Dharti

Its a nice Punjabi movie with good sound track and story line relevant to Punjab politics also.. I would like to single out MR RAHUL DEV's performance for his sheer understanding of the character..Great act by Rahul Dev and i welcome him to Punjabi cinema.. A Punjabi will not get disappointed for sure and performances are also good.. Rahul Dev has Exceptional screen presence..See it for this actors performance and you..Also to mention that i specifically made my account in IMDb to give special thanks and mentioning to MR RAHUL DEV and its my first ever review of any movie.. will admire him..At last hats off to Sir Prem Chopra also..He shows such a conviction till this age..Nice movie..I will say that director could have used his resources more efficiently and this movie could have acquired cult status in Punjab and Punjabi speaking areas..On the whole a nice effort..

I have seen many Punjabi movies, the modern Punjabi cinema is still at its first stage, so a movie like Dharti is much appreciated. As most of Punjabi movies coming today are only based on college students or farmers of punjab, this movie has given a new way to punjabi cinema with different story and screenplay. The movie begins with Jimmy shergill's role and till end Jimmy leads the story. Story is interesting and music is also good, however music doesn't match with movie's description as the movie says it is about serving one's own country and in music tracks the hero performs as a gangster or rule-breaker. I would have not given 9 starts if it was not a punjabi movie, but only due to the factor that it is a punjabi movie with a different story and good screenplay, I give it 9/10. Best of luck to Punjabi cinema

The best thing about DHARTI is that it has been made with a completely different mind-set moving away from the usual fixed norms of a Punjabi film. And for this Jimmy Shergil has to be the mastermind, since he comes from a Bollywood background and is also one of the producers of the film, quite thoughtfully.

So, very thankfully the film is not even close to anything routine and is a hardcore political thriller, which sticks to its subject throughout and doesn't allow any useless romantic angles or comedy sequences to come in uninvited. As a rare event, the actors rise above their assigned roles and perform exceptionally well, even when the writers do not give them a solid backing. Lead by Jimmy Shergill and Rahul Dev, the film majorly becomes enjoyable due to their most believable and outstanding polished acts. However I would like to rate Rahul Dev's performance better than even Jimmy Shergill, due to his remarkable dialogue delivery and the laid back amusing style chosen to enact his role. Prem Chopra as the veteran delivers another great Punjabi act after his "Rocket Singh". Binnu Dhillon makes his presence felt but only towards the climax. Ranvijay, the famous Roadies Anchor, looks sharp and charming in his limited scenes. Surveen Chawla softly provides the required glamour touch to the movie as required and Japji Khera fills the second heroine place quietly. So from performances point of view, the director Navaniat Singh surely deserves his praises for extracting the best from almost everyone in the cast, which is not an easy task, especially in a regional film.

But that's all, as far as merits are concerned and unfortunately I have more flaws to mention about the movie which many may not be willing to read or accept in reality.

1. First of all, the title misguides the viewer completely as the film has neither got any scene or feeling of patriotism shown anywhere, nor does it talk about the farmers or productivity of the region as suggested by the title, DHARTI.

2. Secondly, in the promos we get to see Jimmy as an Air Force Officer and many shots of him flying in a fighter plane suggesting the theme to be related with war, our country's pride or similar subjects. But very surprisingly AIR FORCE has nothing to do with the actual concept of the film and it has been added only to have some extra grandeur in the final product and nothing else.

3. Coming to the main storyline of the film, truly speaking it's the Hit Hindi Film RAJNEETI made in Punjabi minus the illegitimate sons, brutal murders and sensuous scenes. The writers religiously follow the Prakash Jha film giving it a different ending with a suspense element and nothing else.

4. While watching it, I seriously wanted to ask the director many straight forward questions.For instance, how can a respected, responsible Ace Air Force Officer go on the roads like drunk and sing "Gaddi Modhange, Signal Todhange"? That was quite ridiculous watching an Air Force Officer along with a young college boy singing in such a way. Next, if a person gets hit by a truck coming at a great speed, gets thrown into the air with full force,then how can his turban still stick on his head right till the sequence when he is being taken to the OT in the hospital. Come on, I know it's a Punjabi film and we are dealing with all Sikh characters here, but at the same time we got to be realistic while shooting such scenes too.

5. Apart from the above, DHARTI has one of the most ridiculous, questionable, bizarre and absurd climaxes ever seen, where the hero escapes a deadly accident miraculously, may be because he was the hero as well as the producer of the film in reality.

5. Further all the songs featuring in the film are deliberately inserted and have no melody or lyrical value in them of any sort. And I was really shocked to see that the most likable song, which was all written, performed and arranged perfectly by its makers, was used along with the closing titles of the film in a very silly way.

6. Talking about the creative look of the movie, I really felt that the promos and (misguiding) posters of this movie were very loosely made which actually demanded to be designed and conceived with more power and impact telling about the real picture in store for the viewers. But here I also sense as if the producers themselves did not want to reveal their actual movie in the promos as they knew that it was a copy of the already Hit "RAJNEETI". So they very tactfully made all its promos and posters more around the AIR FORCE stuff and other things, which were not even there in the film in reality.

7. Lastly the biggest flaw of the film is related with the casting of Ranvijay Singh. Roping Ranvijay in a Punjabi film in the role of a College Students leader was a real ace in the hands of the director. But I really felt sorry both for the makers as well as for the actor when I saw the kind of treatment given to Ranvijay Singh in a side role having no importance at all in the script.

Summing up, I can only say that DHARTI is undoubtedly a brave and much needed, out of the routine attempt made in the PUNJABI FILM INDUSTRY. But I seriously wish it had an original script of its own and was not a copy. The film has too many flaws in it to be called as something exceptional. But still it's a welcome change in Punjab, making way for something more fresh, innovative and original to be made in the near future.

Serious Political Suspense Thriller, that is what Dharti is and I don't think I'm mistaken while saying that this is the first time a Punjabi film has fallen into this category. It's a pleasing thought that such a film has been made and on such a large scale. In more than normal way this shall be considered a risk on the part of producers to grab upon such a theme. It is a bold step in Punjabi Industry and it signifies the trust of big production houses in the audience of Punjab that they are mature enough to accept a movie like this. However the film was promoted as something largely associated with Air Force, but it didn't have much to do with that. It's just that Jimmy Shergill's background comes from Air Force as he is the Squadron leader. Apart from that he is mostly wearing his Air Force uniform and wears Aviators. Nothing more than that. This was a letdown as I was hoping it to be a patriotic film on national level. In truth the film is largely based on politics in Punjab.

Won't reveal the story as it's crucial to keep the suspense of the film. But let it be said that the plot is quite complex and a lot of characters are involved in the film. There are a lot of twists and turns in the film and the story goes here and there quite often. Its not a perfect plot, but not a bad one either. There is too much to say in the film, a lot indeed and it's a long story, perhaps that's exactly why there are very few tracks. You only get to see three proper tracks in the film, rest of them are used in background score.

In acting department, there are no complaints. The film totally belongs to Jimmy Shergill and Rahul Dev. Rahul Dev speaks in such a menial way that it totally blows you over, great dialog delivery which hasn't been seen in Punjabi cinema for a long time. Very serious acting and the same goes for Jimmy. Jimmy has played the role of a serious Air Force officer and he never flinches from his character. He stays the serious guy and his dialogs pertain to the same. The scenes where Rahul Dev and Jimmy clash together are the best viewing experience.

The greatest factor and the proud feeling was that the Punjabi spoken in the film is pure. Apart from a few words like "ped" (which should have been "drakhat" in Punjabi) it's easily forgiven. It's a great feeling to see such names as Rahul Dev, Prem Chopra and Ranvijay speaking in pure Punjabi accents and how deeply en rooted they all are in our beloved language Punjabi.

Technically, there were a lot of blemishes. Normally Navaniat 's films have a grace and beauty of their own as seen in TMKR and MKR. But Dharti lacked that finishing.. that color tone, that beauty… Camera was shaky, especially in the opening sequence where the title track Dharti plays. Most importantly whenever there is a close up of Jimmy wearing Ray-Ban sun glasses, you can always see the camera crew in the reflective glass of the Ray Bans. This should have been avoided.

But all in all, a great attempt and a movie worth watching. A few more movies from Navaniat Singh and he will be making films to compete with Hindi Cinema. In fact probably better than Hindi Films. Dharti is a very different kind of movie and it has substance, lets see how the public takes on a political motive.

I have just seen the film this past weekend, and I am still thinking about it. From the storyline to the music, this movie delivered! I found myself rushing out after the film to buy the original soundtrack! On a side note I encourage readers of this review to buy the ORIGINAL music. It is so disappointing to not be able to buy originals of Indian soundtracks because the demand is not there. Why not pay for what has been put out there by artists? I would still like the option to buy the REAL thing. I find it disappointing when it is not available. Anyway back to the film. The usual case with Indian films is that you can FEEL how long the movie is, as it fumbles its way to the conclusion. With this film I was so engrossed with the story line the time passed to quickly, and I did not even take note of how long the film was. Without giving anything away, I strongly recommend others go see this film. I have not felt so passionately about a film since Rang De Basanti. Which was another film that combined the elements of politics, entertainment and music in a masterful, memorable way.