Dharavi (1992)

Dharavi - known as the biggest slums on Earth, has many people living in abject poverty and destitute conditions. One such person is Rajkaran a taxi driver by profession, who has bought a ... See full summary »

Director:

Sudhir Mishra

Writer:

Sudhir Mishra

Stars:

Shabana Azmi, Pramod Bala, Madhuri Dixit

Cast

Credited cast:
Shabana Azmi	...	Kumud
Pramod Bala	...	Mother
Madhuri Dixit	...	Dreamgirl
Mushtaq Khan	...	Shankar
Satish Khopkar	...	Dada Sarkar
Anjana Mumtaz	...	Amma (as Anjana)
Chandu Parkhi	...	Pareshan
Om Puri	...	Rajkaran
Deepak Qazir	...	Chaurasia
Veerendra Saxena	...	Chaskar (as Virendra Saxena)
Shakti Singh
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Chandu

Storyline

Dharavi - known as the biggest slums on Earth, has many people living in abject poverty and destitute conditions. One such person is Rajkaran a taxi driver by profession, who has bought a taxi and is still for it in small installments. He, his wife, Kumud, and his son live in small tenement. Electricity and water are not available legally, but can be obtained illegally by paying middlemen, who in turn bribe the police and the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials. Rajkaran's dream is to own his taxi, and start his own business - of dyeing clothes. His dream comes to light, when he, along with three others, acquire the necessary land and building for it. Once started, things start looking up for Rajkaran, and he even has his mom, Amma come over to live with them. Then things take a turn for the worse - the building is deemed illegal by the BMC and is demolished; Rajkaran and his associates are unable to protect nor save their investment; Unable to pay for his taxi, his vehicle ...

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Plot Keywords:

taxi | dream | taxi driver | slum | shantytown | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Company Credits

Production Co:

Doordarshan, National Film Development Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

'If you're running too fast, you might step into quicksand'

In 'Dharavi', Sudhir Mishra gives us a glimpse of the slum culture infested by poverty, crime, corruption, despair and depravity. Taxidriver Rajkaran (Om Puri), an inhabitant of the Dharavi slum, dreams of making it big as he's fed up of life in the slums. His frustration takes a toll on his marriage. His wife Kumud (Shabana Azmi) works at a garments factory and takes care of their son. She's satisfied enough with her life and this only further exacerbates things for Rajkaran. Rajkaran's happiest moments are when he's hammered. He bounces into a dream world where he is paid a visit by a siren (Madhuri Dixit) whom he identifies as his true love. Frustration leads to despair which calls for desperate measures.

Mishra's depiction of the slum culture is well done. He displays a good understanding of it and pays attention to detail which is apparent in the language, the sets, costumes and social interactions. I also liked his use of symbolism and metaphors. The background score is beautiful. However, the cinematography is flat and the sound effects are weak.

Om Puri delivers yet another phenomenal performance. He captures Rajkaran's frustration, vulnerability, persistence, anger and despair with élan. Shabana Azmi plays her part with equal conviction. Veerendra Saxena does well as Kumud's brother whose ideals conflict with Rajkaran's interest.

Overall, 'Dharavi' is easily one of Mishra's best movies, perhaps his best after 'Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi'.