Disclaimer: Beware Of Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Have you heard of the Portuguese word “saudade”? The word “saudade” loosely translates to a feeling of nostalgia or yearning for someone or something that you love with all your heart but are separated from. It is a feeling of longing or yearning for someone or something that you loved and then lost.
Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki has “bittersweet longing and nostalgia” written all over it. It is an entertaining, emotional and humourous family entertainer that hits all the right notes and tugs at the heartstrings. Dunki is a wholesome blend of comedy and emotions, and is probably the best way to wrap up the year with a sweet film that makes you feel good!
What Is The Film ‘Dunki’ About?
Dunki, directed, co-written and co-produced by Rajkumar Hirani, stars Taapsee Pannu, Shah Rukh Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Boman Irani, Vikram Kochhar, Anil Grover, and others. With a runtime of 161 minutes, the film was released on 21st December 2023 in cinemas worldwide. Dunki relies heavily on comedy, emotions and drama, and connects with the more sensitive sections of the audience.
The word “dunki” is an Indianised version of the term “donkey route” which describes the routes which are taken by illegal immigrants to cross international borders and enter into countries such as the USA or the UK by stopping in multiple countries and acquiring fake documents or visas to ease their journey. The word literally means “to hop from one place to another”.
Dunki is a heartwarming tale of a group of four friends from a small village in Punjab (played by Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Vikram Kochhar, and Anil Grover) who have one common dream of migrating to London, each for varied reasons. Shah Rukh Khan plays the role of an army personnel who comes to visit their village in search of an acquaintance who happens to be Taapsee Pannu’s character’s brother (in the film). He eventually falls in love with her and promises to take all of them to London after hearing their tales of why they all wish to migrate to London.
Read more here.
What About The Movie Worked For Me?
The plot, storyline and dialogues did.
The idea and themes of the film, as well as the dialogues did. The film deals with a fresh and unique concept that has not really been explored in mainstream Hindi cinema before. The film has the perfect ingredients that will attract families to come and watch it with both the old as well as the young members. The dialogues too are delightful.
The direction did.
Dunki is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, of friendship and love, of nostalgia for home and family, and of all that life offers us. Rajkumar Hirani knows exactly how to balance comedy and emotions perfectly in a film that is meant for all to watch. The first half is humourous and gripping. It makes you laugh. The second half is emotional but slow-paced. Keep some tissue papers handy. Hirani once again proves his prowess as a brilliant filmmaker and director who does not need violence or action to create a film that appeals to the audience.
The acting performances did.
Dunki boasts of commendable acting performances. Shah Rukh Khan as Hardayal Singh Dhillon aka “Hardy” delivers a fine performance that reminds one of the vintage SRK of the ’90s and the ’00s. The film is a must-watch for every fan of Shah Rukh Khan as the “King of Romance” returns to the big screen in his quintessential romantic avatar after a very long time, after delivering two back-to-back blockbuster action entertainers earlier this year.
Taapsee Pannu delivers an equally power-packed performance. However, it is Vicky Kaushal who completely steals the show and overshadows everyone else in a powerful cameo or special appearance. All the characters of the film, especially SRK’s Hardy, are loveable, endearing, and possibly, relatable too.
The portrayal of the characters did.
The Punjabis are really Punjabi-ing in the film. The characters are portrayed remarkably well by the ensemble cast. Their joys, their struggles, and their vulnerabilities are depicted with honesty and sincerity. The fragility of the human heart and the delicacy of human relationships are crafted well in the film. The film shows us how all humans have some kind of an attachment to their motherland or some kind of a yearning to reunite with their loved ones. And how that emotion often becomes the reason why someone wants to continue living.
The subtle SRK-related nostalgia did.
Dunki is a joyous ride for every SRK-fan as the film is a bit of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, it is a bit of Kal Ho Naa Ho, it is a bit of Swades, and it is a whole lot of Veer-Zaara. The film has an uncanny resemblance to DDLJ because Shah Rukh Khan wears a similar t-shirt in his entry scene in Dunki that he wore in his entry scene in DDLJ where he enters playing rugby while Simran sings in the background.
Also, Dunki, in a flashback, is set in 1995 which is the year in which DDLJ was released. As an ardent fan of SRK, these little details really struck me and brought back a feeling of nostalgia and yearning for the vintage ’90s SRK.
Certain scenes did.
The film has a few scenes which are cinematically brilliant and impactful. For instance, there is a courtroom scene where Hardy defends his motherland and says that he shall not curse his motherland to seek asylum in a foreign country. Hardy delivers a long monologue in which he tells a British judge about how he dreams of a planet where there were no borders, and about how only the poor are stopped from acquiring visas or crossing international borders. That monologue hit me really hard. The soldier in him shines brightly here!
The cinematography and camera-work did.
The cinematography of the movie is top-notch. The film shows us villages, farmlands, bridges, cityscapes, dense forests, stretches of sandy deserts, snow-capped mountains, and rivers, all of which have been beautifully captured using the right camera angles and lighting.
The accompanying music and score did.
The soundtrack and the background music of the movie are wonderful. Since film songs are generally situational, it is important to place them in the right scenes in the film, and Dunki excels in doing so such that the songs seamlessly fit in and complement the scenes. Javed Ali’s “Chal Ve Watna” and Sonu Nigam’s “Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se” are the very soul of the film that hit hard and bring legitimate tears to the eyes! Sonu Nigam’s vibrant vibrato touches the deepest corner of the heart.
The climax did.
The climax of Dunki is strong and powerful, and leaves behind a message. Those who stay away from their families, or stay in a different city or country, or stay away from home will definitely feel a sense of longing for home and family after watching this film. One is bound to leave the cinema-hall teary-eyed and feeling sentimental.
What About The Movie Did Not Work For Me?
The screenplay and narrative did not.
They definitely did not. The first half of Dunki is engaging but the second half is poorly paced. It feels dragged in certain portions. The narrative lacks depth. The real issue that the film deals with (donkey routes) has not been addressed properly. It does not take long for the lack of depth to sink in. The concept of “donkey routes” is not even mentioned once until a few minutes before the intermission. Even after the interval, the “donkey journey” is shown for only a few minutes. It has not been explored in depth and detail.
Connected to the flawed screenplay, the scriptwriting did not work either.
Dunki is basically a love story. It is a love story, through and through. And that is not a bad thing at all. However, I did not quite like how the concept of “donkey routes” was made a trivial sub-theme that lacks importance, amidst the love story of SRK and Taapsee Pannu in the film. That really did not work for me.
Dunki disappoints, but the disappointment burns slowly. The film is not empathetic enough to its own subjects to actually deal with what is at stake, and it definitely deviates from its purpose. For instance, the film does not clearly tell us why exactly the protagonists wish to migrate. Why can they not find better employment opportunities in Punjab, or how, if at all, can they find better opportunities in England, are not explored well. The characters have illogical, and sometimes baffling reasons too, to migrate.
The editing did not.
There are a number of unnecessary scenes in the film that do not add significant value to the narrative of the film. For instance, there is a scene in which Hardy gets drunk and curses a neighbour for marrying his daughter off to a cruel NRI who beats her up, only to realise a few minutes later that he has been cursing at the wrong balcony in the middle of the night.
A church sequence in which Taapsee is getting married to an English resident in order to attain a spouse visa is turned into a rather ridiculous affair as Taapsee has to kiss the bridegroom, and, SRK, her “banda”, cannot stand that under any circumstance. Another sequence in which Hardy and his companions fool and outwit a Saudi officer towards the end of the movie, again, fails to look convincing enough.
(On the contrary, the singer Shaan confirmed on his Twitter handle that a beautiful duet song sung by Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal, which was shot in Kashmir, has been edited out of the final cut. I hope that the world gets to hear this song some day!)
SRK-and-Taapsee’s chemistry didn’t quite work for me.
Their chemistry feels flat and fails to create a strong connection with the audience throughout the film. And this becomes increasingly evident in the second half of the film. The climax tries very hard to re-create the iconic reunion scene of Veer and Zaara from the film Veer-Zaara, but fails miserably. Their chemistry just does not impress. Also, does SRK ham in certain scenes, especially as the younger version of Hardy? He does, maybe.
An Overview
The biggest problem with Dunki is that it is Shah Rukh Khan’s film.
No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to separate SRK’s legacy from the films that he does. SRK is a superstar. He is the biggest superstar in the world. Though Dunki is a multi-starrer, the narrative and screenplay depend heavily on Khan and his character in the film. In my opinion, Shah Rukh Khan’s Hardy lacks a persona of his own. Hardy is caring and charming but lacks individuality.
Perhaps, this kind of a role does not really suit SRK, considering the gloss and glamour that are automatically associated with his superstardom. For instance, his characters in Jab Harry Met Sejal or in Zero were really not written for him, according to me. It is, perhaps, this, that feels bothersome. Or perhaps, if a film of this genre was made a couple of years ago, it would have resonated better with the audience.
Dunki is possibly Rajkumar Hirani’s weakest project.
At certain portions, there’s too much of him, and at certain others, there’s none of him at all. The typical-Rajkumar Hirani touch is lost in many portions throughout the film. Hirani is an extremely intelligent filmmaker who knows exactly how to craft his films intricately. However, his style and technique are missing in several scenes in Dunki. I wonder why!
Probably, I entered the cinema with the greatest expectations; which I should not have.
I entered the hall with the anticipation of watching the best Bollywood flick of 2023 unfold in front of my eyes! I have grown pretty weary of watching violence and action in almost every film that releases nowadays. Possibly, I should have lowered my expectations, and you should too if you do not want to come out of the cinema feeling a mix of disappointment and displeasure.
Is Dunki what you get from a Rajkumar Hirani-Shah Rukh Khan collaboration? I don’t know; all I know is that the film could have been quite better! All in all, Dunki is neither the best of Hirani nor the best of Khan, but is good enough to delight the spectators and make them dote on Hardy.
You can watch Dunki at a cinema near you now with your family and friends, to make your Christmas warmer and merrier!