Bollywood

Cinema’s most celebrated career, kickstarted in the early 1990s with a spate of romantic thrillers that featured an anti-hero. Shah Rukh Khan made a habit of playing obsessive lovers who would often find their grey shades dominating over their good deeds. SRK’s debut film was called Deewana (1992), and while Harshvardhan Rane’s latest release, titled Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT, may seem like a throwback to that film, its subject finds itself more in line with another SRK thriller, with similar themes, Anjaam (1994). In Anjaam, SRK played a rich and influential man obsessed with winning over the affections of Shivani (Madhuri Dixit). Director Milap Milan Zaveri’s 2025 release Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT isn’t a direct inspiration of Anjaam, but both films feature an influential man becoming obsessed with marrying a beautiful girl. It’s a concept that’s proven its value in celluloid over the years, we’ve even seen Dhanush’s Raanjhanaa, Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal bring success to these similarly skewered characters. But with Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT, things snowball into something of an absurd adventure rather than the usual morally ambiguous saga that such films take the viewer on.

The story of Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT begins with Vikramaditya Bhosle (Harshvardhan Rane) who’s a young politician on the verge of winning the upcoming elections in Maharashtra. The ‘entire political world’ is just waiting for the current CM to take a hike and surrender the throne to the intense, Christian Grey-type persona of Vikram. But just as the political power play is about to come to fruition, thanks to the many years of effort and patience of Vikramaditya’s father (Sachin Khedekar), Adaa (Sonam Bajwa) enters the scene with pomp and glamour. She’s the female superstar that every man wants to ogle at. That group also includes Vikramaditya, who rushes in to rescue her from the paparazzi. Needless to say, in another romantic movie, this would be enough for the girl to fall for the dashing guy. But here, Adaa just walks away from the chivalry. Vikram though, finds himself smitten with Adaa and he decides to pursue her, even when she’s not interested. After a few attempts to be friendly, he just lays out his love in front of her, in a series of obsessive encounters and she finds his overbearing affection, creepy. But Vikram isn’t one to pay heed the concept of consent and he declares that Adaa will be his lawfully wedded wife within the next month, and proceeds to book banquet halls at every major 5 star hotel in Mumbai, giving his uninterested bride-to-be some motivation. She doesn’t like it though, and throws him and his gift hampers out of the house.

If you’ve seen SRK’s Anjaam, Darr, Deewana, Baazigar, you might think you know where this story is going. But you don’t. Unlike those stories, the Deewaniyat in this film takes an absurd turn. After failing to dissuade Vikram, Adaa gives a fiery monologue on women’s empowerment and consent. She musters up resolve to stand up and fight. She decides to shove the chauvinism with courage. So she shows up at Vikram’s political rally and she offers her body to any man who will help her get rid of Vikram. Feminism dies a swift but jarring death.

There’s novelty to the idea of a woman, taking the fight to a chauvinistic man. The concept is exciting. Imagine a woman doesn’t get intimidated by a man flexing his political might. Instead, she throws him a curve ball by going on a rampage of her own unhinged machinations. But the way Adaa does things in Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT, doesn’t fit right within the context of women rights or empowerment. Why does the central theme of this film become about random, unknown men, drawing inspiration to be knights in shining armour to eventually sleep with the heroine? It’s problematic to say the least. But that’s not the most ‘difficult-to-swallow’ pill. Adaa’s family, her father (Anant Mahadevan) and her mother and younger sister, have unwarranted knee-jerk reactions to difficult situations in their own lives and they put all the blame on Vikram, when he’s just trying to help them and be a regular obsessive, stalker lover. He’s not the one creating trouble for Adaa’s family, but she and her family think otherwise.

What you can’t fault in Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT is Harshvardhan Rane’s character and his performance. He starts off as a likeable guy, showcases more than 50 shades of grey during his stalking phase, only to eventually have a superb, guilt-driven monologue. Harshvardhan’s performance and his character deliver an intense pay-off for the viewer. But every other character in this movie, feels like a half-baked attempt to service the deewaniyat of the lead deewana. There’s more physical chemistry between Vikram and his bodyguard bro Sawant (Shaad Randhawa) than between the hero-heroine combo of Vikram-Adaa and that’s a discussion waiting to explode on reddit.

Ek Deewane Ki DEEWAANIYAT, had the potential to be a real, edgy, romantic thriller. It’s billed like a musical too, but neither of the film’s 7 songs manage to create a fervour on screen. We’ve seen in recent months that music can be the proverbial X factor in the success of a romantic movie, the way it happened with Saiyaara. But on this occasion, the music just doesn’t click for the film. If you’re a Harshvardhan Rane fan, you’ll get some more, hunky goodness that had made Sanam Teri Kasam a cult classic. But everything else about this deewaniyat wali love story pales in comparison. It could’ve been memorable and cult-classic worthy. Pixel peepers will even appreciate a film poster that has credits like, ‘Director: Riteish Abraham’ and Producer: John Deshmukh’. But sadly, that creative spark is missing from the film’s heart and soul, its storytelling.

Also Read: Harshvardhan Rane to Personally Sell The First Ticket of Ek Deewane Ki DEEWANIYAT at THIS Theatre