Movie Review: Dor

I saw this movie last week and all I can say is with my eyes shining and my mouth agape that Nagesh's sensitivity increases by leaps and bounds with every film he makes! First there was Hyderabad Blues, then Bollywood Calling, then Rockford, then Teen Deewarein, Hyderabad Blues 2, Iqbal and now Dor. His pace of filmmaking has also quickened - probably because it is easier for him to get sponsors now because he ALWAYS delivers - I remember how Hyderabad Blues left us ALL thirsting for more - here's a guy who actually GETS us - whose characters are real people and not some larger than life people we cant really relate to!I imagine few directors of his age and background have had the guts, imagination or skill to make films on the sheer variety of topics he has touched upon - from humour to pathos to mystery - from a genuine culture clash (not the extreme Bollywood Pardes variety), a boarding school, a jail, a village, to now another clash - of various kinds.

Dor is about a clash of cultures, of womanhood, of understanding, of egoes, of will, or pride, of the antiquity against modernity (or common sense). Based on a true story, it is about an Urdu woman from the North who goes to Rajasthan in search of the widow of the man her convicted husband is supposed to have killed, in order to obtain his pardon. Along the way Kukunoor shows us the many faces of the Indian nature - lascivious males, prejudiced women, crooks, victims, friendliness, innocence, greed, pride, hatred. Kukunoor, a la Ghai, has his little cameo in the film as well.

Funny in parts due to the lightheartedness and amazing talent of Shreyas Talpade, heartwrenching because of the simple innocence of Ayesha Takia and the sombre need of Panag, anger-inducing because of the way women without a man are reduced to commodities and chattels and not supposed to have any emotion or say in their lives, and also because of the way women with husbands treat them, awe-inducing because of the lush landscapes, both fecund and arid, awww-inducing in the quaintness of village social life depicted, (and Takia's fondness for Bollywood music) though we may not necessarily want to experience it forever.

Nicely made, and with the perfect background soundtrack - check out the amazing, intense soulful (oh I just can find the right word) Kesariya Balama in the background. Oh the ache and need (dard)in Shubha Mudgal's voice!!!

What was weird, though ironically fitting, was Gul Panag's crisp Urdu accent. I believe she is Punjabi by birth, so I imagined the accent or words might be quite close, but I guess not. Anyway, her eyes are really expressive and she exudes the quite intelligent confidence that she did even during Miss India years ago. She looks like someone a thinking man would be attracted to. But she does end up sounding very commonsensical and school-teacherish in some of her delivery - so that one is unable to avoid the lesson of the movie - treat girls nicely and make them be friends with each other. Kukunoor does show in a way that many others dont - women are sometimes their own worst enemies. Ayesha, on the other hand, looks VERY ordinary without makeup, and very airheady, so in a way she was a good choice to play a young bubbly Rajasthani bahu.

Dont go for the glamour - there isnt any, though Panag's salwar kameezes are quite nice in some parts. Takia's ghaghras are boring, and her mother-in-law looks like she might be just as comfortable on a farm in the Caribbean. Though the movie tells a story and definitely has a message, it's neither pedantic nor didactic in an overbearing sense. Go for Talpade's amazing comic talent - SO much more ovious since he has actually opened his mouth in this movie! What kind eyes he has!

Conclusion: I would definitely say if you would only watch a couple of movies this year - make sure they are Lage Raho Munnabhai, Dor and Gangster.