When Karan Johar announced that he was remaking the acclaimed Marathi blockbuster Sairat in Bollywood, we took it with a pinch of salt. Especially when we learnt that he is going to launch two star kids in the lead roles (not to mention using the recreated version of the Zingaat song). There were reports that Karan Johar want the movie to be tailored to have a more happier take that the bleak, dark turn the original movie took in the second half. Then he announced that Shahid Kapoor's younger brother, Ishaan Khatter, and late actress Sridevi's elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor will be playing the leads in Dhadak that is directed by Shashank Khaitan. And we could hear the chants of 'Nepotism Zindabad!' everywhere!

Now the original movie, directed by the great Nagraj Manjule, has cast two absolute newcomers, not at all affiliated with the movie industry, in the lead roles of Archi and Parshya. That actually helped in the audience to not have any preconceived notions about the actors and therefore, were beguiled by the unpredictability of the plot. But Bollywood is a different beast, especially when it comes to Dharma Productions. We really don't expect them to follow the same rule, do we?

Now that Dhadak is ready for release in a couple of months, we are in acceptance of the fact that we will be seeing Ishaan and Janhvi in the lead role. However this week has given us some confidence about the movie at least when it comes the male lead, and you have to thank Beyond the Clouds for that.

Ishaan makes his debut with this movie, that is directed by Iranian film-maker Majid Majidi. The movie has been getting some really good reviews, and the praises have been mostly centered at young Khatter's performance.

While his casting in Dhadak is questionable, at least we now know that Ishaan Khatter will not let down the histrionics part. In Beyond the Clouds, he plays a street-smart drug peddler in his teens, and he was quite convincing in both his looks and his performance. He is easily one of the best things about the movie, and there is nary a thing that we can say wrong about his act if we review it in an unbiased context. From making playful faces at a child, to stabbing a traitor's hand to shadow-dancing to Prabhu Deva's Muqabla, Ishaan gets to portray various nuances in his first role and he does it right. Moreover, he manages to avoid the starry airs of being someone in the industry, something that will work in the case of Dhadak too where he plays a teen from a lower-caste household.

So yeah, we have hopes that there are chances Ishaan Khatter won't screw up his end of Dhadak deal. Over to you, Janhvi Kapoor! No pressure girl! Dhadak is scheduled to release on July 20.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 19, 2018 02:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).