CineBits_Dor

Happen to watch Dor today (Feb 16) at home, almost after 10 years of it's release, but always wanted to watch it. And today got to confirm that that intuition was bang-on.

It's an emotional drama, very different story-line for Bollywood, remake of Malayalam movie, but depicted really well in the North Indian setting. It's a story about 2 women from far places, get connected for a reason, while one has lost her husband but at the same time she can actually save life of the other woman's husband. Sounds simple?....No! It comes with an unsettling twist which has to be seen unraveling on the screen. And there is another very different character of a Bahuroopia which acts as a mediator between these 2 women.

Ayesha Takiya playing the young widow, has probably given the life time performance and should be remembered for this role than anything else! And she wasn't even 20 while portraying this character. But her expressions and dialogues (to some extent and compared to Gul Panag) are very true to the character. Gul Panags body language to depict Zeeenat is equally good - Considering her glam-ramp background, shouldn't have been easy for her. Girish Karnad and Uttara Baokar are the usual best. 

But the highlight was maverick of a character portrayed by sensible Shreyas Talpade. It is kind of extended cameo role, but he brings this character to 'life' and shows why he is a 'must-have' element of any Nagesh Kukunoor movie.

Some of the scenes touched the soul - 1) The climax scene of Ayesha being in 2 minds and then finally boards the train, beats similar scenes from DDLJ and Jab We Met on the emotional grounds. 2) The other one is when Ayesha, Gul and Shreyas are dancing in the desert on the tune of "Kajra re' is a treat to watch. 3) And the last one is when Ayesha is walking in the by-lanes of the town, suddenly starts dancing on the beats, when she hears the famous Bollywood dance number 'You are my Sonia' adds a soothing element at least for a moment. 

Without Sudeep Chatterjee (Guzaarish, Dhoom 3, Baby and Bajirao Mastani) the ace cinematographer of Nagesh, this wouldn't have been a must watch movie. His long shots, trolley shots, and very different but involving angles, help create splendid settings and visuals in the otherwise dry and dull backdrop of the Thar desert.

Kesariya Balam Padharo Mhare Desh' a Rajasthani folk song from the movie Lekin is very aptly seeded into the plot and becomes core of the movie. It is used as vocal / instrumental background score across the length of the movie and adds a divine note to the movie. 

Finally Nagesh's best film till date. I can see a lot of similarities between him and Manoj NIght Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) - at least in terms of the varying genre they handle effortlessly, and also for the remarkable cinematography in their movies. I hope Nagesh also would get into the league of mainstream commercial cinema and achieves a huge box office success in coming years: through a Sci-Fi or a Spy movie. 

A must watch movie and tribute to the ladies - in fact it's apt to say this was a 'Queen' or 'Mardani' of the first decade of the millennial!