Dunki is a tragedy; not a comedy.
If you remember this line and watch the movie then you will not have any expectation from the movie. When it is a Raju Hirani movie then you will expect some mushy syrupy and an emotional roller coaster with comic elements!
The difference in Raju’s comedy is that it usually filled with so much pain or sadness! It can be showing the state of Raju Rastogi’s house in 3 idiots. If you think about it, the scene is actually very sad! The way his mother uses the Belan to scratch his father’s eczema is hilarious to us! But if you analyse the situation, the poor guy is paralyzed and lying down on a bed with a leaky roof and he cannot even scratch the itch!
Then you have the scene in Lage raho where Munna is telling circuit that someone is breaking and entering Jhanvi’s house! Typical circuit will tell that he is close by and finally realise that it is him! It is so hilarious but really sad!
Even in Sanju you have so many scenes which are funny like the Pinky scene! But the situation is really sad.
Raju has tried his best to elevate Dunki to the level that it becomes entertaining and funny but the issue itself is so sad and depressing that it is an arduous task indeed!
When someone decides to leave his or her country and somehow escape to another better country it is a lifechanging decision! He or she is sacrificing so much! He or she will not be involved in any minor incidents in his family back home. He or she will not be there for kids growing up or parents and elders growing old. He or she may not make it in emergency. Money is the main driving force otherwise no one will ever leave his or her country and go somewhere else.
Even now those who are settled outside yearn for that holiday to the country! Those few days go so fast with the blink of your eye! You have so many things to do and so many people to meet and so many things to eat! And with a clock like a hammer hanging on the top you try to squeeze how much every you can before the long journey back!
Now this is for those who have gone legally and properly which is actually minority! Many who use the DUNKI route have so much more to bear and suffer! Many may not even make it to their destination and even if they do, it is a daily struggle to leave and send money and be a NRI! They would have been poor in their own country but they had fresh air and open fields and an air of independence while many live in deplorable conditions with nothing much to write home about!
In these lines there is an excellent Malayam movie called Pathemari; it is one of the most emotionally true movie showing the trials faced by those who decide to emigrate and are stuck in a loop of work and work. In the movie when he brings some dry fruits to his relatives, one of them offers him and then utters, “Oh, you may be eating this everyday!”. The hero laments how he has never tasted them!
With these points in mind you may not be very surprised at the ending of both Pathemari and Dunki; a regular viewer of course may not be able to digest it!
One thing is for sure, Dunki is actually a much better movie than Pathaan, Jawaan, Tiger and even Animal!
It will make you sad especially if you are an NRI! Of course if you want to laugh with another country migration movie then check out this classic comedy by the birthday celebrity Indra Sen Johar called; ‘Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong’! It is a laugh riot!
Another day, another night, do not smirk, tomorrow you have to work!
Good Night!
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