"यह होंसला...कैसे झुके....यह आरजू...कैसे रुके..
मंजील मुश्किल थो क्या...धुन्दला साहील थो क्या...तनहा यह दील थो क्या....हो...."
मंजील मुश्किल थो क्या...धुन्दला साहील थो क्या...तनहा यह दील थो क्या....हो...."
Dor, the movie takes you through a whirlwind of emotions, making you smile at the innocence of life and also scorn at the conservatism that still prevails within the rural hearts of this so called "super power of the future". It narrates the story of Zeenat, an independent woman who has struggled on every step in her life, but maintains all bonds of relationships to the best possible by her. The other woman who takes stronghold in this tale is that of Meera, a girl brought up by all the strict values and traditions that a Rajput woman is to be upholding. Both of them were living a dream until one day, the dreams are shattered when Meera's husband dies in Dubai who is supposedly murdered by Zeenat's husband. Zeenat's husband can be spared the "last mile" if a letter signed by the room-mate's wife, stating that she forgives the act committed by him, is handed over to the officials of Dubai, where he was working as a truck-driver before being sentenced to death. Now the responsibility of saving her love from the clutches of death forms the main part of the story. In any other bollywood movie, you would expect the usual melodrama of everyone crying and then the other woman, unable to bear the brunt of the first, ends up signing the letter and actually gets to be happy about it. what else do u expect to see in a bollywood movie?
Agreed that most this happens in DOR too, but without all the melodrama and the endless torrents that flow through the eyes of the leading ladies. it is just the sheer brilliance and the way the movie progresses that at no point of time you feel that you are disconnected from it. From the initial scenes of tender bonding between the two women and their respective spouses, to the indelible sisterhood between the two women that forms the end-notes of this surreal dream, the director's tale of this wistful journey is as fragile as it's powerful. this is evident in the sequence where the woman is transformed to a widow from a bright bride in days and opens her dead husband's suitcase is remarkable and leaves behind a distorted sense of disharmony. There are moments of unbearable distress in the film. the female bonding scenes between Ayesha Takia and her dead husband's grandmother are conveyed with a refreshing genuineness. the movie brings out sublime situations that belong only to a world that the director has created out of the finest threads of humanity and empathy.
But it's the sisterhood that is shared between Takia & Panag which sustains the narrative. Both the actresses have given outstanding performances, with Ayesha raking in more sympathy votes for the sheer poignancy of her character's position. Scenes such as the one where she falls unconscious when she hears the news of her husband's death over the only cell phone in the village, or the one where she innocently dances to "You're my sonia" playing on the radio, stay etched in our minds even after the film.
Conclusion: Nagesh Kukunoor comes up with an amazing world-class movie in Dor, which is very beautiful and uplifting. It is the kind of film that caters to the multiplex and the international audiences. I'm really grateful to the filmmakers for bringing the real women of India so up close and personal with us and making the people realise that the woman whose face is covered by a dupatta has a personality, a fire and love within her, which is often suppressed by the society. Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor proudly represents our country in the circuit of world cinema.
Agreed that most this happens in DOR too, but without all the melodrama and the endless torrents that flow through the eyes of the leading ladies. it is just the sheer brilliance and the way the movie progresses that at no point of time you feel that you are disconnected from it. From the initial scenes of tender bonding between the two women and their respective spouses, to the indelible sisterhood between the two women that forms the end-notes of this surreal dream, the director's tale of this wistful journey is as fragile as it's powerful. this is evident in the sequence where the woman is transformed to a widow from a bright bride in days and opens her dead husband's suitcase is remarkable and leaves behind a distorted sense of disharmony. There are moments of unbearable distress in the film. the female bonding scenes between Ayesha Takia and her dead husband's grandmother are conveyed with a refreshing genuineness. the movie brings out sublime situations that belong only to a world that the director has created out of the finest threads of humanity and empathy.
But it's the sisterhood that is shared between Takia & Panag which sustains the narrative. Both the actresses have given outstanding performances, with Ayesha raking in more sympathy votes for the sheer poignancy of her character's position. Scenes such as the one where she falls unconscious when she hears the news of her husband's death over the only cell phone in the village, or the one where she innocently dances to "You're my sonia" playing on the radio, stay etched in our minds even after the film.
Conclusion: Nagesh Kukunoor comes up with an amazing world-class movie in Dor, which is very beautiful and uplifting. It is the kind of film that caters to the multiplex and the international audiences. I'm really grateful to the filmmakers for bringing the real women of India so up close and personal with us and making the people realise that the woman whose face is covered by a dupatta has a personality, a fire and love within her, which is often suppressed by the society. Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor proudly represents our country in the circuit of world cinema.
