It is understandable why films like Arjun Reddy and RX 100 have tremendous remake value. They have the potential to launch or relaunch the careers of leading men. Such films feature "alpha men" whose only vulnerability is the love of their lives. They are bolstered by a solid soundtrack. They get to showcase their physical attributes and are given the space to deliver pining performances. So yeah, it makes sense why Suniel Shetty zeroed in on RX 100 for his son Ahan Shetty’s big Bollywood debut, Tadap.
Director: Milan Luthria
Cast: Ahan Shetty, Tara Sutaria, Saurabh Shukla, Kumud Mishra
A largely faithful remake of the 2018 sleeper hit, Tadap acts as the perfect showreel for Ahan, who does a decent job of embodying Ishana, a brooding, bearded, beefed-up violent youngster. We are shown how one look at his towering physique is enough for women to swoon over him. And the first one to swoon is Ramisa (an impressive Tara Sutaria), whose gaze at Ishana is a gender reversal of sorts. The camera moves from his bulging biceps, his chiselled chest, and flat abs, and if not for Ramisa’s lust-filled glances, this might seem like just another hero-introduction scene. While showcasing a woman’s desire might seem like a step forward for an industry that thrives on a man’s ‘love-at-first-sight’ romance, Tadap doesn’t really do much to change that status quo.
In fact, there is nothing spectacularly new in Tadap. We have the done-to-death love story between a rich and influential girl and a common man. We have that ONE friend who encourages the hero to pursue the girl despite the overwhelming odds. We have that ONE voice of reason that is not paid heed to. We have a hummable soundtrack by Pritam. But what made RX 100 stand apart is a couple of twists that no one saw coming, and this is exactly what keeps Tadap afloat too. While director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora hit the same highs and lows of the original, it is a surprise that the makers toned down the lust angle in Tadap. What made RX 100 refreshing was the portrayal of Payal Rajput’s unabashed desire for Kartikeya Gummakonda. Here, it is all rather toned down between Ishana and Ramisa. And the proverbial twists in the tale are forced to carry the burden of adding freshness to a generic love story.
Since this is essentially a star vehicle for Ahan Shetty, there are enough moments written in the film for elevating the newcomer as the next action star of Bollywood. While the stunt choreography doesn’t rise above repeated punches and third-degree torture techniques, Ahan gives it his all, and his physicality justifies the action hero tag. Tara shines in an interesting but thankless role. It is Kumud Mishra and Saurabh Shukla who bring in the necessary gravitas to Tadap. Even these veterans can’t really save some of the lines, which are just too outdated. Be it the random rhyme schemes or the ostentatious attempts at poetic lines about eternal love, most of the dialogues are more distracting than engaging.
At the end of it all, we do warm up to Ahan, Tara, and their love story, and Tadap too is mildly effective when it follows the beats of a template love story meets a star vehicle. However, just like the lead Ishana, Tadap too is, unfortunately, bogged down by its belief that it is not a generic tale of star-crossed lovers but an epic romance.
When fans first saw the trailer of Ahan Shetty’s debut film Tadap, co-starring Tara Sutaria, they were left with mixed emotions. While some were excited to see how Suniel Shetty’s son would perform in his first film, others wondered if this is going to turn out like Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh, which was criticized for glamorizing toxic masculinity. A remake of Telugu film RX 100, the romantic action drama has been directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. Well, Tadap finally hit theatres today and as expected, many people rushed to their nearest cinema halls to check it out. While it isn’t exactly an incredible romantic drama, the film is better than what we expected it to be.
Our story begins with Ishana aka Ahan Shetty’s rugged entry-- long hair, scruffy beard, a killer physique and addicted to smoking. This badass intro is followed by a quick chase scene where Ishana ends up beating up a man. Just like the audience, the police is confused about the reason behind this. But the hero is too cool to care, as he replies, “Khurak thi, mita di.” It is then revealed that 3 years ago he met Ramisa, portrayed by Tara. She is the daughter of a politician, who is Ahan’s adoptive father’s friend, and has returned from London. While Ramisa is a fun loving girl, Ishana is shown to be an innocent, emotional man who gets aggressive only when someone tries to harm or insult his father. They fall for one another and Ramisa tells him that she never wants to go back to London. However, soon after they get intimate she begins acting distant and they are separated. Ramisa is married off to another man, and Ishana turns into this overly aggressive ‘aashiq’.
Ishana feels that her father had a hand in this and swears to destroy him. But the shocking twist is that Ramisa only used him as her ‘entertainment’ and wanted to marry her boyfriend of two years all along! While this may not come as a shock to those who watched RX 100, it will definitely be an interesting plot twist for a movie-lover who hasn’t heard of the Telugu film. The story-line is surely interesting and there are times when you even feel a little sympathetic towards Ishana. None of the things he does are justified in the film and his love for Ramisa is so deep that he makes up excuses for her till the very end, which makes it different from Kabir Singh, who practically blamed his girlfriend for everything. Also, Ishana is not just an angry young man. He has a lot of emotions locked up inside, which Ahan has tried hard to bring out on-screen.
t tick marks the usual boxes of the conflict of such a romance as well: love across economic barriers, a disapproving father, an attractive but subservient heroine, a muscled, emotionally-handicapped hero prone to getting into fights, and enthusiastic romanticisation of worrying violence. The proceedings follow a Mussoorie boy falling in love with a London-educated girl and cementing their love through manicured, shrill song and dance sequences. Then, when the girl leaves the boy, he sulks, pines, and declares war with his muscles. Through it all, the viewer's sympathies are supposed to lie solely with the hero. It really doesn't matter why he beats up people, who he beats up, or even that he is incapable of behaving like an adult who can deal with his own emotions without blaming others or breaking their bones. It's all justified because this is a hero wronged in love. What can be worse than that? I'd argue a movie that continues to present unhealthy toxic relationships as an aspirational romantic tale. A movie that substitutes plot for masculine exaggeration and a heroine as a disposable prop. And, more importantly, a movie so inspired by Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh's box-office successes that it goes to any desperate lengths to replicate it. Also Read - Through My Window movie review: Empty erotica parading as young love But then again, I'm in the minority because Tadap, which also acts as the launchpad for Ahan Shetty — son of Suniel Shetty — clearly hasn't got the memo. Like every movie of this genre (including Shiddat, the most recent perpetrator), Tadap blindly believes in using passion as an impunity for emotional, physical, and verbal violence and then expects to be patted on the back for bringing such an "unique" perspective to love. You see, this might very well be a toxic love story but is after all, a story about love. Over an excruciating three hours, Tadap keeps reiterating this line of thought: So what if the hero crosses some boundaries? He has been wronged in love. What can, after all, be worse than that? I'd argue having to endure these three hours on a Friday morning while being hopeful about the future. But like I said, I'm a humble minority. Also Read - Urf, playing at Rotterdam, is a bittersweet exploration of Bollywood lookalikes Playing Ishana and Ramisa, the film's central couple, Ahan Shetty and Tara Sutaria pose through the whole movie as if it is a magazine centerspread. In many ways, it is. Shetty's introduction in the film is an orgy of testosterone; the camera zooms in and out of every muscle in his body with the utmost dedication. This isn't the kind of film that might ask its leading actor to carry their acting skills on set and a dutiful Shetty doesn't even pretend to search for any. He doesn't act in Tadap as much as just angrily shows up in every frame, utterly self-conscious about having a camera on him that it's ultimately uninteresting. Sutaria does exactly what she did in Student of the Year, Marjaavaan and will continue in her upcoming releases, Heropanti 2, and Ek Villain Returns — existing in Tadap as a human prop and going through several costume changes. Also Read - Munich – Edge of War, on Netflix, is a gripping account of hope and history It's difficult to fault a movie for making caricatures out of its characters when it is so intent in caricaturize its very existence. Tadap isn't just a movie with a male saviour vi. It's a joke that is taking place at the expense of the viewer's intelligence and wallets. The convoluted premise somehow makes the contrived plot of RX 100 look meek. If there is one thing that Luthria achieves with Tadap, it's taking a bad romance and making it significantly worse. Call me a cynic or a survivor of the toxic romance genre, but dissecting the formal and technical aspects of Tadap feels a little like missing the point. I don't think such movies — Marjaavan, Heropanti, Baaghi, Malang, Shiddat, or Kabir Singh — are fussed about filmmaking. It's perhaps why these outings feature mediocre acting, overlong runtime, and screechy soundtracks, tacky dialogue, and endless buffet of glycerine. And all of them are assembled with a shoddiness that resembles a three-year-old's doodle. The story, treatment, and intentions remain the same film after film and the only way to distinguish them from each other is through the rotating cast. Tadap is cut from the same cloth. The point of the film is the oldest gimmick in Bollywood: the all-consuming quality of love. It's not the first time I've seen a movie like Tadap and I'm willing to bet that it won't be the last time viewers will see such a movie. The question then is: How long will we keep buying into this gimmick? I for one, will gladly volunteer to petition for the genre's extinction.
The yearning shows the yearning for love but does not assure. You must have known the Fosla Group of Senior Schools and Colleges. Frustrated One Sided Lovers Association. The hero moves like a lover of new age one-sided love. Here there is a big twist in the character of the heroine, which the writer-director failed to establish 100%. This is where the film fails. Ahan Shetty had to bear the brunt of which. The heroine’s U-turn in Love Story does not evoke any sympathy for Ahaan. That is because the character of the hero does not emerge strongly in the film, except that he selectively beats people. He doesn’t have any social connections. His connection with his generation is not visible in any scene. He has a daddy and another friend in his small circle of life.
Tadap Movie Information
| Directed by | Milan Luthria |
|---|---|
| Written by | Rajat Arora |
| Based on | RX100 (2018) by Ajay Bhupathi |
| Produced by | Sajid Nadiadwala Fox Star Studios |
| Starring | Ahan Shetty Tara Sutaria |
| Cinematography | Ragul Dharuman |
| Edited by | Rajesh G. Pandey |
| Music by | Score: John Stewart Edur Songs: Pritam |
| Production companies | Fox Star Studios Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Fox Star Studios |
| Release date | 3 December 2021 |
| Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹27 crore |
| Box office | est. ₹34.86 crore |
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