Skip to main content

Dhanak - film review

'Dhanak' as in Rainbow (not sure in which language), is a tug at your heart tale of two precocious kids in Rajasthan (a western frontier state of India) roaming in the desert in search of a unicorn.  Not really but close.  The girl protagonist is an elder sister to a young brother who has gone blind at an early age.  She is on a naively innocent but pure of heart mission to find sight for her sibling before he turns nine years old.  And that too with help from a famous Bollywood movie star.  Or so she dreams.

Whilst they have their playful and angry moments in the movie, the kids who have lost their parents in an accident and live with their uncle in the desert of Rajasthan are inseparable.  The older girl actor plays her role with a natural, easy going manner while the younger brother at times looks like he is trying hard.  But overall amazing piece of acting on the big screen at a young age.

The director, one Mr. Kukunoor,  is an engineer by training from the southern state of India, that traditionally churns out IT consultants but here we see a refreshingly different spin from the mind of a genius.

The movie as a whole is clearly breaks the Bollywood mold, both in its simplicity and honesty as well as the subject matter but perhaps an hour too long for my taste.

Cinematography is also noteworthy with the vibrantly colorful scenes and the use of various characters to meld the fantastical tale together.  But there are several spots during the journey (literal and artistic) that I could have done without.

Singing or background music, a must have formula in the Hindi film world is timed well, is adequate and sounds good.

All in all a film about hope and undying love.  Good job.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...
Post a Comment
Read more

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more

A few good books

 On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
Post a Comment
Read more