Critics’ Verdict: SRK and Kajol Wasted in a Soulless ‘Dilwale’

Check out how critics are reacting to Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s new release ‘Dilwale’

Film: Dilwale
Director: Rohit Shetty
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon

Dilwale, on the whole, is a plotless drag : the slaphappy antics you see on screen are a random jumble of light, camera, action, done in the broadest sense. In this rigmarole, SRK is the only thing worth watching when he switches on the wattage ( Kajol can shine, too, when she chooses to), but his twin parts—a ‘car modifier’ named Raj, and a gangster called Kali (yes, that’s right), are both familiar and bland. When old hands SRK and Kajol look into each other’s eyes, they can still make you feel it, except it doesn’t happen enough. Not by a long shot.

Shubhra Gupta (Indianexpress.com)

Careening from romance to action to comedy like one of the vrooming cars that pop up in every Shetty production, Dilwale is a movie in need of a road map. Shetty is best known for comedies and action flicks, but he can neither sustain a drama nor build a convincing love story. The Khan-Kajol pairing proves that the stars still have what it takes to set the screen alight, and they are more combustible together than Dhawan and Sanon, but their romance is tired and trite. The movie works best when it stays within the Golmaal zone, and Farhad-Sajid’s WhatsApp-level humour keeps the eyelids from meeting ever so often.

Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)

Whether it is just the force of nostalgia or a case of pure class asserting itself, Dilwale sails along just fine as long as SRK and Kajol are on the screen. The lead pair is all heart. The film they are trapped in is, unfortunately, utterly soulless. To put it simply, Dilwale is a bizarre love story. SRK has done his share of bizarre love stories in his time, but this one just doesn’t get off the ground despite the superstar’s best efforts. There is more hate and distrust in Dilwale than love. No amount of good-natured clowning and old school romance can save it from sinking into a deep pit a patchiness. Watch it for Kajol and, to a lesser extent, for SRK. The rest of the actors on this vehicle, barring Varun Sharma on an occasion or two, are mere passengers.

Saibal Chatterjee (Movies.ndtv.com)

Budget and access. These have long been Shetty’s favoured Lego blocks, and they have never been more visible than in Dilwale, where the greatest on screen pair in modern Hindi cinema are reduced to insignificance. Sure, there is a sparkle here and a gleam there of what could have been -- and Kajol looks beguilingly beautiful, better here than ever -- but Dilwale is an absolute dud.

Raja Sen (Rediff.com)