Dunki
We are consciously reminded of every other creation by Hirani throughout Dunki. We were getting drunk and throwing stones at people's windows at midnight. I was having a hangover in class the following day. A crowd gathered around for the 'results' stuck on the wall, the main characters pushing themselves through the crowds to look up the result with the exact shot, and then a finger ran horizontally on the result sheet to check 'pass' or 'fail'. We get it. But to compare two films like 3 Idiots and now, Dunki, the impact of both the films needs to be comparable too, right?
Rajkumar Hirani has a style. Over the years, this style's craft has evolved from the parts of Munna Bhai to the legendary 3 Idiots and PK. Handling compassionate circumstances, the evident power dynamics of characters, the fun, crazy attics and humour, and mainly presenting all of them convincingly. While experiencing Dunki, it felt like babysitting a spoilt brat between opposite-natured twins from the same mother.
There's a skinny line between a director's pattern and that pattern going towards monotony. In a non-linear beginning, the protagonist is preserved like a joker in the box because he is this peak of uniqueness the world has never seen in their lives before; one of the friends from the clan gives a voiceover, but for a change, the voiceover narration disappears in midway and never returns in Dunki. The list is endless.
We watch a film to expect engagement. That is achieved from emotion built up. That comes from the feeling sowed into us as watchers when we find that connection between the characters and relationships. We then begin to root for them. We care about what happens to them. When we know them, their actions and reactions are unpredictable. They surprise us, regardless of their traits. That point for Dunki just never arrives.
The ease of happenings is ripped off and replaced with convenience instead. Every character's reasoning and backstory is theoretically present, but let's have a look- Hardy (Shah Rukh Khan) and Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal) have the same backstory. Baggu (Vikram Kochhar) and Balli (Anil Grover) don't have any. Yet, we are expected to buy our sympathies for them, and Mannu (Taapsee Pannu) has a simple solution like migrating to Delhi, Mumbai, or any part of India to make ends meet. Still, her very feather-headed mind is set towards going to London and London only, having no explanation or logic whatsoever.
The problem is more than the superficiality of these characters. The problem is that the film asks us to side with the mindset, everything that is going on in the movie, and everything the characters say or do. I cannot comprehend why every country shouldn't protect themselves from illegal migrants. Many people going for Dunki suffer, and that's true, but should it be recommended and fought for? It's not like the countries are not allowing any foreigners at all. Also, the fact that the arrival of the British in India is used as an explanation or a reason for payback for entering other countries' borders illegally. And listeners are getting emotional over speeches by Hardy, who is a military person, by the way, and is crossing and helping people cross his country's border for nonspecific reasons and expecting us to join in the circus with him.
The first few sequences of the film go into figuring out what the film is trying to say, and once we find that, it doesn't convince us. Even if we exclude geographical, economic, and judicial reasons, there is no presence of a knot that ties these friends together. Hardy and Manu's chemistry needs to be felt. Manu seems like a weak person in their relationship, and Hardy comes in to save her now and again. Ok, let's consider that is fine too. But then, Manu's character needs to be more consistent so that we can relate their cringe story with either. At one point, she is that legs on the table bindaas person; in the next one, she is a wide-eyed girl standing and looking up with awe as her 'Banda' bashes up guys who even try to touch her. As this chemistry is not felt, Hardy's motive to help the gang gets weak, too, and all the cards fall off. It's as if he has appeared out of nowhere and helped them because they are incapable.
The protagonists of Hirani are completely deus ex machina in his every creation. And that's completely fine, for he has so successfully convinced us to be this hero, taking everyone under the wing and saving the day over the years. For that, this 'first impression' of every such divine character leads us to believe in his even impossible action in later parts of the film. In 3 Idiots, Rancho's act of producing electric shock due to contact with urine to teach his seniors a lesson makes us trust him even at the most hopeless moments. Delivery using a vacuum cleaner is possible. But here, we don't get that first impression. The first act he does is using wrestling to win our hearts. But later, when it is time to make more significant decisions, we don't trust him enough.
Boman Irani's Geetu is supposed to be the backbone of the squad. Instead, he is just a caricature, implying no significance as anything in their lives. It's as if he was just there to teach them the definition of Dunki. Baggu's mother (Sapna Sand), wearing pants, is used as a laugh for no reason. We are never told what these guys said in their homes while leaving for this deadly journey of Dunki if their parents let them go, or if they ran away or what. Yet, we are expected to be choked with emotions when they return home 25 years later when we have no information on their parents' opinions of this act.
This is a 'See Through' screenplay. We can predict exactly what will happen, and we don't feel happy when it turns out as we had thought. Everything is one stop over reality and over dramatic. The dialogues are off, and the punch lines don't land.
The plot feels like a back-and-forth travel madness two and a half hours later. We need to understand what these characters are chasing. After everything, it turns out that it was a confusion of their mind, and everything else in the world, including the laws, is still in its place and state and has no intention of changing whatsoever.
There's no doubt about the tedious work put into making a film, and every type and genre needs to be welcomed. But you don't consume Mentos and Coca-Cola together to see what happens, knowing the possibility that it will cost your life. It is true that only some things in the world need to make sense. But there is a Sense of Sensibility. A Consistency in Inconsistency.
