Dor - A Review

Re:#15
The girl that runs off with the woman who lied to her seemed to me, to do so because she (firstly) matured enough to make judgements, such as not to be too judgemental about another human being and (secondly) forgave her enough to learn to trust her again because she understood why she had lied. That is very human and very possible. Real life has very few extrordinary heros and heroines in it, but is more full of very fallible and normal people. A girl who can`t bring herself to tell the truth is also as human as any of us in real life, who are not Satyavans or Gandhijis burning with the zealous urge to tell the truth at all times, come what may. Zeenath`s tussle between wanting to bring up the truth and fearing to do so because she does n`t know what the consequences would be to her husband`s life (already hanging in the balance) is so easy to identify with. This movie has no iconic and towering heros mouthing lofty sentiments and is all the more human for that. And some nice comedy, however Johnny Leverish, to give the audience a break.

Re: # 15

I look for accuracy and sensitivity in a film. Dor lacks both. It is not that the Malayalam original is a great movie. But a widow who takes pride in living by herself and bringing up her daughter without taking help from anybody is more to be admired than a girl who runs off with a woman who lied to her.

Sorry but human spirit is not to be expressed as tritely as it is done in Dor.

I can only laugh at the potrayal of a ``strong`` woman who cannot tell the truth when it is necessary and forgets that her husband is due to be executed because she goes to see a movie and dances in the desert.

Re: # 14
Seeing the original version can give one a basis for contrasting and comparing but it can also prejudice the viewer so that the second version is not seen for what it is. Thank God i haven`t seen the malayalam version becoz I enjoyed Dor for what it delivers. This is not an Adoor Gopalakrishnan type art film. It is a commercial hindi movie that is trying hard to entertain and be as original as it can, within that frame work. Why does something have to seem more realistic if it is shown as harsh and defeated? Why can`t a woman be shown as having the courage to grasp an unexpected opportunity to break out of an impossibly tight mould...maybe that is why this story was worth the telling? To leave the audience feeling good without some cheap titillation and other less refined means, by creating a hopeful rather than a hopeless ending can`t really be interpreted as trite. I would have felt that the film maker was overdoing the realism in a movie of this type if he had left Meera stranded, regardless of whether the malayalam version left the widow struggling with papadams or whatever. I am a malayali myself and have often found that if the tragedy is not carried to an overdone and caramalized level in most malayalam ``serious`` movies and the boo-hoo type of TV serials, they are written off as not that great. The tear jerker effect seems to quantify the level of ``realistic`` in them. I thought DOR had the right mix and does not seem to want to aspire to win any award in some snooty film festival and has done a good job of entertaining and getting a few salient messages across without having to crucify the already down-trodden/suffering women in it.

Re: # 12

I went back to look at Dor to see why the reviewer actually had something good to say because my first impression was that it was a nondescript movie, watered down completely from the original for box office success.
The original was a commercial movie too but it had a story line that it stuck to faithfully. My subsequent viewing of Dor where I looked at it more critically makes me feel that it is far worse than I thought originally.

Far from becoming a serious director Kukunoor has done much worse than he did in Iqbal.

For example where is the urgency of the woman who wants to save her husband, who is to be sentenced in two months. She lands up in Rajasthan and spends a few weeks giving a widow a lesson on how to live life and then suddenly realises she has a couple of days to fix everything. The original quest is forgotten as soon as Rajasthan is framed by the camera. The film may as well have been funded by the Rajastham Tourism development Corporation, since that is all it does , advertise Rajasthan, camel rides, havelis etc.

Which Rajput woman would go to see films in a theatre with a stranger within a month or so after her husband`s death. Would her regressive family not worry about 4 hours spent at a temple?

Which father-in-law who is so upright as to not take an advance for a month`s rent , (stating that it would be begging) would offer his widowed daughter-in-law as a mistress to a builder? It is completely out of character.

What was the need for Shreyas Talpade in the movie? To provide comic relief? He may as well as you suggested have Johnny Lever.

The cliched ending with the train leaving and Meera being pulled into the train symbolising a new life ..... No new ideas, just rubbish.

The music by Salim Suleiman is terrible. There is not even a hint of Rajasthani folk music there. You may as well listen or watch some music video schmaltzed up as folk.

Nagesh Kukunoor has taken a very powerful story and trashed it.

The original though not a very great film is far superior. The way the helplessness of the condemned man`s wife is portrayed as she and her frail father-in-law set out to beg for clemency is very real. As is the Brahmin widow`s plight when she is shorn off all the simple pleasures she has in life.

Even the transformation to a independent woman, as she is kicked out of the ``agraharam`` when she decides to sign the petition and is left alone to fend for herself , has a greater dignity than Rajput widow`s.

There is no fairy tale ending for the widow either. She ends up taking care of her children by making and selling pappadums. The only thing she gains is the gratitude of the condemned man`s wife

That`s a real movie.

Something Kukunoor will continue to dream of making.

Ref HD #10

[Looking at Sunil Shetty`s carefully sculpted `gym` body in tight shirts....]

Bad mistake as usual by Bollywood. If only they would have Shilpa Shetty.....sigh!!!!

Nice,
specially the `Nasal-Singer` or may be because we have same point of view here for Himesh Reshemiya.
Rest Shreyas Talpade was awsome, and the boy really has talent but a thought came in my mind watching the movie `Johhny Lever can imitate better` and may be many others, but for Shreyas`s age that was kewl.Aisha did well, but not great but then again far better then Gul Panag whom watching the whole time i was thinking `She must be a model` as she lacked facial expressions but was not bad for the role. And frankly speaking i have seen these `Pahadiyas`(mountain people) and they are like that, you know dry.
But how about a little discussion here? Do you think a person like Meera could instantly become the opposite she was before or may i say become like Zeenath? If you ask me, i`d say transformations may take place in the world of disney with just the waive of the wand but in real life to undo your half life is pretty close to impossible. If she had the habit of listening to others, not making her own decisions, leaning on people and obviously the girl had no confidence unlike Zeenat before. So do you think one`s personality can change in reality with the blink of an eye?

Between, would love to hear what are your thoughts about the new movie `Kholsa Ka Ghosla` and if you haven`t watched it, i`ll highly reccommend it.

Re: # 9
Burpy
I did mention he bought the rights to the movie. I missed the acknowledgements in the title initially.

About being a serious film-maker I will hold my opinion. I did not like the ending of Iqbal. The point where the bowler tries too hard to make the batsman fall into the trap of hitting the ball where he wants to. It is not very subtle. Could have done with a little more polish IMO.

But in all truth he makes better movies than the usual tamasha, so he`s a far better bloke than a lot of other people.

By the way Gul Panang has done a good job in the movie ``Dhoop``. It is also not run off the mill and worth watching. I rather like her.

Cheers.

#2
>>This is a copy of the Malayalam film ``Perumazhakalam``.

Huh! No wonder.
It`ll be a cold day in july when bollywood produces anything of worth by itself.

I recently saw another such bollywood malayalam remakes. Mohanlal in the original and Sunil Shetty in the bollywood version. Story is about a village lad who`s in debt with three sisters to marry off. He goes to the town to try and sell off a house he owns there and finds the renting family unwilling to vacate.

Looking at Sunil Shetty`s carefully sculpted `gym` body in tight shirts and expensive haircut he makes an unconvncing village lad right off the mark.

Dor is a simple story well told. I suppose that is the essence of good direction. After his ``timepass`` stuff early on, Iqbal and now Dor have proved that Kukonoor is a serious filmmaker. And there is no doubting Talpade`s talent. Gul Panag is a pleasant surprise delivering a restrained performance that no other Miss India has been capable of. Ayesha Takia is simply adorable- you feel like gathering her in your arms and never letting go.

swarrier, Kukunoor admits that he bought the rights because the basic theme appealed to him, but the narration and details are all his. Perhaps that`s why he claims writing credits, as you say.

Good review. Perhaps I WILL go and see the movie to find out.

dunno where you are, but I`ve seen the DVD in India and bought it. The Malayalam movie was released in 2004 so if you are in the US you might get it at some speciallty store.

That said I must say that Dor`s titles do mention that that film was inspired by the Malayalam one. The treatment is different though the basic plot is the same. I prefer the original because of what I had mentioned earlier but you must see both, because they are different.

Sure, where can I get the original?

Ohh this is such a nice movie. It is such a pity that such films don`t go to the oscars =(

Cobra it was released in September. See the original if you can. I`m surprised Kukunoor claims the writing credit for this movie.

It would be interesting to watch this movie. Is it released yet?

This is a copy of the Malayalam film ``Perumazhakalam``. Kukunoor bought the rights to remake it in Hindi changed locations and states and made it more cosmetic for the box office. The original movie is more stark in its despair and therefore perhaps less palatable for casual viewing.