Dunki: Shades of genius

Geniuses are not born every day. Not everybody is a genius. Geniuses are not perfect. Geniuses can make mistakes. Sometimes, they go wrong. Not all the time. Sometimes. And that too, by their own yardstick. There are things that they do which have shades of their genius, but do not add-up to expectations among their admirers. Rajkumar Hirani is a genius. A commerce graduate from Nagpur, he had humble beginnings in the 80s, as a video editor, and mock news reader in video magazines (some of which I was part of), and a model in ad films, in the mid to late 80s. In 1990, at the age of 28, he got an opportunity to edit Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film, Mission Kashmir. Some more, minor, editing assignments came his way. Then, putting aside his hope of becoming an actor, he made Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003), a super-duper hit. A legacy of mega-hits followed, but with Sanju, his first biopic, about actor Sanjay Dutt, released in 2018, one felt that he was slipping just that little bit. With Dunki, that slip has become noticeable. Not a bad film by any standards, but nowhere near the Raju Hirani benchmark. He has slipped, yes, but not fallen.

With a title like Dunki, you do not know what to expect from the film, unless you do pre-viewing research, which I do not believe in. As it turned out, Dunki is Punjabi slang for the Donkey Route, a marathon journey from Punjab, across land, sea, mountains, deserts and forests, lasting weeks, that promises to take the enlists to the city of their dreams, the home of their much-admired Big Ben, London.

In 1995, some unscrupulous tour operators in Punjab tout this exercise as the gateway to heaven, and charge hefty amounts from foolhardy suckers. Although it could be a matter of life and death, some innocents actually fall for it, expecting a much better life in Foreignland. These include Hardayal ‘Hardy’ Singh Dhillon, an ex-army man, who has come to Laltu (a small town or big village), just discharged from a hospital, seeking to thank the soldier who saved his life in an encounter with terrorists, and to return his belongings. Alas, the soldier is no more, having died in a road accident. But Hardy decides he will never leave Laltu. The only way he can return the debt of his messiah, is by taking Manu to a place which she yearns to visit, London, at all costs.

Manu and her friends, Buggu and Balli, live in Laltu, and they yearn to immigrate to London, for a better life. Poor and uneducated, they are unable to obtain a visa, despite trying various methods, since it is necessary to speak English in order to get a visa, and they are proficient only in Punjabi. They enroll at an IELTS coaching class, run by Geetu Gulati, where they meet Sukhi. Sukhi wants to immigrate to London to save his ex-girlfriend, who was married off to an NRI man, who physically and mentally abuses her. After repeated attempts at the exams, Balli eventually manages to pass, and the rest fail.

Once in London, Balli tells Sukhi that his ex has committed suicide, after learning about Sukhi failing in IELTS, due to which Sukhi immolates himself. Traumatised, Hardy promises to take Manu and Buggu to London himself, through the "dunki" route. After a treacherous journey through Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, during which three of their co-passengers are killed, and Manu is saved from sexual assault by militants in Iran, by Hardy, they reach London.

Imagination meets stark reality in Dunki. The script, by Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi (a Hirani constant, throughout his career) and Kanika Dhillon, is imaginative in treatment, but real-life like in origin. Perhaps it is an amalgam of both, some real-life stories, blended into a serviceable cocktail. There is patriotism, in the shape of Hardy, and his fellow patriots being badly injured, fighting terrorists. There is love for the motherland, literally, when Manu picks up dust form the ground and saves it in a little box, as a memory of her village, when she embarks upon the journey. There is tragedy in the Hardy-Manu love-affair, which will be a spoiler if I dwell on it. There is stereo-typing in the fact that the NRI husband of a Laltu girl, is a villain, a task master. There is a comment on the education system, where some unfortunate illiterate hopefuls have to join a coaching class in order to learn English in three months, under a quirky, cranky teacher.

There is sublime love, in that a broke Sukhi wants to travel the seven seas, in order to rescue his girl-friend, now the victim of a fiend. There is a survivor tale about how the fellow travelers cross unfriendly terrain and deep waters. There is bonding, both male, and male-female, as the group remains focussed on the one task of reaching London, come what may. There is love that blossoms between the lead actor and the lead actress, which remains an unfulfilled dream. There is huge disappointment waiting for the trio who survive, and make it to London. And there is supreme callousness and greed, because the tour operators continue to do business abated, though many suckers have died en route. Almost all these premises could be turned into a story (film) each.

So much in one film, that lasts 161 minutes! Well, to tell so many stories, one needed either another 30 minutes of screen time, at least, or fewer stories. Often disguised as humour, the scenes are usually pathos-ridden. Take the coaching class of Geetu Gulati, for instance. If none of his students can learn English in three months, as he promises, how is he still in booming business? Is he an idealist, or a whimsical person? And what makes him the saviour of the Dunkis, when push comes to shove, on a mere phone call? The entire track is obviously grafted to create a few laughs, a là Zabaan Sambhal Ke, a popular TV serial of the 80s, which itself was ripped off from the original BBC series, Mind Your Language, and many such clone films/serials, that treat learning of a foreign language as a chance to draw laughter.

Many things are left unsaid, or un-shown. That could be creative decision of the writers. There are few flashbacks, but they are certainly not enough for us to understand the characterisation of the actors playing those roles. Too many cooks spoil the broth, likewise, too many plot points spoil the plot. The scenes in Iran, in particular prove this point. Who are the soldiers? Iran military, Kurdish freedom fighters, Iran’s rebel groups? Why are they so anti-Indian, and sadistic, that they shoot some of the travellers in cold blood, and want to rape the only female member of the hapless lot? Why make a caricature of one of the soldiers, whose name rhymes with Hamar, which is Arabic for donkey/jackass? That joke falls flat. Languages used in the film are a mixture of Punjabi, Hindi and English, and I cannot recall any memorable piece of dialogue, in any of them.

As director, Hirani appears unsure of which way to turn the steering wheel: towards his by now familiar social commentary films, or towards his diatribe against the education system (more than familiar) or to chart new territories, with the characters going under the water and breathing through bamboo flute-like reeds. None of them appear to be persons who can adjust to that mode, having, probably, never been in such deep waters ever. A guardsman at a border post, who should have been a crack shot, fires several bullets at them, many times, but misses them every time. The portion when they cross Iran, and end up in London, a distance of at least 4,000 kms, halfway from their pind (village), another 4,000 kms, needed elaboration. It is quite unbelievable that the survivors covered 8,000 kms, mainly on foot, and under water. To his credit, he always makes films about survivors, but peppers them with some deaths along the way, or in the end.

Co-produced by Gauri Khan (Mrs. ShahRukh Khan) as well as Hirani himself, the film had to have Shah-Rukh Khan as the hero, Hardy, but to their credit, they let him remain human, not a super-hero. But they cannot resist the temptation to to show him executing the wrestling term, dhobi pachhaad. He enjoys speaking Punjabi, being a Delhi boy, and retains his boyish charm, at age 58. His usual mannerisms are in check, and, on some occasions, he appears as vulnerable as the fellow travellers. Nobody can say that he lacked in spirit while performing in Dunki. Likewise, nobody can say that he did not give enough footage to his co-actors. Of course, they could have done more with a little back-story for each of the main characters.

Taapsee Pannu matches him for enthusiasm, but has only a few scenes to display histrionics. Somehow, she does not look a typical Punjabi kudi. Irony is, she is one, in real-life! A colossal waste is the character of Vicky Kaushal (extended special appearance) as Sukhi. This actor, who mesmerised us in Masaan, is not just in his element. Kaushal is capable of much better acting and should learn to adapt himself to such roles, which not be his forté, as yet.

A lucky mascot for Hirani, you could guess much before he enters the frame that the character walking in will be Boman Irani. Although he is cast as an English teacher, cake-walk for him, he is still haunted by the Munnabhai series, where he played the Dean of a Hospital. It is a routine performance, neither here nor there. Vikram Kochhar as Buggi gets to demonstrate his skills in a large-ish role. Anil Grover seems to struggle a bit, in two minds whether to ham it or underplay it, but manages to impress. Deven Bhojani is known for his caricature performances, but here, the accent and caricature are kept in check. Here is the rest of the cast, in no particular order.

Jyoti Subhash as Buggu's grandmother

Deven Bhojani as Advocate Puru Parmeshwar Patel, London

Manoj Kant as Manu's father

Arun Bali as Manu's older father

Amardeep Jha as Manu's mother

Suhail Zargar as Mahinder Randhawa, Manu's brother

Vishnu Kaushal as Gulab Nagra

Rohitashv Gour as a Fake Visa Agent at Laltu, Punjab

Jitendra Hooda as an Indian Dunki Agent

Shahid Latief as Baakir, a Saudi Arabian Dunki Agent

Mahavir Bhullar as Buggu's father

Sapna Sand as Buggu's mother

Jatinder Kaur as Balli's mother

Attila Arpa as Buggu's manager, in London

Then there are the interviewers at the IELTS Examination, not billed here. The exam itself is a tribute to Munnabhai, but nowhere near that in impact.

Songs composed by Pritam, the background score by Aman Pant, production values, trick photography, and photography in general, and editing are of a high calibre. The eight songs, the coming together of some 16 famous names, are well integrated, but the eternal problem remain: one cannot hum a tune from the film even on the day after one has seen it. Where has melody gone?

The name sounded funki, but there is nothing funky about Dunki. It is damn serious stuff, addressing vital issues. You could see it, just for the simple reason that it brings Rajkumar Hirani and ShahRukh Khan together, and tackles a subject far removed from the blood-curdling movies that keep arriving in droves, in the last few years.

Ultimately, the choice is yours: dunk it, or settle for Dunkin’ Donuts.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACKQDAlAfFE