A heart-warming tale let down by a problematic script. Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Shahrukh Khan, Boman Irani, Anil Grover, Vikram Kochar, Vicky ...
A heart-warming tale let down by a problematic script.
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Shahrukh Khan, Boman Irani, Anil Grover, Vikram Kochar, Vicky Kaushal (in a special appearance)
Rating: 2.5/5
It takes a filmmaker a long time to master his craft, and it takes
an actor sometimes longer, but what do you get when a filmmaker and actor who
have long mastered their respective craft come together? Rajkumar Hirani has a
distinct voice in Indian cinema, but Dunki feels flat and dull by his standards.
Dunki is about four friends from a sleepy little village in Punjab
who share a common dream: to go to England. But they have neither the visa nor
the ticket. A soldier alights from a train one day, and their lives change. He
gives them a soldier’s promise: He will take them to the land of their dreams.
What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of a perilous journey through
the desert and the sea, but most crucially through the hinterlands of
their mind.
Dunki’s humour feels even cornier and
somewhat outdated than before during certain scenes in the first half. The film
also seems more interesting in making the village feel real than it does in
making their motives or struggles feel real; Hirani is visibly way more concerned
with making the characters likable than real. The film also feels like it
could’ve used a rewrite. It also features some really good parallels to other
SRK films, as various Instagram users have pointed out. Hirani’s treatment of
the subject matter also feels too tame for its own good, as if he had to make
the film a family-friendly film, and thus, not add the horrifying parts.
Dunki has Shah Rukh Khan the actor, not Shah Rukh Khan the star,
and gives each actor as much recognition and screen time as they deserve. The
casting is on point, it feels like the actors were born to play their
respective roles.
The entire first half is filled with comic moments, some of which
work and others that don’t, and the second half though with its fair share of
comedic scenes, is mostly built on the emotional scenes. The first half is
good, but the second half feels unreasonably rushed and the comedic parts feel
forced.
The performances are excellent; everybody gives it their all and it
shows. But Tapsee Pannu steals the show while Vicky Kaushal is amazing in
the little screen time he has.
Dunki is a film that may work only for some.
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