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Sunday, May 5, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD DO DOONI CHAAR
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
In a season of overblown action-comedies with superstars laying down the ground
rules for dynamic dadagiri on the large screen, it is refreshing and comforting
to see an aging world-weary working-class hero who travels to work on a rickety
scooter and tries to fulfil his nuclear family`s dreams of a car.
The journey from the two-wheeler to the four is what "Do Dooni Chaar"
is about. It`s a simple premise peppered and punctuated by scenes and dialogues
straight out of a Punjabi middle-class household in Delhi where the two grownup
kids dream of BMWs and IPL shares, while the father tries to put together money
for an Alto car and chicken meals for his family.
The film, directed by debutant Habib Faizal, has a heartwarming slice-of-life
feel to it. Rishi Kapoor, playing a working-class loser for the first time in
his career pitches in a near-flawless performance as a maths teacher whose
students have gone on to own the best cars in the world while he, the gyan guru,
remains frozen in his middle-class karma.
Mercifully, the neatly scripted but at times a little under-done film opts not
to focus on the irony of a knowledge-giver`s financial burdens. Instead, the
plot cleverly digs out situations where the Duggal family is shown getting into
comic crises, such as the wedding at Rishi`s sister`s in-laws` place where the
Duggal parivar has to show up in a borrowed car.
These situations written sensibly and enacted convincingly echo the savagery of
life for the workingclass without wasting time feeling sorry for the characters.
Not just Rishi`s character, even his wife, played by the lovely Neetu, comes
across as unfussy, practical and sensible householder who makes ends meet not by
the size of her husband`s income, but by a miraculous mix of common sense and
uncommon guts.
It`s a pleasure beyond measure to watch Rishi and Neetu play their real-life
roles on screen. For those of us who watched the pair do "Khullam khulla
pyar" in their heydays, watching them slip effortlessly into the roles of
harried parents seems like a journey well taken.
Add the two teenage actors playing Rishi-Neetu`s son (Archit Krishna) and
daughter (Aditi Vasudev) into the plot. And we are face-to-face with as real a
family as it can get in a quirky whimsical earthy and heartwarming saga of a
workingclass family`s promotion in life from the scooter to the automobile.
The script sometimes careens towards a scathing comment on the road taken by the
underpaid teaching fraternity country. Blessedly Rishi, one of the finest and
most underrated actors of our country, plays Santosh Duggal as a bit of a rogue,
not averse to shortcuts when the going gets really tough.
The humanisation and under-idealisation of the knowledge-giver is a clever touch
in the script. The debutant director demonstrates substantial scripting skills
in the way he leads his protagonist up the road of corruption and then pulls him
back from temptation just in time.
On a level that goes beyond entertainment, "Do Dooni Chaar" is
actually a timely warning to the architects of the country`s education system.
The film says… don`t let the guru (teacher) become a shishya (pupil) of
compromised idealism. Pay the teacher well. On the other hand, if such a reform
in the educationalist`s lives really happened, we wouldn`t have the pleasure of
seeing Rishi Kapoor deliver such a lived-in bravura performance.
Go for "Do Dooni Chaar". Its title says it all, suggesting not only
that the protagonist is a mathematician but also that he is constantly trying to
count the ways to make his family`s life comfortable.
Here, it all adds up.
Actor Anil Kapoor says veteran actor Rishi Kapoors autobiography 'Khullam Khulla - Rishi Kapoor Uncensored' is 'insightful, witty and honest'. In his autobiography, Rishi has revealed some of the unknown aspects of his life, right from his and his late father Raj Kapoor's affairs with co-stars to his belief in the father-son relationship and his passion for acting. Read More
When was the last time you saw something - on a window
display, on Amazon.com, in the flight magazine - and told yourself, `Someday,
I`ll buy that!`? Santosh Duggal fights that battle almost every day! His
animated family`s needs far surpass his paycheck. After all, how much does an
average Indian school teacher make? Probably 3 fancy dinners at the Marriott.
But they are happily living in their little middle-class Delhi paradise.
And then one day, arrives Phupho, Duggal`s `little` sister from Meerut. She is
here to invite them to a wedding at her in-laws and give them an ultimatum: They
have to come by a car. The only problem is that the Duggals don`t own a car.
Phupho`s solution? `Khareed lo!`
here is too much of Phupho`s pride at stake to cancel going to the wedding. So
the Duggals gear up for their first big purchase in years. The piggy banks are
emptied. The PF is encashed. A loan is in the offing. New hiding places in the
house are found, where everyone discreetly kept their savings.. and secrets. But
the real battlelines are drawn within the house. The four of them can`t seem to
agree on anything - the car, the make, the color.. Like Payal says, `Hamaare
ghar par discussions aise hi hote hai!` A mad journey ensues. After putting
together all their resources, there is one big hole that remains to be filled.
And then comes a gigantic lurking temptation. An easy way out? Will they take
it?
DO DOONI CHAAR will revive your memories of your own family`s story. It is the
story of the middleclass man and his tireless endeavor in coping with the fast,
new `India Shining`. It`s funny, real and heart warming. We all have our own
scooter-to-car tales. We are all our own Duggal. Do Dooni Chaar makes us see the
Duggal in us with the rare chance to laugh at ourselves.
