Dor- Movie Review

 

 

Dor, literally meaning a string or rope. The purpose of this particular object is to connect two or more distant things. The  title of the movie is well justified wherein  people unrelated or distant in terms of region, religion , gender (referring to Shreyas Talpade) are connected with a string, string of hope . Unlike the typical bollywood movies, wherein all the humanly or beyond humanly or the heroic characteristics are framed to be exhibited by the male actors, the lead actors of this movie are “actresses” who have both superbly justified their roles.

The movie has dared to go beyond the stereotype and shown a glimpse of the valor, strength and courage of the other gender too.

 The young , pretty and innocent Meera(Aisha Takia) from a typical Rajasthani family is full of enthusiasm and loves to go beyond the restrictions of enjoying a dance and dreams of a life full of love with her husband but is not daring to go beyond the impositions and has accepted the life as it has been presented to her. On the other hand,  Zeenat (Gul Panag) from Himachal has dared to do carve out life at her own terms.

The condition of widows and a glimpse of what mental turmoil they had to (quite a lot still go through) in parts of the country are well exhibited. It made me realize that the society has imbibed a feeling in females from very early in their childhood that their source of happiness lies with someone else and this someone else is typically a man. In childhood, that man is either her father or brother on whom she is dependent mentally and economically. She is made to believe that she isn’t capable of taking care of herself and hence has to resort to the strengths of her brothers and father to protect her and guide her in deciding the trails of the path that she would walk. After matrimony, she takes pride in her husband, who she is made to believe is the sole source of her happiness. Mind it, only happiness, for all sorrows, she herself is responsible.  The widow is deprived of all sorts of pleasure, joy or any sort of happiness as to suffer in grief till her death. The society snatches away the basic right of being happy. The role of Dadi(grandmother ) depicts as to what happens when they go through it. The accumulated grief and feeling of being out casted from a normal life enthralls jealousy. They loathe when others from the same gender are happy. However the change in heart happened in the movie when she sees her own grand-daughter-in law to suffer from the same. The sense of belongingness is such that a lot of people feel happy or satisfied when others suffer from the same pain as they have been. It gives them a pleasure to have a companion in grief and because it satisfies their need of belongingness.

Girish Karnad’s role left me wondering about the sanctity of relationships. He sent off his son to earn in order to repay the debt for his haveli at the cost of happiness of his family members. Moreover, when he agreed to trade off his daughter-in-law for his greed to satisfy the false pride of social repute relating to the ownership of the haveli, it instilled a fear of probably not trusting the intentions of materialistic human ever. You never know he may trade off anything , reminded me of the famous gamble in Mahabharata.

The role of Zeenat( Gul Panag), proves again that if you want something bad enough, the universe conspires to bring it to you. She only had one objective clear in her head and she received support on the way, from the truck driver, from the Behroopiya( Shreyas Talpade) to reach her destination.

The importance of friendship and a heartily connection between people for a happy life is also illustrated. We seek connecting with people, who inspire us to grow, move out of the cocoon and more than anything, inspires to be happy. The take away statements from the movie “You need to decide the course of your happiness. The actions that you take are your decisions for your happiness but then you should also have the strength to face the consequences.

The last scene, wherein Meera(Aisha Takia) hands over the forgiveness note to the Zeenat (Gul Panag)and then after a while when Zeenat lends her hand inviting her to join in the journey was exquisite. The expressions made words unnecessary. Any dialogue would have spoilt the moment. Non verbal communications are less likely to be left to misinterpretations sometimes.  

 I couldn’t help but compare the scene with DDLJ when Shahrukh lends his hand for Kajol. The differences were that firstly, the previous doors of the train coach in DDLJ were open and Kajol could have entered through the previous door, whereas in Dor, the other doors were closed .Technical team’s responsibility probably. Secondly, Kajol was running to Shahrukh to find her happiness in the hero while Aisha Takia was running to Gul Panag for her own happiness.  

The movie also has a melodious sound track. The song “Ye Hosla” is one of the most inspirational songs that bollywood has given.  The Rajasthani folk song “Kesariya Balam” beautifully portrays the yearning while inviting someone to visit your homeland.  

Overall, it is a movie inspiring to break the norms which chain the inner happiness to the ground, a message to display the power of the string of hope to convert into a rope of hope with strength of the magnitude to change the lives, a motivation to unleash the happiness potential curbed and cornered by false impression of the strength lying in others with a caution to take responsibility and ownership of the actions and subsequent consequences.