| Dhadak 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Shazia Iqbal |
| Screenplay by | Rahul Badwelkar Shazia Iqbal |
| Story by | Mari Selvaraj |
| Based on | Pariyerum Perumal (2018) by Mari Selvaraj |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sylvester Fonseca |
| Edited by | Omkar Uttam Sakpal Sangeeth Varghese |
| Music by | Score: Tanuj Tiku Songs: Rochak Kohli Tanishk Bagchi Javed-Mohsin Shreyas Puranik |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Zee Studios |
Release date |
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Running time | 146 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | est.₹29 crore[2] |
Dhadak 2 (transl. Heartbeat 2) is a 2025 IndianHindi-languageromantic drama film written and directed byShazia Iqbal and produced byDharma Productions,Zee Studios and Cloud 9 Pictures.[3][4][5] Aspiritual sequel toDhadak (2018) and a remake of theTamil filmPariyerum Perumal (2018),[6] it starsSiddhant Chaturvedi andTriptii Dimri in the lead roles.[7][8][9]
Dhadak 2 was released theatrically on 1 August 2025 to positive reviews.Dhadak 2 was abox office bomb. Against a production budget of ₹60 crore, the film grossed approximately ₹30 crore worldwide.[10] The film underperformed significantly at the box office, failing to recover its investment during its theatrical run.
Neelesh “Neel” Ahirwar (Siddhant Chaturvedi) is a law student from a historically marginalized, lower-caste community. Through the reservation system, he gains admission to a prestigious law school, where he intends to earnestly work hard and study to become a lawyer. In college, he meets Vidhi Bharadwaj (Triptii Dimri), a classmate from an upper-caste, socially privileged family. Despite their different backgrounds, the two develop a close friendship which gradually blossoms into love.
As their bond deepens, the social reality around them becomes ruthlessly clear. Vidhi’s family, especially her closer relatives, begin to object to the relationship. At one point, Neelesh is invited to Vidhi’s sister’s wedding (Nimisha). Her father reluctantly allows him to attend, but at the wedding, Neelesh is beaten by Vidhi’s cousins for "daring" to associate with someone from a higher caste. One of her cousins (Ronnie) even urinates on him to make this point, and while her father stops the physical humiliation, he reiterates the message - stay away from Vidhi.
For a time, Neelesh stays away from her, but the feelings of frustration and anger within him cause him to fight for his rights in other ways. For example, instead of sitting in the back of the class with the other lower caste students, he decides to sit in the front - in a seat generally used by Ronnie. This results in more bullying, this time in the college campus, resulting in Ronnie's suspension. As part of the disciplinary action, Neelesh's father was called to the college, where he also gets humiliated by the bullies, further increasing Neelesh's frustration.
One of their friends, Shekhar (from the same caste as Neelesh), ends up committing suicide due to being overwhelmed by the pressures and injustices around him - and the shared traumatic experience results in a reconciliation between Neelesh and Vidhi.
However, Vidhi's relatives are still against their relationship, and end up hiring Shankar - who is an "enforcer" of caste violence (i.e: he has previously killed other people for "daring" to engage in similar inter-caste relationships) - to kill Neelesh. Neelesh manages to escape while Shankar eventually commits suicide for the dishonor of not completing his job properly. Seeing Ronnie at the scene, he realizes who orchestrated this and chases after Ronnie all the way to the latter's home. Neelesh stops himself from killing Ronnie, but reveals all the injustice they have committed on him in public, humiliating them instead while Vidhi avoids further escalation.
In the end, love “wins” in the sense that Neelesh and Vidhi are together with at least a modicum of family acceptance, though not without paying a very steep emotional and physical cost.
Dhadak 2 beganpre-production in April 2023, withSiddhant Chaturvedi andTriptii Dimri leading the cast under the production ofKaran Johar. The film's official announcement was made on 15 May 2025, introducing the characters of Dimri and Chaturvedi in a musical teaser.[11][12] Principal photography began in November 2024.[13] Major parts of the film were shot inBhopal andSehore inMadhya Pradesh.Somaiya Vidyavihar University inMumbai and the Oriental Group of Institutes in Bhopal served as the backdrop for the college scenes in the film.[14]
| Dhadak 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | 5 August 2025 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 23:21 | ||||
| Language | Hindi | ||||
| Label | Zee Music Company | ||||
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The music of the film is composed byRochak Kohli,Tanishk Bagchi,Javed-Mohsin andShreyas Puranik while the lyrics is written byRashmi Virag,Siddharth–Garima, Gurpreet Saini and Ozil Dalal.[15]
The first single titled "Bas Ek Dhadak" was released on 16 July 2025.[16] The second single titled "Preet Re' was released on 21 July 2025.[17] The third single titled "Duniya Alag" was released on 28 July 2025.[18]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bas Ek Dhadak" | Rashmi Virag | Javed-Mohsin | Shreya Ghoshal,Jubin Nautiyal | 4:19 |
| 2. | "Preet Re" | Gurpreet Saini | Rochak Kohli | Darshan Raval,Jonita Gandhi, Rochak Kohli | 3:16 |
| 3. | "Duniya Alag" | Siddharth-Garima | Shreyas Puranik | Arijit Singh | 3:58 |
| 4. | "Bawaria" | Ozil Dalal | Tanishk Bagchi | Jubin Nautiyal, Suvarna Tiwari | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Ye Kaisa Ishq" | Gurpreet Saini | Rochak Kohli | Rochak Kohli | 3:07 |
| 6. | "Tu Meri Dhadak Hai" | Rashmi Virag | Javed-Mohsin | Vishal Mishra | 5:01 |
| Total length: | 23:21 | ||||
The film was initially scheduled for a theatrical release on 22 November 2024, but it was postponed multiple times—first to 21 February 2025 and then to 1 August 2025. All previous release dates were missed due to various delays, including issues related to CBFC clearance.[19][20] It was later released on 1 August 2025.[21]
The film began streaming onNetflix from 26 September 2025.[22]
Dhadak 2 has grossed₹29crore (US$3.4 million) till date.[2]
Dhadak 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances and the themes but some critics compared it unfavorably to the original. On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 63% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10.[23]
Rahul Desai ofThe Hollywood Reporter India commented that "Shazia Iqbal’s remake ofPariyerum Perumal is a brave and intuitive entry in the canon of anti-caste storytelling."[24]Subhash K Jha writing forNews 24 gave 4.5 stars out of 5 and writes that "Dhadak 2 is an experience far beyond the original. This is not a remake. It is an intelligent emotional recreation which irons out the rough edges, makes the original characters sharper and more authentic, adds new ones, imbuing the end product with a vigorous glow."[25] Divya Nair ofRediff.com awarded 4 stars out of 5 and noted that "After a long time, here's a film that does justice to the people whose stories are never heard or written about."[26] Writing forThe Hindu, Anuj Kumar called the film a mixed bag mentioning,"InDhadak 2, a remake of the Tamil filmPariyerum Perumal, where caste becomes the villain in a young romance, debutant director Shazia Iqbal struggles to strike a balance between retaining the voice of the original and applying a Dharma polish to a social reality that has been mainly out of the syllabus for Bollywood biggies."[27]
Shachi Chaturvedi ofNews 18 rated it 3.5/5 stars and commented that "It is a compelling romantic thriller tackling caste issues in modernIndia. Don't miss it.[28]Critic ofBollywood Hungama gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 and said thatDhadak 2 makes an important comment on the caste system and works due to the subject, performances, hard-hitting scenes and powerful climax."[29] Nandini Ramnath writing forScroll.in observed that "The Hindi adaptation would have done well to dispense with the overreach of some of its source material. WhileDhadak 2 starkly reveals the manner in which casteism undermines the body, intellect and soul, the 146-minute movie piles on the misery for Neelesh, particularly in the heavy-going sections leading up to the climax."[30]Sana Farzeen ofIndia Today rated 3/5 stars and said thatDhadak 2 has its heart in the right place and boasts compelling performances, but it stops short of becoming the powerful, unapologetic film it had the potential to be."[31]Rishabh Suri ofHindustan Times rated 2.5/5 stars writes in his review that "Dhadak 2 is a film that carries a powerful message but fumbles with its storytelling. It wants to speak about caste, oppression, and systemic injustice- and when it does, it hits the right notes. But it's weighed down by an uneven narrative and an overstretched runtime. This could have been a hard-hitting social drama. Instead, it settles for moments of brilliance buried under a ton of missed opportunities."[32]
Radhika Sharma ofNDTV gave 3 stars out of 5 and said that "TheShazia Iqbal film calls a spade a spade, but the ending feels too good to be true."[33]Vinamra Mathur ofFirstpost gave 3 stars out of 5 and observed that "Dhadak 2 may not change the scheme of things despite shedding light on the dark side of the nation. It also at times bites more than it can chew, with the screenplay juxtaposing horror and humour together."[34]Devesh Sharma ofFilmfare rated it 4/5 stars and said that "This film isn't for the faint-hearted. It will make you uncomfortable, and that’s exactly the point. Because it should. As a society, we’ve learned to take caste discrimination in stride. We treat it like something that exists only in headlines, not in real life. Even when it happens right in front of us, we often choose to look away."[35] Writing forMint, Uday Bhatia mentioned,"Shazia Iqbal’sDhadak 2, a Hindi remake ofPariyerum Perumal, takes a great deal from Mari Selvaraj’s superb 2018 Tamil film. I don’t remember this scene, though. It's a throwaway joke, but a telling one. Unlike most Hindi films about caste, which either tiptoe around the issue or are boringly instructional,Dhadak 2 can imagine how people who’ve seen oppression their whole lives might turn it into gallows humour."[36]Shubhra Gupta ofThe Indian Express rated the film 2.5 stars out of 5 and said that "This is a film which is clearly on the right side of many of the hot button issues we need to be pressing: casteism, classism, feminism, gender identities. While at it, you can see an awareness of the wrongs and injustices which have made, and continue to make headlines."[37]
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