Dhanki movie review: Shah Rukh Khan narrates a heartwarming story | Bollywood

Manu Randhawa (Taapsee Pannu), in his fifties, is homesick and longs to return to India with his two friends Bhugu Lakhanpal (Vikram Kochhar) and Bali (Anil Grover). , I can’t get a visa from the UK. embassy. Running out of options, she calls Hadi aka Hardayal Singh Dhillon (Shah Rukh Khan) in Punjab. I’m sure he’ll find a solution. As they embark on their journey home, we see the trio, along with Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal in a cameo), dreaming of settling down in London in search of a better life. The story of how it all started will be told. Then a soldier named Hardy enters their lives and vows to help them realize their dreams. Twenty-five years later, they come together again to make another dream come true.

Incorporating director Rajkumar Hirani’s signature style, Dhanki is an emotionally charged film, sprinkled with a sometimes too much humor. The trailer reveals that Dhanki has SRK playing a young man and an old man, so there is no spoiler in knowing that the story progresses mostly in flashbacks. It tells the story of how Manu meets Hardy, how they become attracted to each other on their way to London on the Donkey Flight, and how they face some adversity along the way. . Hirani, who is returning to directing after five years since Sanju, takes us into a world full of love, heartbreak, laughter, tears, hope and failure, and sets it all with soothing music. . Some parts of “Danki” rely purely on the lyrics and BGM to create an impact, leaving a strong impression.

But Dhanki is more than just a boy-meets-girl love story where a girl helps her dreams come true. The film is a compelling story-telling with a fairly important theme of illegal immigrants from India who take dangerous routes to land overseas and often sacrifice their lives. I have to give this award to Hirani for the way she beautifully blends a love story with pertinent issues regarding illegal immigration. I liked how Dhanki makes a strong point in a lighter tone about why poor Indians and non-English speaking Indians are not allowed visas in some countries. There are some very heart-breaking moments, and some that will leave you with a lump in your throat, as the actors risk their lives to take on difficult missions in difficult places and across borders.

The story, co-written by Abhijat Joshi, Hirani and Kanika Dhillon, is flawless, but the direction definitely needed more. Although clearly not one of Hirani’s best works, Dhanki effortlessly keeps you captivated. The pace of the first half is so slow that you wonder if you can really sit through the entire movie. However, his 20 minutes before the interval promises a better and more attractive second half.

The whole IELTS exam preparation scene is the highlight of the movie. Gulati (Boman Irani), an English speaking teacher, tells everyone to create a template to clear the speaking exam, leaving Sukhi feeling helpless at not being able to pick up the nuances of the language. However, this article had a major flaw in this respect. There’s nothing organic about the humor and the jokes don’t land well. I miss the genuine laughter and sensitivity brought by Sanjay Dutt’s Munnabhai and Aamir Khan’s Rancho. In “Danki,” everyone seems to be struggling to make people laugh, and even the lines and punches seem very forced.

SRK is the star attraction in Dhanki and in the movie he appears in an avatar that we have seen before and has been seen many times in real life. As the hero, a young clean-haired boy who falls in love with the first girl he meets in Punjab, he is lovable and kind. But in the second half he gets better, his stubble grows, and the gang heads towards London through ever more difficult roads and routes. Whether you’re traversing the deserts of Iran or the snowy mountains of your next destination, Khan will enchant you. Of course, after the action-packed patterns and jawans earlier this year, Dhanki is a stark contrast and in that sense, it’s refreshing to see SRK doing what he does best. Taapsee as Manu is very natural and her Punjabi genes definitely make her accent and body language more authentic than any other female lead playing the role of a Punjabi woman. In her emotional scenes, Taapsee shows a firm grip on her character and stands her ground even in her funny scenes.

If you were expecting sparks to fly after seeing the chemistry between SRK and Taapsee, it’s mostly fine and won’t give you anything to talk about when you get home. Taapsee and SRK’s parts, with their gray hair and wrinkled skin, immediately remind us of Preity Zinta and Khan in Veer Zara. I had no complaints about the prosthetics, but I never understood Hirani’s understanding of the timeline. Even though Manu and her friends were only 25 years old when they started their journey from India, how did they become so old after 25 years?

Among the rest of the cast, Vikram and Anil are very convincing and support the script greatly. At no point do they seem burdened by SRK’s stardom or Taapsee’s screen presence. Vicky’s special appearance is probably the highlight of this movie. He gave a very good performance and left a lasting impact in several scenes. The entire cast, including the main cast as well as the main characters’ families, deliver plenty of heartwarming moments.

Overall, Danki is a movie that will make you cry and smile. And for those of you who couldn’t watch Animal with your family due to its glorified violence, you should definitely check out Danki, which is an absolute family entertainer and emotional riot.