Dharm - A must watch movie!
Movie Review
Cast: Pankaj Kapoor, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Hrishita Bhatt, K K Raina, Daya Shanker Pandey
Director: Bhavna Talwar
Producer: Sheetal Vinod Talwar
Cinematography: Nalla Muthu
Script: Vibha Singh
Dialogues: Varun Gautam
EXCLUSIVE REVIEW BY HANUMANT BHANSALI
Hindi film industry is blessed with some visionaries who dare to think beyond the regular tricks of the trade and offer tales which completely engross you in their beauty. Dharm is one such film. Dharm marks the directorial debut of Bhavna Talwar.
Bhavna worked as a journalist with Asian Age before educating herself with the art of film making and conceiving the plot of Dharm. The film was selected for screening in the recently held Cannes Film Festival.
Dharm is an outstanding film in every aspect, right from the actors to the storyline and the technical aspects. It is heartening to see the beauty of characterization. Everyone actor seems like a character lifted from real life.
The story of Dharm is about Pandit Ram Narayan Chaturvedi (Pankaj Kapur). He is a respected Brahmin priest in Banaras and follows his religion cautiously, taking care of all the aspects of ancient Hindu scriptures. The Hindu believes in only one way of leading his life – that defined by his religion.
One day, his daughter brings home a baby. There is no trace of this infant’s mother. After some initial hesitation, the preist allows his wife (Supriya Pathak Kapur) to up bring the child. Slowly, the child becomes the cynosure of everyone’s eyes including the preist. The story gives a jerk when the real mother of the child comes back to claim her child.
The entire family gets a shock when they get to know that the child belongs to Muslim community. The child shakes the roots of the preist’s beliefs, which he had been following from the past thirty years. How does the child change the mentality of a Brahmin who keeps himself away from any change whatsoever?
Full credit goes to Bhavna for showing her impeccable control over the script and narration. She handles every scene with utmost maturity and sensibility, clearly evident from every frame of the film.
Nalla Muthu’s cinematography is a complete treat to watch. The costumes and the art look so real and give the film its basic flavour. Varun Gautam’s dialogues are perfect. The pure Hindi dialogues may be a hindrance at a few places on the whole they are acceptable.
Pankaj Kapur is certainly one of the most underestimated actors of Bollywood. The actor has got quite less compared to his talent. His performance in Dharm is just so natural and amazing. Supriya Pathak is very good and so is Hrishita Bhatt. KK Raina delivers a top class performance, and looks effective in his portrayal.
All I have to say that, the film is an amalgamation of quality direction, flawless acting, an amazing script and impeccable technicality. Dharm is a must watch for all those people who look out for a finely crafted Hindi cinema. The film raises its bar beyond the box office collections as it would clearly be profane to judge its success with the moolah.
Watch it to believe the glory of Hindi cinema.
