The DOR Effect
Nagesh Kukunoor, and his new installment, DOR, seem to be making raves in the media these days. His IQBAL was an instant hit, for quite conspicuous reasons, and the same was being expected of DOR. But, overall, the movie just doesn't stand at par with Kukunoor's typical sophistication of delivery. The concept of DOR is a bit too simple, infact too simple to develop a full two-hour movie.
I was introduced to the movie by a friend, who had just been back from the cinema hall, along with some very sweet memories. And I downloaded the movie immediately. DOR starts off in a very romantic way, depicting parallelisms between two stories, happening in different parts of the country and relating to people of different religion to make it multicultural. And some minutes into the setting, the two stories get linked by a terrible incident, involving death of the husband of one of the protagonists, Mira (played by Ayesha Takiya). This is the moment when the story, and also the second protagonist, Zeenat (played by Gul Panag), who is the wife of the presumed killer, get a goal to run for. The next one and a half hour are devoted to how the goal is acheived, involving a myriad of messages being passed on the way. These include themes like the Hindu-Muslim relation, human values of self confidence and believe (which was precisely the theme of IQBAL) and also the grim situation of widows, that still exists in the rural parts of India.
Though the concept of DOR has been more like a series of good thoughts, and aspects on which the Indian society still needs awakening (the definition of the Kukunoor style), there has been a momentum lacking in the movie. At points in time, one might feel the pinch of the story being elongated a bit too much, all but for no reason. But that was inevitable, since the concept of the movie dwelled on was too simple. Rather, there could have been a short movie on the same concept, but with a greater impact on the audience. So maybe, the script should have been stuffed with more concreteness to look at. Kukunoor tried to make the movie hip-hop type, with some foot-tapping Bollywood songs, and a sequence of dancing in the middle of the desert, which I believe failed to leave any impression. They were more like aggravating the lost-feeling I had in the middle of the movie.
But, there were two aspects in which the movie is appreciable. First, the actors (especially Shreyas), who performed their jobs with a great degree of sophistication. Kukunoor, though, was not able to gel together in the scenes with these full-time actors. He seemed to be passing time in front of the camera, and it was for sure not one of his memorable appearances. Ayesha Takia, whom I always under-estimated, maybe because I had never fully seen any of her roles, came out as a pleasant surprise. She looked amazingly young in the movie, which I guess she is (Teen Queen!!!), with good level of maturity. And Shreyas was just awesome with those short pasquinades. He looked just so perfect in them, rather giving the impression that he was some professional comedian, working as an actor to earn some money.
Secondly, the music of DOR has left a mark on me. And without doubt, thats because it was very much Classical. Kukunoor seems to be too impressed with Shafqat, the lead singer of Fuzon, to have him to sing in DOR. If you note, Hyderabad Blues - 2 had two songs from the album Sagar by Fuzon, which were actually how Fuzon got popular in India. Shafqat appears in Bollywood in this album, after Mitwa in KANK.
Overall, the movie was quite satisfactory, but without the kind of depth that a Kukunoor movie should have had. But, there always is this guy, who is atleast trying to make movies on the problems of India, trying to focus on issues which seem to have been dumped into obliviousness. Thats the most appreciable thing about the legacy called Kukunoor.
I was introduced to the movie by a friend, who had just been back from the cinema hall, along with some very sweet memories. And I downloaded the movie immediately. DOR starts off in a very romantic way, depicting parallelisms between two stories, happening in different parts of the country and relating to people of different religion to make it multicultural. And some minutes into the setting, the two stories get linked by a terrible incident, involving death of the husband of one of the protagonists, Mira (played by Ayesha Takiya). This is the moment when the story, and also the second protagonist, Zeenat (played by Gul Panag), who is the wife of the presumed killer, get a goal to run for. The next one and a half hour are devoted to how the goal is acheived, involving a myriad of messages being passed on the way. These include themes like the Hindu-Muslim relation, human values of self confidence and believe (which was precisely the theme of IQBAL) and also the grim situation of widows, that still exists in the rural parts of India.
Though the concept of DOR has been more like a series of good thoughts, and aspects on which the Indian society still needs awakening (the definition of the Kukunoor style), there has been a momentum lacking in the movie. At points in time, one might feel the pinch of the story being elongated a bit too much, all but for no reason. But that was inevitable, since the concept of the movie dwelled on was too simple. Rather, there could have been a short movie on the same concept, but with a greater impact on the audience. So maybe, the script should have been stuffed with more concreteness to look at. Kukunoor tried to make the movie hip-hop type, with some foot-tapping Bollywood songs, and a sequence of dancing in the middle of the desert, which I believe failed to leave any impression. They were more like aggravating the lost-feeling I had in the middle of the movie.
But, there were two aspects in which the movie is appreciable. First, the actors (especially Shreyas), who performed their jobs with a great degree of sophistication. Kukunoor, though, was not able to gel together in the scenes with these full-time actors. He seemed to be passing time in front of the camera, and it was for sure not one of his memorable appearances. Ayesha Takia, whom I always under-estimated, maybe because I had never fully seen any of her roles, came out as a pleasant surprise. She looked amazingly young in the movie, which I guess she is (Teen Queen!!!), with good level of maturity. And Shreyas was just awesome with those short pasquinades. He looked just so perfect in them, rather giving the impression that he was some professional comedian, working as an actor to earn some money.
Secondly, the music of DOR has left a mark on me. And without doubt, thats because it was very much Classical. Kukunoor seems to be too impressed with Shafqat, the lead singer of Fuzon, to have him to sing in DOR. If you note, Hyderabad Blues - 2 had two songs from the album Sagar by Fuzon, which were actually how Fuzon got popular in India. Shafqat appears in Bollywood in this album, after Mitwa in KANK.
Overall, the movie was quite satisfactory, but without the kind of depth that a Kukunoor movie should have had. But, there always is this guy, who is atleast trying to make movies on the problems of India, trying to focus on issues which seem to have been dumped into obliviousness. Thats the most appreciable thing about the legacy called Kukunoor.
posted by Rajesh at 6:08 PM
3 Comments:
well, what appealed to me the most was the simplicity with which the movie was made and portrayed!
I liked the story line owing to its uniqueness and the actors sure have done a brilliant job.There couldnt have been anyone doing it, better than them!
And, Rajesh...didnt know you were into so much of reviewing business!! :P
Thanks for watching DOR...how far would you go for the one you love!
I have always held that Nagesh Kukunoor is a hugely overrated director along with Bhandarkar and now Onir...Kukunoor comes up with feel good flicks but really, his direction leaves a lot to be desired.
Iqbal to me was too Bollywoodish and from the reviews, even DOR seems to be no different. Btw, DOR isn't an original story...It's a rip from a Mallu film called Perumazhakkalam. Kukunoor bought the rights from Kamal (the Mallu writer) and made the film.
Kukunoor, I think is a fine director, just that he has this nack of giving good and bad movies one after the other. Iqbal was great, for me, for it potrayed a very simple concept, and soemthing so much Indianish, rather than Bollywoodish. But then, came Dor, which didnt live up. In past also, he had this movie called Bollywood calling, which I dont think was ever talked about later. The thing is that he has tried to spread his repertoire, in the sense trying all sorts of movies, comedy and serious stuff, which I think is not a good decision.
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