to illustrious families, the pressure has doubled up also because 'Dhadak' is an official remake of a Marathi blockbuster called 'Sairat'.

Nagraj Manjule's Sairat was a small Marathi film featuring two newcomers- Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar- released in April 2016. But little did the cast or the filmmaker know that the film would not only become the highest grossing Marathi film of all time but receive immense love and adulation worldwide.

A story of real India

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While the film spoke about how caste drives society still in smaller towns, the film also broke gender stereotypes. Archie was a strong-willed, feisty woman who knew what she wanted - and drove Parshya to elope. It was refreshing to see a woman character in a love story so strong, who fought her family to be with the person she loves. The internet, the modernism may have entered the interiors of the country, but class and caste dictate how people should live and Sairat highlighted that perfectly. On the surface of it, there is harmony but if you look deeper, the prejudices still exist.

The outstanding soundtrack

While Sairat was rooted in Maharashtra, the music by Ajay-Atul had a mass appeal and transcended borders. The language was unknown to people outside Maharashtra, the tunes that the composer duo gave to the film, enhanced the film's narrative to a great extent and make the soundtrack a blockbuster across the country. Two years after the film's release, the original 'Zingaat', in Marathi, remains a party anthem in several parts of the country.

The makers of 'Dhadak', roped in the original composers of 'Sairat', recreated two songs from the original in the Hindi film as well- but the magic that the original songs created is missing in the reprised Hindi versions.

The litmus test

'Sairat' has already been made in Kannada, Punjabi, Odiya, and Bengali. But none have created this much buzz as its Hindi remake 'Dhadak' has created-that too before its release. People are curious to see how the daughter of their beloved star Sridevi performs on screen. Trade pundits feel that Johar taking up the remake rights of Sairat to launch Janhvi was tactical move as the film serves as a perfect platform to Janhvi to showcase her talent. Ideally, the film should have had two new faces, and not two star-kids. But director Shashank Khaitan shifts the story to the upmarket Udaipur to make the star-kids look convincing in the story.

Rajguru eventually won a special jury National Award in 2016 for her role and Sairat premiered at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. Would Dhadak be able to recreate the same magic? With stylised costumes, perfect backdrops and a glamorous lead pair, it has the making of a blockbuster- but the charm that Archie and Parshya's story had- would perhaps be missing.