Dor (2006)

Two woman --different backgrounds, miles apart, and strangers to each other-- are linked by tragedy. Their new-found friendship is tested as one holds the fate of the other's husband in her hands.

Director:

Nagesh Kukunoor

Writers:

Nagesh Kukunoor (screenplay), Nagesh Kukunoor (story),

Stars:

Ayesha Takia, Shreyas Talpade, Gul Panag

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ayesha Takia	...	Meera
Shreyas Talpade	...	Behroopiya
Gul Panag	...	Zeenat Fatima
Girish Karnad	...	Randhir Singh
Prateeksha Lonkar	...	Gowri Singh
Rushad Rana	...	Amir Khan
Anirudh Jaykar	...	Shankar Singh
Shivani Joshi	...	Leela
Uttara Baokar	...	Laxmibai Singh
Pavan Singh	...	Pahad Singh
Banwarilal Taneja	...	Baig Saab
Ikhlaq Khan	...	Hanif
Veena Sajnani	...	Waheeda
Vibhu Kashyap	...	Post Master
Dhruv Jagasiya	...	Bhumi Singh

Storyline

Shankar Singh and his wife, Meera, live in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India along with widowed paternal grandmother, Laxmibai, his mom, Gowri, and dad, Randhir. The family feel that they are blessed after Meera's entry in this family. Shankar must go and abroad in Saudi Arabia and bids farewell to Meera, promising to keep in touch, which he does, and also sends them a large portion of his earnings, which is used to pay off the family's debts. Then when no word is received from him, a worried Meera phones, and is devastated to learn that Shankar has been killed by being thrown off a 10th floor balcony. Her status quickly changes, her jewelery, ornaments, fancy clothes are taken off, and she is told to remain indoors. wear dark clothes, and is only allowed to pray at a Mandir. Things brighten up for Meera when she befriends an Islamic woman, Zeenat, who has come all the way from Himachal Pradesh to look for her husband, Amir Khan. Shortly thereafter, Meera's world is turned upside down when ...

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Plot Keywords:

father in law | journey | love | desert | widow | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go to save the one you love?

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Sahara One Media [India] (English)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu

Release Date:

22 September 2006 (India)

Also Known As:

String

Filming Locations:

Himachal Pradesh, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Percept Picture Company, SIC Productions, Sahara One Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Perumazhakkalam (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Allah Hoo Allah Hoo"
Written by Mir Ali Husain
Composed by Salim Merchant and Suleiman Merchant
Performed by Salim Merchant
Courtesy of Universal Music India

User Reviews

A sublime and powerful story

Nagesh Kukunoor narrates a sublime and powerful tale of two women, intertwined by destiny. It is a story of quest- quest of love and the extent to which the protagonist is prepared to go for it. It is a subtle documentary on women subjugation and emancipation- a story of sisterhood. It is a narration of humanity and human relationships. The story moves us, it stirs us. None of the earlier works of Kukunoor prepares us for this marvelous fête of aesthetics and emotions.

It provides a landscape hidden to the eyes of the modern India. It paints a picture of an all together different world. The canvas is unfamiliar, but the characters are so easy to relate to- so easy to empathize with. Their pain is our pain; their jubilations are ours. We laugh for them and cry for them at the same time. They become for once us, and we become them.

The depiction of fiercely independent woman, Zeenat, by Gul Panag is by far her best performance on the celluloid. She essays a very powerful character which would go to any extreme to save her love- her background, religion, and limited resources not withstanding. She inspires respect for the character in the hearts of the audience. She tells us of the revolution which is silently happening in the hinterlands of India, where women are slowly but surely coming out of their traditional roles and becoming more empowered. She conveys this is a subtle way through her convincing and yet underplayed performance.

Meera is played by Ayesha Takia. And what a performance this is. Those who have seen Takia in her earlier roles would never be able to guess the sheer genius this actor is. One is forced to wonder what took her so long to express her real acting talent. Watch out especially for the scene where Meera's husband's battered suitcase is delivered in the veranda and she approaches it. Very few actors have been able to achieve the brilliance in their delivery to the extent she does in this scene.

Through his characterization of funny "behrupiya" Shreyas Talpade introduces an element of spontaneous fun with out disturbing the underlying emotional depth of the movie. He goes one step further from his earlier performance in Iqbal- show-casing a previously huge untapped talent. His appearance in the movie adds an extra zing to this tale of sisterhood.

Screenplay has done justice to all the characters. Secondary characters are also very well formed. Cinematography is awe-inspiring. The parched landscape of Rajasthan adds a kind of mysticism to the story. The juxtaposition of the story against this landscape adds an extra element of poignancy. Background music adds to the story without becoming overbearing. Technical departments have done a marvelous job. It shows in the movie that a lot of love and thought has gone into making of this movie.

All in all this is the best movie that has come out of Bollywood in a long time. It is a definite 9 out of 10. (I hesitate to give it 10 out of 10 because of the character played by Kukunoor himself in the movie that creates disharmony in the storyline.)