Dhokha Round D Corner review :
Going in with nil expectations, Dhokha turned out to be a decent surprise for me specially at ticket price of just seventy five bucks on National Cinema Day (September 23rd). The crowd was majorly college youngsters who were hooting loudly whenever the heroine's pallu dropped... and that happens quite often through the movie!! Reminded me of the front benchers in the bygone single screen era..
A supposed suspense thriller; Dhokha is more a launch pad for Khushalii Kumar who not only looks ravishing in a saree but also makes a super confident acting debut in Bollywood. She plays a delusional housewife who is taken hostage by a terrorist (Aparshakti Khurana) in her own home even as her marketing executive hubby (Madhavan) and the investigating cop (Darshan Kumaar) are right outside discussing the rescue strategy over a cigarette.
Suffering from personality disorder, the curvaceous lady seduces the terrorist and makes him fall in love with her. All this while, we are told hubby dear is no plain Jack and is carrying on affair with his wife's psychiatrist. Oops!!
The basic theme seems inspired from Rajesh Khanna's Ittefaq (1969) which had a runaway mental patient seeking refuge in a lonely lady's home. Having said that, director Kookie Gulati shows improvement over his past endeavors Prince (2010) and The Big Bull (2021). He successfully manages to keep the suspense alive right till the end. In fact, the climax is a high point of the movie making you overlook some of the pace drops in the middle. Technically, the film looks rich even with a tight budget and a single location of a typical Mumbai apartment.
Of the cast, Aparshakti Khurana acts competently and gets the Kashmiri accent right. Surprisingly, Madhavan appears lost here. I have never seen Maddy so disinterested. Darshan Kumaar is just about okey dokey.
Finally, Dhokha belongs to debutant Khushalii Kumar and the gorgeous actor goes all out to make it her own. Exposing uninhibitedly, she literally chews up all her male cast to emerge the most memorable aspect of the film.
A parting advice : Hang on till the end credits roll for the awesome remix of Zooby Zooby song from Dance Dance (1986). It's a paisa vasool number!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.
Going in with nil expectations, Dhokha turned out to be a decent surprise for me specially at ticket price of just seventy five bucks on National Cinema Day (September 23rd). The crowd was majorly college youngsters who were hooting loudly whenever the heroine's pallu dropped... and that happens quite often through the movie!! Reminded me of the front benchers in the bygone single screen era..
A supposed suspense thriller; Dhokha is more a launch pad for Khushalii Kumar who not only looks ravishing in a saree but also makes a super confident acting debut in Bollywood. She plays a delusional housewife who is taken hostage by a terrorist (Aparshakti Khurana) in her own home even as her marketing executive hubby (Madhavan) and the investigating cop (Darshan Kumaar) are right outside discussing the rescue strategy over a cigarette.
Suffering from personality disorder, the curvaceous lady seduces the terrorist and makes him fall in love with her. All this while, we are told hubby dear is no plain Jack and is carrying on affair with his wife's psychiatrist. Oops!!
The basic theme seems inspired from Rajesh Khanna's Ittefaq (1969) which had a runaway mental patient seeking refuge in a lonely lady's home. Having said that, director Kookie Gulati shows improvement over his past endeavors Prince (2010) and The Big Bull (2021). He successfully manages to keep the suspense alive right till the end. In fact, the climax is a high point of the movie making you overlook some of the pace drops in the middle. Technically, the film looks rich even with a tight budget and a single location of a typical Mumbai apartment.
Of the cast, Aparshakti Khurana acts competently and gets the Kashmiri accent right. Surprisingly, Madhavan appears lost here. I have never seen Maddy so disinterested. Darshan Kumaar is just about okey dokey.
Finally, Dhokha belongs to debutant Khushalii Kumar and the gorgeous actor goes all out to make it her own. Exposing uninhibitedly, she literally chews up all her male cast to emerge the most memorable aspect of the film.
A parting advice : Hang on till the end credits roll for the awesome remix of Zooby Zooby song from Dance Dance (1986). It's a paisa vasool number!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.