Ever since Dharma Productions announced Dhadak 2, curiosity around its premise has been building. This sequel to the 2018 Ishaan–Janhvi starrer shifts the lens from an upper-caste–lower-caste romance of Rajasthan to a more contemporary, academic backdrop.
The biggest buzz surrounds Siddhant Chaturvedi’s character, Neelesh Ahirwar, a small-town student struggling with identity, class gaps, and aspirations in a metro college.
Viewers and cine-fans are wondering: is Neelesh Ahirwar's story based on any actual Indian student? With the name "Ahirwar," the film suggests caste identification typically seen among Madhya Pradesh's Dalits.
Some netizens suspect the character is inspired by bits of high-profile college tales of the past decade, ranging from Rohith Vemula's fatal case at Hyderabad University to lesser-publicized accounts of small-town students fighting structural estrangement in elite universities.
Siddhant Chaturvedi hasn't officially confirmed an on-the-nose real-life reference, but in interviews, has suggested that the role needed research into "small-town students who transition into elite spaces and bear invisible weights of where they are from." Director Shazia Iqbal also maintained the suspense, stating only that the story is "rooted in lived realities".
Industry sources indicate the character is not a direct one-to-one representation, but more of a composite of numerous actual campus dilemmas, lost aspiration, love ensnared in conflict around social status, and the stress of attempting to fit into a world constructed against you.
In this regard, Neelesh Ahirwar could be less an individual real biography and more of an emblem of a thousand Indian students bearing the unspoken burden of caste and class.
Dhadak 2 would have been able to cover more rough terrain than its original if true, addressing the generation today where debates about student politics, caste identity, and aspirations in India's cities are as cutting-edge as ever.
The film has thus courted controversy even before the opening: is it a romantic drama, a social statement, or both?
For now, Dharma Productions is keeping story details under wraps. But if Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Neelesh truly echoes real students’ lives, Dhadak 2 may provoke much more than cinematic nostalgia, it could become Bollywood’s most direct ode to young India’s struggles since Masaan.
