Endearing cinema from Nagesh Kukunoor, again. Review on Dor

Movie Dor

The Plot

As you might have read from newspaper or net reviews, Dor is the tale of two Indian women, Meera(AYESHA TAKIA) and Zeenat(GUL PANAG). Beautiful Meera is the wife of Shankar and they reside in the ancient, traditional haveli of Shankar's orthodox parents at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Gutsy & pretty Zeenat loves Aamir and both of conduct their secret nikaah(marriage) amidst the breathtaking hills of Himachal Pradesh. Both Meera & Zeenat have a destiny in common; their loved ones are leaving to earn their living in Saudi Arabia. The future looks promising yet scary. Both of them wish their dear ones good luck and hope they come back soon. Aamir's parents, in the meantime, also reconcile with their daughter-in-law with whom they had mixed feelings before.

Months pass by and Meera continues to receive money by post from Shankar and which she dutifully hands over to her in-laws. She also gets to speak for a while with him regularly, courtesy the neighbour's cell phone. But one fine day, Meera receives the news of her husband's death. According to Saudi authorities, Shankar's roommate Aamir had pushed him from the balcony of their apartment during a bitter fight. Meera is shocked beyond her wits and goes numb with sadness. Zeenat too receives news about Aamir's arrest and also the grim fact that Saudi court has sentenced him to death. An Indian representative from the external affairs assure her that Shankar's death is an accident but unfortunately they don't have enough time to convince the Arab authorities. She is alone & helpless. But there's still one chance; a rare opportunity. Aamir can go scott free if Shankar's wife forgives him. Leaving nothing to chance, Zeenat, with some money, sets out in search of Meera. On the way, she encounters a local conman Behroopia(SHREYAS TELPADE) who entertains people in the front and steal their belongings from their back :)

Behroopia offers to help her in her quest. Can she trust him? And even if she does manage to meet the widowed Meera, will she earn her forgiveness and get back her love?

My Review

Director Nagesh Kukunoor is known for his varied themes (all dealing with human triumph) and also the simplistic, endearing manner in which he moves the story forward. And the same goes to Dor too. But for once, we can forgive Nagesh for spending more money to offer us visually mesmerising shots of valleys, rivers & hills in Himachal Pradesh and the lonely yet magestic deserts of Jodhpur. Beautiful camera work.

The music is slow yet has depth to it. It moves in sync with the changing emotions in the movie.

Performances are very impressive although not memorable.

This is first movie of actress Gul Panag that I've seen and she has handled the complexity her character demands bravely. I think she needs to do more movies and also improve on emotional scenes that require tremendous display of expression.

Ayesha Takia is marvellous, considering that she has not yet had anything similar to such a hugely challenging role in her not-so-long career. Some of her scenes could have been done better but she's like wine. She will mature with age :)

Shreyas Telpade is the surprise packet in the movie and the person who draws the maximum whistles from the audience. Will not tell you why. You will enjoy his every moment in the movie. Wonderful.

Nagesh has also borrowed cast Pratiksha Lonkar and Girish Karnad(as Shankar's parents) from his earlier movie, Iqbal. Needless to say, they are absolutely convincing.

And like Alfred Hitchcock and Manoj Shyamalan, our Nagesh too makes a friendly appearance in the movie as shrewd, manipulative businessman Mr.Chopra.

What are the cons? Alas, I find some.

IS DOR A REMAKE OF 2004 MALAYALAM MOVIE PERUMAZHAKKALAM?

First things first, Nagesh Kukunoor says in some of his interviews that his inspiration for Dor was from a true event he read where one woman went in search of another woman to save her husband's life. As much as I like to believe that, I still wonder if he happened to see a Malayalam movie Perumazhakkalam released in 2004 and directed by Kamal. The story is EXACTLY the same but considering the Malayalam cinema budget, we do not have picturesque locales of Rajasthan or Himachal Pradesh. The entire shooting was in Kerala with two highly talented actresses Meera Jasmine in the role of Zeenat and Kavya Madhavan as Meera. And if I have to compare the two movies, and with due respect to both directors, Kamal's Perumazhakkalam is the better movie but Nagesh Kukunoor has a more unique and refreshing style to his direction. And regarding performances, undoubtedly, Kavya & Meera Jasmine score better.

Which brings me back to my first question. Did Nagesh see Perumazhakkalam and if so, was he doing a remake? I find it quite difficult to believe that two directors got their inspiration simultaneously from some true event.

Any which way you look at it, Dor is, without hesitation, very good cinema. It's a story of human spirit rising over tragedy. Not very moving or inspiring but one that you will like anyway.

Director- Nagesh Kukunoor

Year- 2006

Starring - Ayesha Takia, Gul Panag, Shreyas Telpade, Nagesh Kukunoor

Verdict - I watched simply because its a Nagesh Kukunoor movie. I guess that's reason enough for you too.