Nagesh Kukunoor's Dor (2006)

[kaytee]

Watched it over the weekend and I wasn't impressed at all. The story was plain and dry and the acting was horrible except for Ayesha Takia and occasionally Shreyas Talpade. The only thing that worked for the movie was the cinematography. The excellent locations which included the snowy hills of Himachal and the barren yet beautiful and colourful Rajasthan's desert were the highlight of the movie.
Gul Panag's performance in the movie was so wooden. It felt like she is statue which is being forced to talk. No sense of emotion at all. While Ayesha Takia clearly knows how to act if given the right director. The same goes for Shreyas who has shown us he can act with Iqbal.
But the main culprit is the screeplay which has nothing to offer. And that is what dissappoints the most coz Nagesh is known for having unique screenplays which atleast keep the viewers involved. The movie looked rushed and not much time was given to develop the characters of Gul Panag and Shreyas.
A weak effort from a otherwise promising director.

[shariqq]

Saw this movie over the weekend on Home video.

As kaytee said, the movie is not the best display of Nagesh Kukunoor's talents. But even then it manages to be better than most run-of-the-mill movies that are being churned out of the Bollywood system. His want to make different movies not just for the sake of being different (unlike RGV), but to actually work on & in Cinema is what makes his movies measure up better.

The movie follows the story line of two estranged women: Gul Panang from Himachal Pradesh travels to Rajasthan to look for Ayesha takia, the widow of a man killed by Gul's husband in Saudi. She's looking for a pardon from the widow to reverse the Death Sentence for her husband.

Ayesha Takia goes complete non-glamorous, yet attractively innocent in the role of a young Rajasthani widow and plays the role with an understanding she never had to prove before. I was particularly surprised at how well she spoke her lines. And that is a plus when most of the *stars* are metro-bred Hinglishtanis. She goes from Bride to widow to friend so well - and the fact that a performance as this could not have been expected from her makes it more likeable and praiseworthy. She's not done anything powerful or extraordinary, but the fact that she makes her character completely believable is her triumph.

Kukunoor plays out the story on the screen well in terms of visuals, but misses the mark by a few inches in developing a promising prospect. Shreyas Talpade's Behroopiya is a wonderful character played with such charm, but for no apparent reason he becomes Gul's Friendly Angel and then dissapears when no longer needed. Gul herself is the same from the first scene of the movie right to the end, with absolutely no development to her persona.

A just a little over 120 mins, the movie is a pretty easy watch, and another argument to support the side that says not all Bollywood is copied meloramatic crap.

3.5/5

[fizz]

Isn' this part of DIFF? I was expecting one of you to go for this...now I know why no one bothered.

[kaytee]

Yes this is part of DIFF and I can see why, but this film just didnt do it for me.

[shariqq]

Actually, IMHO this is better than the other two Kunkunoor movies I have seen. I didn't like Hyderabad Blues at all, and 3Deewarein was just too convenient for all its characters.