I do not consider myself a film critic by any means, atleast not in the technical sense. I am however quite an ardent connoisseur of the few, choicest Hindi movies that have a gripping story to tell. I find myself identifying with the characters and even songs start to seem like they fit right into the scenario. "If I were her", I find myself thinking, "I would probably belt that number out too!".
Recently one such movie, Dor (a string), captivated me by its simple, clean storyline and the believable characters who inspite of their very human flaws and vulnerabilities were endearing. This movie was the creation of one of my favorite movie-makers, Nagesh Kukunoor. Having watched his Hyderabad Blues and Teen Deewarein, I have decided that he is more of a story-teller than a movie maker and hence his imagination is more lucid in nature. It comfortably lacks the larger than life fakeness of commercial Bollywood movies and yet captures the essence of a story with some of the key Hindi movie essentials such as love, romance and even the usual song, music and drama. The only difference is he sticks to realism while applying the very elements that if over-used would've made the story seem made-up or exaggerated.
I am writing this blog, not as a review of the movie but as a testimony to what it meant to me. Hence I will not divulge details of the plot which has been summarized by quite a few Hindi movie review websites and even Wikipedia. Briefly, reviewers describe this movie as the tale of a simple Rajasthani woman, Mira living within the harsh conservatism of a patriarchal society and a Muslim woman, Zeenat from Northern India who lives life on her own terms. These two independent stories spiral together and fate connects their lives like a string, a Dor, of destined events that often binds the existence of mortal beings separated due to the by-products of civilization such as religion, cultural differences and lifestyles. And like the comical, sometimes exasperating detail of life accompanying every wanderlust pilgrim, there is the village con-man whose character abundant with humor and fickle disguises, makes this journey an interesting one.
Now coming to the aspect of this movie that I identified with: During the course of this story, a rare friendship is established between the three main characters. Like most friendships this one is characterized by a strange, liberating experience for all three people. There are differences of opinion and arguments and even the moments of uncertainty and self-doubt that often tint the rare male-female friendship.
Truth be told, I am at a stage in life where my friends have at times, proven to be closer than those that I had considered my kin; their relentless support and even their tough love has pulled me through testing moments in recent years. Of all interpersonal relationships, I have learned that a good, healthy friendship has the quiet understanding and a lack of the smothering expectations that can potentially marr most other bonds. A rib-tickling song sequence, shot among beautiful sand dunes was my favorite scene in Dor. The three characters define the beginings of their unlikely friendship by this spontaneous dance to a catchy number being played on a small radio from a previous Bollywood hit, making it the best employed dance routine in a Hindi movie I have ever seen. I could see myself doing something equally crazy when I Iet my guard down only in front of the few that I call my closest friends. I could feel the exhilaration of those three characters as they performed this empancipating jig that with every beat seemed to loosen the gnawing shackles of social expectation.
I dedicate this blog to my wonderful friends...the ones that walked in everytime it felt like the world was walking out on me. You know who you are, don't you?
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