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.
