Dhadak 2
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Shazia Iqbal
by Mari Selvaraj
| Dhadak 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Shazia Iqbal |
| Screenplay by | Rahul Badwelkar Shazia Iqbal |
| Story by | Mari Selvaraj |
| Based on | Pariyerum Perumal 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 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Shazia Iqbal and produced by Dharma Productions, Zee Studios and Cloud 9 Pictures.[3][4][5] A spiritual sequel to Dhadak (2018) and a remake of the Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal (2018),[6] it stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri.[7][8][9]
Dhadak 2 was released theatrically on 1 August 2025 to positive reviews, but underperformed at the box office, grossing approximately ₹30 crore worldwide against a production budget of ₹60 crore.[10]
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.
Cast
- Siddhant Chaturvedi as Neelesh Ahirwar
- Triptii Dimri as Vidhi Bharadwaj
- Zakir Hussain as Principal Haider Ansari
- Saurabh Sachdeva as Shankar
- Deeksha Joshi as Nimisha, Vidhi's sister
- Vipin Sharma as Mr. Ahirwar, Neelesh's father
- Saad Bilgrami as Ronnie Bharadwaj, Vidhi's cousin
- Harish Khanna as Arvind Bharadwaj, Vidhi's father
- Priyank Tiwari as Shekhar
- Aditya Thakare as Vasu
- Abhay Joshi as Prakash Bharadwaj, Vidhi's uncle
- Anubha Fatehpura as Mrs. Ahirwar Neelesh's mother
- Manjari Pupala as Richa
- Javed Khan as Himself
Production
Dhadak 2 began pre-production in April 2023, with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri leading the cast under the production of Karan 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 in Bhopal and Sehore in Madhya Pradesh. Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai and the Oriental Group of Institutes in Bhopal served as the backdrop for the college scenes in the film.[14]
Soundtrack
| Dhadak 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | 5 August 2025 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 23:21 | ||||
| Language | Hindi | ||||
| Label | Zee Music Company | ||||
| |||||
The music of the film is composed by Rochak Kohli, Tanishk Bagchi, Javed-Mohsin and Shreyas Puranik while the lyrics is written by Rashmi 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 | ||||
Release
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]
Home media
The film began streaming on Netflix from 26 September 2025.[22]
