- Date of Release: 4 November 2022
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Zee5
Tadka
Introduction
The weekend is finally here and there are quite a few new releases to be consumed and reviewed and so lets get started. First up I finished watching the new Hindi film Tadka streaming on Zee5. An official adaptation(or remake, call it what you wish) of the original Malayalam film Salt and Pepper, Tadka had been in the dumps for many years now. So even though I hadn’t watched the original Malayalam film, my red flags were immediately up! The film wasn’t even promoted by the star cast and barely so by the makers. Even the OTT platform Zee5 barely released its trailer just a day before its release. So I did not expect much from the film which instantly did look outdated. But then does Tadka add some spice to the drama, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Tadka follows the story of two strangers getting acquainted with one another after one of them dials a wrong number. And needless to say that food plays a vital cog here. The story here is your old school type which may(or may not) have worked a few years back but in the current day world with the onset of OTT, this one just falls flat. The screenplay standing at less than 2 hours means that the drama doesn’t go overboard at any point. But is that enough?
The drama does open with the introduction of the protagonist who is shown to be unmarried and his love for food. These contribute to decent moments in the screenplay although I did feel that the transitions in the drama were patchy and disjointed. A parallel story also introduces the viewers to the other lead and instantly you feel that the pairing is an issue. Now I am nobody to make judgements and one shouldn’t as well but the pairing of Nana Patekar and Shriya Saran just did not sit right for me. Either one of them seemed to be miscast for the age bracket that they lie in.
The drama does have an old school charm to it and it peaks about halfway in the first hour with some decently heartfelt moments. But things go awry at the halfway mark where the breezy drama is replaced with a bland one with unnecessary confusion that is introduced. All it all goes downhill from there as you sit there patiently waiting for the drama to end. The final act too seemed abrupt in what turned out to be a half hearted affair.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues needed to be more heartfelt but apart from a couple of scenes they just fall flat. The music is really bad and it doesn’t help the drama at all. The BGM is poor and doesn’t heighten the drama at any place. The cinematography is decent as is the production design. Director Prakash Raj misses the mark here with his outdated style of filmmaking. There was a lot to be desired here.
Performances
The perfornances are decent but talented actors like Rajesh Sharma, Lillete Dubey and even Murli Sharma are just wasted. Taapsee Pannu as Nicole looks pretty and does a decent job but here she hasn’t dubbed for the film and that was the difference in her performance. Ali Fazal as Sid is decent but nothing much to shout about. Shriya Saran as Madhura is good but in moments of brain fade she is required to lose her temper instead of the approach being that of a brooding woman. Nana Patekar as Tukaram is good but I did feel he was miscast. Despite the requirement of the character being mid aged, he did not fit the age demographics as per me.
Conclusion
Tadka is bland and outdated, watch it if you must! Available on Zee5.
