Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki is one of the most heartwarming and moving films that I have ever watched. Directed, edited, and co-produced by Rajkumar Hirani, Dunki stars Taapsee Pannu, Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Vikram Kochhar, and Anil Grover, alongside Vicky Kaushal in a special appearance. Dunki was released on 21st December 2023 in cinemas world-wide.
With a run-time of 161 minutes, Dunki is both humorous and emotional, almost in equal measures. The film makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it moves you, it shakes you up, it breaks you, and it builds you. Dunki is a comedy-drama film that highlights the plights of the people from Punjab who illegally migrate to the UK through “donkey routes” and “donkey flights”.
Disclaimer: This post is not free of spoilers, so tread carefully!
The Plot Of Dunki
In the film Dunki, Taapsee Pannu plays Manu, Vikram Kochhar plays Buggu, Anil Grover plays Balli, Vicky Kaushal plays Sukhi, and Shah Rukh Khan plays Hardayal Singh Dhillon aka “Hardy”. Manu, Buggu, and Balli are three friends from a small village in Punjab called Laltu. They want to migrate to London, and earn in pounds.
Sukhi wants to go to London to save his girlfriend who he was supposed to get married to. However, her father marries her off to a cruel NRI who physically assaults her, and Sukhi wants to go to London to bring her back at any cost.
Hardy, a soldier who serves in the Indian Army, visits Laltu to thank the man who had saved his life when he was shot on the highway a year ago. He then meets Manu and her friends, and promises to take all of them to London. However, they have to resort to illegal means because they are unable to acquire visas. And that’s how the story of their “donkey flight” or “dunki” unfolds.
The Storytelling And Screenplay Of Dunki
The movie Dunki begins with a hospital scene in London. We see Manu, an elderly woman who is ailing, escaping from the hospital. She takes the metro and visits an immigration lawyer called Puru Patel to ask for her visa to travel to India. She wants to return to India with her two friends, Buggu and Balli, because she does not want to spend her last few days in a foreign country.
However, the three of them fly to Dubai after acquiring visas for Dubai. Since they have been living as “refugees” in the UK for 25 years, they are denied visas for travelling to India by the English Embassy.
In a flashback, we now see Manu, Buggu, and Balli in their village called Laltu, in Punjab, in 1995. They are happy, but poor. They want to be employed in better jobs, and earn more. They are tired of doing menial jobs and want to lead better lives in the West, hence they share one common dream – the dream of migrating to London.
Hardy visits Laltu to return a tape recorder, and comes across Manu, and eventually meets her friends. Hardy and the others prepare for the IELTS examination to acquire student visas to go to London, after they are fooled by a fraudulent visa agent who turns out to be a swindler.
However, only Balli passes the examination, and flies to London by obtaining a student visa. After reaching London, he first visits Sukhi’s girlfriend’s house to save her, but learns that she has committed suicide because Sukhi has failed in his IELTS examination. Sukhi too takes his own life by burning himself to death upon hearing of Jassi’s tragic death.
After Sukhi’s catastrophic death, Hardy, Manu, and Buggu decide to go to London via “donkey routes”. Charged with an intense desire to settle in England at any cost, they face a number of obstacles on their way, but miraculously manage to reach London after several months of hardship and struggle.
However, on reaching London, their dreams are almost shattered when they meet Balli near the Big Ben, and learn that he begs to earn. Hardy wants to return to Punjab, but Manu stops him. Hardy then tries to find out ways by which they can become “legal citizens” of England.
After facing numerous legal battles, Manu, Buggu, and Balli seek political asylum in England, and become “lawful” citizens by residing as refugees in the country. Hardy, a true Indian soldier, does not want to lie to the British Court that he faces any kind of danger in his own country. Consequently, he is denied asylum in the UK and is deported to India. Hardy and Manu hence part ways.
After 25 long years, Manu contacts Hardy because she wants to return to India within one month, but is unable to acquire a visa as she has been residing as a refugee in England for all these years. The three of them meet Hardy in Dubai. Manu is terminally ill. She has a brain tumour, and will live for only one more month. Hardy breaks down upon hearing this.
Hardy, Manu, Buggu, and Balli now want to return to Punjab permanently. Hardy promises Manu that she will celebrate Diwali in Laltu this year. They take the help of “dunki agents” again, and try to return to India using “donkey routes” via cargo containers. They do face a number of troubles on their journey, and end up getting caught by the cops at the Jeddah Port.
They are then “identified” as illegal immigrants who are illegally migrating from India to the UK, and are deported and sent back to India by the cops. Hardy and Manu once again unite in the village of Laltu after 25 years.
(You can read my detailed review of the film Dunki here.)
What Does The Term “Dunki” Mean?
The word “dunki” literally means to “hop from one place to another”. The word is derived from a Punjabi idiom. The word is an Indianised version of the term “donkey route”.
The term “donkey routes” implies the routes which are taken by illegal immigrants to illegally cross international borders, and enter into countries such as the UK or Canada, with the intention of permanently settling down there in search of better jobs and lives.
(You can read more about the concept of the film Dunki here.)
The Climax Of Dunki
The climax of Dunki has made me cry more than any of the problems in my life ever will. The climax of Dunki is so strong and powerful, and so emotional, touching, and moving. It literally breaks you, and shatters you to pieces.
When Hardy and Manu finally unite after 25 long years in the village of Laltu in Punjab, we see the two of them sitting and chatting on Manu’s kothi’s terrace. Manu now has a mansion of her own, and there are no debts that she has to pay off. Hardy has also built a replica of the Big Ben on her kothi’s terrace.
Hardy reveals to Manu that he has not married, and has been waiting for 25 years for Manu to return. Manu is shocked on hearing that he has not married for the sake of his love for her, and asks him if he is for real. 25 years ago, he had come to Laltu to return a tape recorder, and to thank Mahinder, Manu’s brother, for saving his life when he was profusely injured.
However, he had stayed behind in Laltu, initially to train Manu in wrestling, and eventually to assist her and her friends on their journey to London. However, they parted ways in England, because Manu chose to seek asylum, and Hardy was deported by the British Government.
Hardy however, did not return to his hometown, Pathankot, after being deported. He came back to the village of Laltu, waiting for Manu, hoping that she would come back to him one day. He waited for 25 long years for his lady-love, Manu. And finally, one day, she does return. However, she is terminally ill and is on the verge of dying.
Appreciation For SRK’s Eyes
When one talks about the climactic scene of the film Dunki, or about the scenes that take place when Hardy and Manu return to Laltu after 25 years, one can’t miss talking about SRK’s expressive eyes, and the hundreds of emotions that he conveys through his beautiful eyes.
SRK is one of the most “emasculated” actors in the history of Hindi cinema. The world will perhaps never witness an actor who cries so genuinely and effortlessly on screen, without any inhibition, as SRK. When SRK cries, his s-shaped eyebrows become more s-shaped; and some even say that he looks ugly. But who doesn’t look ugly when they cry?
Shah Rukh Khan appears in his quintessential “Romantic Avatar” after a long time in Dunki, and a female fan like me can’t help but dote on him and his enchanting ways of romancing his lady-love on screen. SRK has raised the bar of romance on screen so high that women like me can’t help but dream of unreasonably high standards of romance, even in real life.
Aditya Chopra was not wrong when he remarked that SRK’s eyes have something special that can’t be just wasted on action films. Shah Rukh Khan is the “King of Romance”, and will remain the undisputed “King of Romance” in the Bollywood film industry for eons uncountable. I hope that he chooses more scripts like Dunki in the future; scripts which are earnest, moving, and heartening.
What “Dunki” Stands For, For Hardy
In the climactic scene of Dunki, while proposing to Manu, Hardy goes down on his knees and tells her that he did not return to Pathankot, and stayed in Laltu for 25 years, hoping that Manu would unite with him one day, in Laltu itself.
He says that to the rest of the world, “dunki” means a perilous and arduous journey in which one has to face hunger, thirst, and bullets, and cross borders, and risk their own lives. But for Hardy, the journey to London via “donkey routes” was not his “dunki”. It was his entire life. Because Manu was with him on this journey.
His “dunki” was the 25 painfully long years that he spent without Manu who he loves the most; waiting for her to return some day. Manu taught him the true meaning of “dunki”, which is to stay away from your loved ones and your family members. He asks her to end his “dunki” now by accepting his wedding proposal.
Literally, “dunki” means facing hunger, danger, and bullets, and crossing borders of numerous countries, and risking one’s life. But figuratively, for Hardy, “dunki” means living away from the ones you love the most; living away from Manu who is the love of his life.
“Will you marry Hardy Singh?”, he asks her. She tells him in Hindi that if a man asks a woman so romantically and respectfully, the lady can never refuse. “Coach Ji, I will!”, she says. And, as Hardy plays the Big Ben Chimes on his phone to create a lovelier setting in front of the replica of the Big Ben on Manu’s kothi’s terrace, Manu passes away, bringing their love story to a final end.
And I, I broke down further. Heartbroken, Hardy puts the engagement ring into Manu’s finger and holds her tightly in a warm embrace, while the Diwali fireworks light up the dusky sky.
Ringing Down The Curtain
The movie Dunki ends with an epilogue that says that about 140 years ago, no visas were required to travel to other countries. With visas came discrimination in migration. Today, borders bar only the poor. The poor are refused visas due to discrimination on the basis of wealth and education.
Dunki is one of the most beautiful and heartfelt movies that I have watched in quite a long time! The film broke me, made me cry buckets, and taught me the true meaning of love and longing, in classic SRK-style. Dunki proudly appears in the list of my top 10 Bollywood movies of the year 2023.
Dunki is currently running in cinemas near you. The film will soon be available for exclusively streaming on Netflix.
(Featured Images Courtesy: Twitter)