The film has an ensemble cast of Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar with a voice-over narration by Aamir Khan.

Much of the principal photography was done on Pullmantur Cruises' ship MS Sovereign while sailing across the Mediterranean and Europe, and on land in France, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Kamal Mehra, a self-made billionaire businessman in Delhi owns AyKa, a company on the verge of bankruptcy, and has a troubled relationship with his wife Neelam, daughter Ayesha and son Kabir.

Ayesha has a successful travel business in Mumbai, but is unhappy with her marriage to a narcissistic and controlling Manav Sangha who, along with his mother Smita, hates her family.

Kamal and Neelam plan to arrange Kabir's marriage to the Soods' daughter Noorie, in exchange for her father Lalit investing in AyKa to prevent bankruptcy.

Infuriated, Kabir bursts out that they are hypocrites for talking of marriage, values, and morals, as the whole family circle has been aware of Kamal's adultery for years, as well as Neelam's refusal to leave him for the sake of their reputation.

He breaks news of Ayesha's now-impending divorce to Sunny, and after publicly rejecting his impending marriage to Noorie, allowing her to be with Rana, jumps off the ship to swim to the shore, believing his family will rescue him.

[14] She felt such topics not been well represented in Indian films,[14] and that the brother-sister relationship bond has always been shown "wrapped in rituals" and never portrayed as it really is.

[16][20] Akhtar called it a metaphor for the bigger journey that every family undertakes; the characters are stuck together on a ship in the middle of an ocean and could not leave if they wanted to.

[9][10] In late December 2012, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif joined the cast to play the Kapoors' characters' love interests respectively.

[22] In June 2013, Ranbir Kapoor dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with his other projects; he was replaced by Ranveer Singh.

[34] Although meant for a surprise, the details about Aamir Khan's voiceover performance as the family dog Pluto was leaked before the film's release.

[38] Shah called her character, Neelam Mehra, a "Delhi elite society queen bee" with multiple layers, saying, "It looks like nothing can put a chink in her armour, but inside, she is a vulnerable and lost person".

"[43] Singh called his character, Kabir Mehra, a privileged, "born with a silver spoon" kind of person who wants to pursue different things other than inherit his father's fortune.

[37] Principal photography began on 17 May 2014 on the Pullmantur Cruises ship MS Sovereign throughout the Mediterranean Sea and onshore in France, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Italy.

[50] The pre-production work was a challenge for the makers, who had to plan everything in detail; Akhtar and her team reconnoitred to find perfect places to shoot the film.

Akhtar's frequent collaborator Carlos Catalan provided the cinematography, and Anand Subaya and Manan Mehta edited the film.

[65][66] Alaka Sahani of The Indian Express called it "overwhelming" and wrote, "The top-view of the cruise line with expansive ocean as the backdrop, stunning foreign locales and beautiful people in their stylish best make for compelling visuals.

[69] Distributed by Big Home Entertainment, it was released on DVD in all regions on 30 August 2015 as a two-disc pack in NTSC widescreen format; bonus content included the making of the film and deleted scenes.

[73] In a 4-star review for Mumbai Mirror, critic Kunal Guha described the film as an "emotional roller-coaster", comparing Akhtar's direction to that of Woody Allen and Wes Anderson, and complimented the performances of the cast.

[75] Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India gave the film 4 stars, praising the performances of the lead actors and writing, "On this ship, a few bolts could be tighter.

But these are fleeting clouds on an otherwise beautiful sea, hosting a cruise ... while searching beyond Bollywood's emotional Botox for a family's warts - and its heart.

[77] She also appreciated the performances, particularly those of Chopra and Singh, writing, "These two blazing talents are magical when they come together sharing what perhaps could be one of the best sibling chemistry in Hindi films".

[78] Writing for Hindustan Times, film critic Anupama Chopra rated the film 3.5 stars, commending the performances - particularly those of Kapoor, Shah and Chopra - and the high production value, writing, "There are soaring top shots of the ship, of gorgeous towns in Turkey and Greece, and of staggering fashions".

[80] Sonia Chopra from Sify also gave 3.5 stars, calling Dil Dhadakne Do a film with a "robust heartbeat", admiring Akhtar's ability to create "real and interesting" characters and writing, "Zoya Akhtar brings in several delightful elements of her filmmaking style - there's the gorgeous cast playing interesting characters, the overt and covert equations between them, the hints at societal hypocrisy and sexism, the romance, the gorgeous locales, and the measured pace".

[81] Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave a 3 out of 5 star rating explaining that "Despite its flaws, I find myself looking back at Dil Dhadakne Do and smiling.

Because of Kapoor, a man who is unerringly good when given enough elbow room, and here he’s silver-maned and smooth and selfish and playing his part with superb gusto...And because of Ranveer, who owns his moments of frustration, of resignation, of outrage and of wry comebacks.

"[82] Film critic Rajeev Masand of News18 gave 3 stars, appreciating the performances of the lead actors - especially that of Kapoor and Shah - calling them "absolutely riveting".

[84] Scoring the film 3 stars, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote that Dil Dhadakne Do "unravels like an entire season of soap opera condensed into a nearly three-hour movie", but found it "too facile to rise above the charming fluff".

[87] Sarita A. Tanwar of Daily News and Analysis gave the film 2.5 stars, and said it would have "been a lot of fun [if] had it been shorter, crisper and less indulgent".