Most famed directors over some time develop a signature template for their films. Rajkumar Hirani is not an exception. His template is to pick up a serious social subject that has a universal appeal, develop an interesting screenplay around it and lace it with scenes that work on humour at one level and emotions at another level. In Munnabhai MBBS, it was the state of the healthcare system. 3 Idiots was a satirical take on the state of the educational system in India. PK was about the mixing of religion in our day-to-day lives. In his latest film Dunki, Hirani takes up the issue of illegal immigration as the central theme and tries to weave a satirical and emotional screenplay around it. Hirani’s template has been seeing diminishing returns from the peak of Munnabhai and 3 Idiots and in Dunki it has hit a new low.
Hirani usually takes a lot of time (a few years to be precise) to develop the screenplay for his films. He along with his regular co-writer Abhijat Joshi does a lot of research on the subject and works hard to develop a mix of scenes that bring in humour and emotion in equal parts. And usually, this appeals to all types of audiences going by the success of his films. You can see that 3 Idiots/PK model in Dunki too. It is obvious that Hirani and Joshi, this time along with Kanika Dhillon (the go-to writer for stories set in Punjab in Bollywood these days), have worked really hard on the screenplay. However, the problem is and it is a major problem – the humour lands only half the time and the emotional scenes do not land at all. In trying to be too clever by half in writing the humour, the writers trivialise the whole issue of illegal immigrants. On the other hand, I felt that films like Dulquer Salman’s Comrade in America (Malayalam) and Nala Damayanti (Tamil) starring Madhavan Tamil have dealt with this issue far more effectively.
The other big question is – Why does this film need a Shah Rukh Khan for this role except for riding on his star power? People would watch Hirani’s films because it is a Rajkumar Hirani’s films. He doesn’t have to ride on a “star’s” power to get an opening.
SRK is a bad fit for this role and hams his way through a role where he has to traverse from being a 25-something to a 50-something man. When SRK under-acts as he did in Swades, it is “acting” for us. When he acts, it is actually “Over acting” for us and when he Over acts, it is clearly over the top. In Dunki, he acts in some parts and overacts in most parts ending up being intolerable. It is high time SRK starts playing his age. Taapsee Pannu usually a competent actor, suffers from bad makeup/wig and continuity issues (in her last scene she looks like a 25+ while she is supposed to be 50+) and ends up being a pale shadow of herself. The supporting cast of Vicky Kaushal, Anil Grover and Vikram Kochar who are part of the gang, make up for SRK and Taapsee with their competent acts.
In giving too much space and time to needless humour in the 1st half, the making of the film ends up being too lazy. The entire illegal immigration journey of SRK and the gang from Punjab to England cutting across countries is shown through maps, montage shots and mediocre VFX visuals. They are shown to carry just one bag pack each but are in a position to wear different weather-appropriate costumes.
In Hindi cinema, Rajkumar Hirani has been a torch bearer of making films that have a social connect instead of run-of-the-mill themes. It must be commended that he has stuck to that value in Dunki as well. However, his making and storytelling style have not evolved with the times. The film suffers from a huge 3 Idiots hangover in the making style. Even one song – Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se reminds us of Behti Hawa Sa…
I wouldn’t say Dunki is a bad film, but it is an underwhelming film coming from Rajkumar Hirani where he has done a “Dunki” on us!
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