I saw this Nagesh Kukunoor movie, called Dor, couple of days back. The movie is about two women, one from Himachal Pradesh (zeenat) and the other from Rajasthan (meera). Their lives get entangled, through an interesting plot. (Meera's husband dies in an accident and Zeenat's husband is held responsible for that. Zeenat comes in search of Meera because only Meera's letter of consent is going to save Zeenat's husband). What follows, is a search of goals. But as always, when one starts out to search something, tends to find something else on the way.
What did I like about the movie?
Movie is a visual treat, filled with the amazingly beautiful landscapes from Himachal Pradesh and Rajashtan. Also the narration is very well thought. No character is painted totally black or totally white, very rare for Indian cinema. I liked Meera's role played by Ayesha Takia. Also the small part played by Nagesh Kukunoor himself has come out quiet well. Whats more, Nagesh Kukunoor has manage to do justice to few subtle emotions. For example, Meera is a widow in Rajashtan and she is made to live an ascetic life. But at one point she hears a song and she feels like dancing. She also dances and then she herself feels bad about it. She wonders why is she feeling happy, when actually her husband died not more than a month back. Zeenat explains to her that there is nothing wrong in doing what you feel like. Feeling like smiling or being happy at no point means she is not sad about her loss. Its just the way of dealing with situation and there is no reason why she should deal with it as she is expected to. She should deal with her pains in her own ways, not the way society expects her to. Good point!
Why was the movie far from perfect?
I think, music was lacking its strength. I personally did not like performances by Gul Panag and Shreyas Talpade. The flaws is the plot: great coincidence of Zeenat meeting an ultra-helpful Behrupiya, highly unbelievable! The ease with which Meera's in-laws feel guilty and soft, again very unrealistic. The scene where Zeenat is insulted in Meera's house--did not come out well at all. The grand finale-- too much!!! The journey Zeenat makes from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan is shot very well capturing natural beauty etc, however, more of details should have been shown. At least following two things should have been included: (i) a small doubt in Zeenat's mind during this journey about her search (Zeenat is strong person but come on, she will definitely have doubts) and (ii) fleeting thoughts about innocence of her husband should have been shown. (May be a small dream in which she sees her husband trying to kill an unknown man and a relief when she wakes up to realise that it was a dream, would have been apt!)
All in all, it gets a 6.5/10. Which means, its no where close to a perfect movie but still a movie good to watch.
What did I like about the movie?
Movie is a visual treat, filled with the amazingly beautiful landscapes from Himachal Pradesh and Rajashtan. Also the narration is very well thought. No character is painted totally black or totally white, very rare for Indian cinema. I liked Meera's role played by Ayesha Takia. Also the small part played by Nagesh Kukunoor himself has come out quiet well. Whats more, Nagesh Kukunoor has manage to do justice to few subtle emotions. For example, Meera is a widow in Rajashtan and she is made to live an ascetic life. But at one point she hears a song and she feels like dancing. She also dances and then she herself feels bad about it. She wonders why is she feeling happy, when actually her husband died not more than a month back. Zeenat explains to her that there is nothing wrong in doing what you feel like. Feeling like smiling or being happy at no point means she is not sad about her loss. Its just the way of dealing with situation and there is no reason why she should deal with it as she is expected to. She should deal with her pains in her own ways, not the way society expects her to. Good point!
Why was the movie far from perfect?
I think, music was lacking its strength. I personally did not like performances by Gul Panag and Shreyas Talpade. The flaws is the plot: great coincidence of Zeenat meeting an ultra-helpful Behrupiya, highly unbelievable! The ease with which Meera's in-laws feel guilty and soft, again very unrealistic. The scene where Zeenat is insulted in Meera's house--did not come out well at all. The grand finale-- too much!!! The journey Zeenat makes from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan is shot very well capturing natural beauty etc, however, more of details should have been shown. At least following two things should have been included: (i) a small doubt in Zeenat's mind during this journey about her search (Zeenat is strong person but come on, she will definitely have doubts) and (ii) fleeting thoughts about innocence of her husband should have been shown. (May be a small dream in which she sees her husband trying to kill an unknown man and a relief when she wakes up to realise that it was a dream, would have been apt!)
All in all, it gets a 6.5/10. Which means, its no where close to a perfect movie but still a movie good to watch.
Comments
The best part of the movie was the fact that audience never knew the truth, whether Zeenat's husband actually murdered Meera's husband or was it all an accident. Even without divulging the truth, Nagesh Kukunoor was able to point out that, no matter how badly someone hurts you (intensionally or otherwise), with time you can forgive them.
A very humane plot and brilliantly potrayed. But I agree, the ending was too filmy.