Movie Review: Dor (String)
Starring: Gul Panag, Ayesha Takia, Shreyas Talpade
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Music Directors: Salim-Suleiman
Nagesh Kukunoor is certainly one of a kind, one who makes the kind of cinema that borrows nothing from nowhere and is completely homegrown. After Iqbal, that moving tribute to human endeavour, he comes up with Dor, a silent treatise on women's emancipation, which again tugs at your heartstrings. And the best part is that he is able to accomplish this in an absolutely no-fuss manner, without resorting to any melodrama or frills.
Kukunoor has said he was inspired from a real life incident in Kerala. He just shifts the backdrop to picturesque Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The story is unusual: Two men leave for Saudi Arabia from two distant lands leaving behind their young wives. One is Zeenat (Gul Panag), an independent, strong woman from a small town in Himachal and the other is Meera (Ayesha Takia), a traditional Rajput bride.
One incident changes the lives of the happy women and binds them forever: Meera's husband Shankar is killed and Aamir, Zeenat's husband, is arrested for his alleged murder and sentenced to death by the Saudi authorities. According to Saudi law, Aamir's life can only be spared if Shankar's widow Meera forgives him. Thus Zeenat sets out on an impossible journey to Rajasthan. She does find Meera and they even become good friends. But how does Zeenat convince Meera to sign the clemency papers? That's where the dilemma and the drama comes in, culminating in a riveting climax.
The director has extracted a terrific performances from all his cast, especially Ayesha Takia. The girl mesmerises you with her accomplished deglam act, proving that she's a bundle of talent behind that baby-doll face. Gul gives one of her most convincing portrayals and Shreyas proves that Iqbal was no flash in the pan. As the jester-like Behroopiya, he displays great sense of comic timing too.
The cinematography of the film is brilliant, some shots of Jodhpur simply take your breath away. The music is in tune with the ambience and the dialogues are in sync with the milieu. Dor is a must-watch for reasons more than one. Don't miss it.
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