Dor: A Pleasant Watch
Two women, one in the snowy hills of Himachal, the other in the arid Rajasthani desert come together connected by a common thread of loss and forgiveness in Nagesh Kukunoor’s captivating journey, “Dor”. Though Kukunoor borrows his plot (legitimately) from the Malayalam film “Perumazhakkalam”, he creates a far more cinematically enthralling experience through elegant writing and imaginative characterization. Though “Dor” has its share of flaws, Kukunoor once again reinforces himself as one of India’s better storytellers.
A simple story about a woman seeking forgiveness to save her husband’s life, “Dor” projects its characters as complex individuals. Kukunoor adorns his protagonists with multidimensional qualities, a trait that “Perumazhakkalam” sorely missed. Potentially melodramatic situations are enthused with subtle performances by a talented cast. Aptly cast, Ayesha Takia and Gul Panag share wonderful chemistry, effortlessly developing the growth of each other’s characters as they interact. In another diversion from his source material, Kukunoor introduces ‘behroopiya’, played by the exceptional Shreyas Talpade (”Iqbal”), a character integral in bringing the two women together. Infusing the narrative’s second act with humor, Talpade steals the show with his comic timing, particularly as he impersonates numerous Hindi film actors. The supporting cast too impress, with the exception of Kukunoor himself who makes a relatively amateurish appearance as a lecherous businessman.
The snowy hills of Himachal juxtaposed with Rajasthan’s colorful landscape are beautifully photographed by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee. On the flip side, one wishes Kukunoor was more innovative with his shots while directing one-on-one dialog, instead of routinely cutting back-and-forth between talking heads. Yet, the narrative is well paced, effectively blending Salim-Sulaiman’s authentic music and score.
With an engaging screenplay embellished with cinematic liberties, “Dor” ranks among some of the year’s better films. Nagesh Kukunoor once again creates a film that is flawed, but at the same time, emotionally stimulating and universally accessible.
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Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
one man’s food is another man’s poison ?????
Another person reviewing Dor as a ‘masterpiece’ ???
~X(
Would like to hear your thoughts on the review i wrote sometime back on pfc …
http://passionforcinema.com/dor-cut-it-short-mr-nagesh/
WTF is so pleasant about the stupid film with corny dialogues and social message hammered down your throat ???
Kya kahein kya na kahien yeh kaisi mushkil hai
Kartik:
I have read your previous post before I posted my review. Let me begin by saying, film is subjective. You obviously did not like the film and I respect that, as it may not have catered to your tastes. I do not wish to negate your opinion or attempt to change it. At the same time I stand by my response to the film.
The film appealed to me. It kept me interested right through its 2 hours, even though I knew the story having already watched “Perumazhakkalam”. I laughed at the jokes, and was captivated by the emotions. It’s a matter of perception. I am not going to say Nagesh Kukunoor did all the right things simply because I reacted to the film favorably. Whatever he did with the story just happened to appeal to my sensibilities, which in turn may be quite different from yours.
It is also possible that I am not nearly as perceptive and cine-literate as you are. Perhaps a “stupid film with corny dialogues and social message hammered down [my] throat” is what entertains me. Guilty as charged.
I do not understand however why you misquoted me as reviewing “Dor” as a “masterpiece”. I admitted that the film had its share of flaws and took its cinematic liberties. Nowhere in my write-up did I ever call it a masterpiece.
Thanks for your comments. Appreciate it.
vijay …. chill yaar .. ‘as perceptive and cine-literate as you are’ ???? Cummon yaar … im no spielberg either …. Just chill chill …
misquoted u … yes sir i did … khalid mohmd and every MSM critic called it a ‘masterpiece’ …. my mistake .. apologies solicited …
I am just appalled and left numbed that every one is liking the film … and im wondering what i missed out in it ???
yeh kya ho raha hai ??
And yes … just as i do have a right to stand by my opinion so do you ….
You like the film … i respect and acknowledge that … As u said there might be a difference in our sensibilities …
Anyways .. thanks for bringing up this film … coz i wanna see how many more people have seen it and have liked it …
Kartik dont worry dude..u r not alone.. even though i remember talking to to loooong time back about Dor and how much i wanted to see it…now i repent.. so.. count me in as a fellow ~X(~X(
looking fwd to watching this one this weekend.. will post my two cents on it soon!
on another note (sorry to divert from topic) why is the top commentators section starting over from scratch?
I complete agree with vijay that dor is flawed at times but overall one of the better films this year and definitely a pleasant watch.Corny dialogues and filmy climax ?Hell yes!Excusable in favour of the larger picture ?Oh yes.Masterpiece? Certainly not.
striker - probably it is - comments by the month …
Vijay :
Dor could have been a better film but Nagesh could not make it a clear film. Ayasha Takia is good actress so she delivers her role beautifully.
In scenes Dor is good and it can be said about any film but overall film lack badly in terms of presentation. Story was good if we talk it in 6 lines but screen play was badly written. Story has a sensitive touch but Nagesh could not keep that sensitivity attached with the subject. Does anyone feel any time in the film that Gul Panag’s husband is going to be hanged within 2 months. She is so cool while handling her case. No matter how confident her charcter was but Director could not develop her character. Takia could emote her feelings well. Even Nagesh was better than any other character as a mean and lusty Architect when he demands Company of Takia. And Shreyas delivers his role well of a bahurupia but his role hinders the flow of the film. His jokes take away the sensitivity of the matter associated with Gul Panag’s character. Its good to watch his mimicries of other actors and perhaps Nagesh was more busy in extracting out his acting skill than to justify his presence in the film. Subject was so sensitive but presentation was very light and it makes Dor a ” could have been a good film”.
With Rajsthan based story one should watch a film “Parinati” where a folk story is told very beautifully and watch anang Desai’s work there and the prseentation of the story.
Dor clearly lacks in honesty with the subject it tries to deal.
Rk,
“Does anyone feel any time in the film that Gul Panag’s husband is going to be hanged within 2 months. She is so cool while handling her case. ”
What should she have done? cried her eyes out hysterically?
this is the sort of perception of women that NK is trying fight against and people like u still expect a nirupa roy like response from women in the face of tragedy!
get over it…
D:
Hi,
Mard ko dard nahin hota? He-man or men dont cry??
Dont know if sorry has changed its mood in the present day’s world and now a days women dont shade tears.
In hindi there is a saying about a situation where ” ugla bhee na jaye aur nigla bhee jaye ” and thats the situation of Gul Panag’s character. She is not with a fixed end like Takia’s character is because she knows for sure that her hsuband is died and thats a reality which she cant change but Gul Panag is in living with uncertainity and her character does not emote that feeling.
Sorry if NK tried to show her women as strong iron ladies and I could not catch it because of stereo type conditioning about women’s reactions or Nirupa Roys’s reactions as you wrote!!!
” ugla bhee na jaye aur nigla bhee na jaye ”
:))
RK that takes the cake !!!! And yes u can it eat it and have it too…
@D
NK is fighting over the common perception of hysteric crying nirupa roy women ???
I think NK isn’t fighting anyone… he’s just being a pseudo ‘crusager of women’s rights’. Perhaps a shade better than Kalpana ‘Daman’ Lazmi.
Oh cummon yaar … shreyas, ayesha, Gul panag swinging to kajra re senselessly in the desert heat ??? (which is not to say i appreciate films where the desert is replaced by Newyork /Alps /Switzerland)
pseudo Realism …. from the normally sensitive and classy NK !!!
Great comments guys. Yes, totally agree, the film has its share of inconsistencies. As for Gul Panag being cool about the whole, thing, again, matter of perception. When I watched the original “Perumazhakkalam”, the same character in that film weeps and cries right through the entire movie. It was realistic, and the tension and the urgency of the matter was portrayed. But as a viewer it also kind of bored me. In comparison, I liked NK’s take on the same character, because as Zeenat confesses to Behrupiya after the whole Kajra Re episode, “My husband is about to be hanged, and I’m dancing in the desert.” But the whole goal of her character is to win Meera’s confidence, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to save her husband, even if it means putting on a smiley face and dancing on sand dunes. To some, that edge to the character absolutely did not work, and to others like myself, it was a very interesting thing to do with the role.
Gul is very ordinary actor and Kukunoor mentioned this in one of the rediff interview. Kukunoor made the best use of resources available. After couple of takes of senti scenes, he knew what he had to do with Panag. I think only good part of film was mimicry. Rest all was very very ordinary. The story was long for even a 30 minute serial, to sustain it he should have had mature actesses ( Tabu/Juhi) and good twists and turns.
Dor is a lovely movie.
no one has to be apologetic for liking or loving this movie.
dont miss this one. pls give it a watch.
by the way, ‘Yeh Honsla’ is my song of the year.
dint like it that much initially. but after watching the movie, listening to the lyrics served with an engrossing tune(especially the stanzas), im loving it.
Vijay:
Have not seen original “Perumazhakkalam”,. Could you comment on the basis of original.
Dont know he was father of Gul Panag or what?
But that old man joked in same manner in original also when he came to Gul Panag after knowing abt her husband’s hanging? Gul Panag’s character and this old man’s character joked in same manner there also?
Jwalant:
Mimicry scenes were essential for such film especially with those circumstances?
RK: The old man was definitely not Gul Panag’s father. Honestly I do not remember him joking after knowing about her husband’s death sentence. All I can remember is that he was trying to help her get to Rajasthan. Perhaps you can refresh my memory about the scenes where he jokes.
As for Shreyas Talpade’s mimicry scenes, I personally did not have a problem with them, given the circumstances. I found them quite enjoyable. I felt the humor brought through his character brightened up an otherwise pretty glum circumstance. Were they “essential”? Certainly not. Personally for me were they problematic? No. But I can also understand why others may have an problem with humor in a serious story like this. Again, matter of perception.
I remember when Roberto Benini’s “Life is Beautiful” had released (I am not trying to compare the 2 films, before anyone tries to rip me for that), most people loved the movie, because of its fresh take on the Holocaust, using a humorous style. But a lot of people at the same time were very offended by the same film arguing that no matter how skilled Benini’s craft may be, he has no right to humorize an event like the Holocaust.
Anyway, returning to your question about the original “Perumazhakkalam”, no, it did not have ANY humor whatsoever. In fact you get a far better sense of the tension, the sadness, the threat of what is happening. Characters remain glum, cry right through the movie. Personally, I did not enjoy that. Because the main character simply keeps going up to the other woman, and constantly begs her for forgiveness till she feels sorry and signs the pardon papers.
What I liked about “Dor” was that the women connect. Gul Panag inspires Ayesha Takia’s character to become independent and stand up for herself, to realize that just because her husband died, her life is not over. That made the journey more dramatic. There was more meat to the story and characters. I am not denying, “Dor” is certainly far less realistic than “Perumazhakkalam”. And totally filmi. But I like filmi, and I’m glad that NK took a story that no mainstream filmmaker would have touched, and presented it in an enoyable format.
- Just saw it earlier this week. I found it good in patches. Plus did anyone notice a wee bit of amateurishness in the way some conversation - shots were taken. Specially the one where Gul and her to-be husband are talking to each other… in the beginning of the movie…
apparently, Nagesh did not use artificial lights through out the movie, only natural light was used. and if i remember correctly (from his interview on one of the desi channel), they used the camera unusually, as well.
Unusual camera moves? Not really. It was all very basic, straight up, by the book stuff. But Oz, totally agree on the amateurishness of the shots. Like I mentioned in my review, I wish he was more innovative with his shots on 1-on-1 dialog scenes. Even the scenes between Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia, the constant cutting back and forth of centered talking heads was quite amateurish. It’s such a simple fix. If he had just pulled the camera back a little and shown part of the shoulder of the person the character is talking to, one wouldn’t get that feeling of alienation or abruptness.
in an interview he did mention that he has taken a different approach to making/shooting of Dor. i can’t find any suitable link to back this up as the interview was on B4U Star Stop.
i have not seen the movie yet as it’s not released in UK. so will have to wait for the DVD.
If he took a different approach, it certainly did not show on screen. Maybe I need to watch it again.
The movie works primarily because it is made straight from the heart, and hence goes straight to the heart of the audience. At the end of the day, if a film is able to engage and entertain its audience without resorting to formulaic and tried-to-death methods, that’s something what i would say is a successful film…So Dor works big time…as an Independent Movie…Hats off Kukunnor, and the cast and crew
OZ:
Film lack proper editing in initial shots. When Gul Panag’s husband is leaving then first he talks to his parents and in next scene gul and he are shown isolated from all and embracing each other and in next scene again when he boards the bus his parents are present. NK took scenes on different sides of buses and connected them without keeping the conisistency between two. Its like older movies where characters are shown in blue dress while driving in car and when car reaches to home or any other place their clothes are changed when they get down from the car Though characters may be having only 10 minutes journey.
Vijay:
Whoever this old man was in Dor. He defintely was very close to Gul Panag and when he comes first time to meet her after knowing about his husband. He just laughs with praise about Gul Panag’s courageous determination. Its good to show the strong characteristics in a character but there are certain human behaviour which cant be changed drastically.
In short story pulls attraction, when one is told that its story abt two women, one has to take a mafeenama from second woman for exonrating her husband from the allegation of killing the husband of second woman but in detail on screen film does not bring the impact in totallity.Basically its Gul Panag’s journey and she is the main character but her journey is simply limited to the end result. film is based on her journey to get this desired result, but film lacks in bringing out her inner journey. Its not only outward journey which she does by truck or bus or camel cart, its more an inner mental journey which is never clear. Surely locals are good, colours are good, relationship between three females characters are light and good but thats all.
Saw Dor last night.
Like Vijay, I found it very pleasant to watch too. I also laughed at the jokes and was moved by the emotions and for that matter, Kukunoor succeeded for me.
Shreyas Talpade got me in stitches with his dancing in the desert. :))
And Ayesha Takia… well, what can I say? I loved her!!!