Do Dooni Chaar - Review

Each of us has that one teacher, we are thankful for, when we look back - the one who made that subject interesting. And for every one of those teachers there are at least 10 not-so-good ones who kill our will to study. After all, what motivation do they have to be good teachers in this country? This is the backdrop against which Habib Faisal sets stage for the decaying system we are all becoming a part of. All in a fun manner using charming characters until the preaching comes in (all pun intended).

Even a hint of a middle-class milieu in films and the first people I think of are Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. No, I don’t want to get into a comparison game, Do dooni chaar doesn't match up to any of their products and that's alright. It's just cool that it brings a smile by reminding me of my all-time favorite directors. So, with reminiscing done, we can begin appreciating what the other senior citizens are up to.

Neetu Singh, what a brilliant choice for a comeback. The first time I heard of her return to films, I was weary - weary that she'll take up a role which puts her across as a wife-to-a-rich person and knows not what to do with her life. Then I saw the posters of her on a scooter. Along with a sigh of relief came another source of weariness. Is she going to behave poor while strutting around with the finest saris? A-la Hema-Malini-in-Baghban.

Yeah-yeah I'm a very weary person. The flip-side though is that I'm still in awe of the simplicity with which she-played her easy-going character - calm despite repressed needs and all that goes with being an Indian home-mom. She reminded me of my mom. Not once does it feel that she was away for so long. And good movie or bad, I hope to age at least half as gracefully as these women are approaching the other side of 60. Also, it's brilliant that they didn’t even seem remotely tempted to use the Rishi-Neetu history.

Of course, there's Rishi Kapoor too. A-ha! Here's something I'm not weary of. Somehow, I'm always sure he'll do well as any character he has to play. O-kay, he didn't remind me of my dad, but some of his scenes with his kids are just the right amount of emotional. Another one with a student of his brought me to tears, despite being clichéd, predictable and all that jazz. His acting and the writing - both of the situation and the dialogue - put together create such a perfect moments to get all misty-eyed.

Even otherwise, the writing touches upon many varying issues. Here's the checklist - The irony of the joy of getting your own money back from a government agency; the supposedly inevitable and certainly gratuitous pot-shot at the media; the oblivion in which parents live with respect to the street-smartness of their teenagers; the irresistibility of the "keeping up with the Joneses" game; and of course the whole comment on how the job of a teacher, the building block of any society is treated with little respect; meddlesomeness of parents even though the child knows the right thing to do; human nature of being dissatisfied; the car salesmen, loan phone calls - not an exhaustive list by any means.

Do dooni chaar is the coming of age of a family and the relationships within, despite individual limitations and their inadequacies as a family. It's mostly fun and emotional but falls into the pits of boredom every once in a while.