‘Dunki’ movie review: Shah Rukh Khan and Rajkumar Hirani deliver a drama that delights and drags in equal measure

 

In ‘Dunki’, Rajkumar Hirani’s first and long-awaited collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan, the purpose and social concern is laudable but the storytelling feels facile and laboured after a point

Early in Dunki, a simplistic but heartwarming take on the poor illegal immigrants from Punjab who make dangerous journeys in a desperate search for greener pastures, a set of hopefuls find a way to crack the English test. They memorise a paragraph by rote and decide to parrot it to the examiners by just changing the name of the topic.

Inadvertently, the long scene with diminishing returns becomes a metaphor for the sameness that surrounds Rajkumar Hirani’s storytelling. Over the years, he has engaged the audience with almost the same story structure but always managed to imbue it with a beating heart and a smiling face.

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In Dunki, Hirani’s first and long-awaited collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan, the purpose and social concern is again laudable but the storytelling feels facile and laboured after a point, largely because Hirani doesn’t want to test newer ways to put his point across. The spontaneity that we associate with his work is sadly missing.

Set in a small town in Punjab, Dunki goes into flashback to tell the tale of four characters with modest means who want to immigrate to London to get over their difficulties in life. When they are about to give up, Hardy (Shah Rukh), an ex-armyman, comes into their lives to make their dream a reality by taking a circuitous, illegal route. Along the way, he develops a soft corner for Manu (Taapsee Pannu) only to realise that her wish to cross over to a foreign land is stronger than her love for the man who gave her the belief.