Darbaan

In these times of loud movies its a welcome relief watching a calm and sensible story line.

Darbaan is the story of a caretaker who does a mistake and then his life changes. He lives in a guilt and how he deal with the guilt and society is the base story line.

Sharib Hashmi looks convincing as Raichur and delivers an emotional and strong performance. Sharad Kelkar does a good job in a limited screen presence. The whole movie is basically revolves around Sharib's charactrer.

Basically the movie portrays the Raichur's guilt and how does he cope with that guilt and with society.

Before I speak about the film, I'd like to tell that I was eagerly waiting for this film ever since I'd watched it's trailer in March and had planned to watch it on my birthday in April but like all other films that got direct OTT release, this one had the same fate. Now maybe after waiting almost 9 months, my expectations were really high with this film and that's when I learnt that it's best to never expect anything because that way you'll never be disappointed.

The performances are average except Rasika Dugal who was brilliant in her short role and Annu Kapoor's narration was perfect. There are some scenes which were really impactful. My personal favourite is the one where all family members are sitting on chairs while watching television but the caretaker sits on floor. On one hand the narrator says that the caretaker is like family but on the other hand, there's this divide which led to him sitting on the floor. This 'like' I think is what makes all the difference. There are many such subtleties if you look carefully and that works well for the film. The music here is all original and blends brilliantly with the narrative and is a plus for the film. Another thing that favours is the length of the film. Since it's adapted from a short story, the length is also short. Just 88 minutes. And that's good because the writers almost stayed true to the material and didn't try to stretch it unnecessarily. The underlying message and themes of loyalty, love and guilt have been conveyed in a nice way. So yeah, give it a watch because we surely have a dearth of good Hindi content but don't keep any expectations.

During our childhood, we have always seen our parents keeping maids and caretakers who used to look after our household and family. They kept us happy with their faithful service and in return earn our trust. Sharib Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar and Flora Saini starrer Darbaan which premiered today on Zee5 explores the friendship bond between a boy and his caretaker.

Based on the 1918 short story Khokababur Pratyabartan written by Rabindra Nath Tagore , Darbaan introduces us to the world of coal mines during the 1970's era. As the government took the decision to nationalize the coal mines pertaining to the heavy losses suffered by the private owners. The world of one of coal mine owner, Naren Babu (Harsh Chhaya) was blessed with happiness as his son Anukul (Sharad Kelkar) enjoyed the company of care taker, Raicharan (Sharib hashmi). As the business of coal mined suffered due to the government decision, Naren Babu decided to let go off his servants and so was Raicharan who had to depart from Anukul.

After few years, Anukul returned to his home town with his family and requested Raicharan if he could come and stay with them to look after his son. Being faithful to the family, Raicharan happily agreed and started looking after Anukul's son just like the way he used to look after Anukul when he was young. On one unfortunate day, Raicharan loses Anukul's son during one of evening stroll and is never able to find him. Struck with tragedy, Anukul's family is devastated and blames Raicharan for the disappearance of the child. Raicharan, filled with guilty, leaves the house but decides to repay his service with a gift which makes the life of Anukul and his family filled with happiness and love.

In the age of gadgets, fast-paced crime, drama and thrillers, Bipin Nadkarni directed Darbaan is a welcome change as it transforms you to the world of village life where things were simple and yet beautiful. As the drama begins, you are introduced to picturesque world of Anukul and Raicharan which is enhanced with beautiful camera work and photography by Vijay Mishra, Sumit Gangopadhya and Amalendu Chaudhary. The movie works well initially as everyone is happy and you might be wondering what exactly is the story all about. Post 35 minutes, the movie breaks into tragedy as Raicharam makes the biggest mistake of his life.

While the story moves on with act of suffering and guiltiness, Raicharan still had to make his final redemption. Here Darbaan suffers with a blemish writing, especially the scene where Raicharan searches for his son in the busy street of Gangtok. Even the climax is laid back and less impacting. The good news is that editing and a happy ending compensate for the minor suffering.

Darbaan is a performance driven film and it is Sharib hashmi who finally proves that he can carry a film on his shoulder, despite playing diverse supporting characters in a big-budgeted films and web-series. The versatile actor excels in his role as Raicharan and brings out the emotions whom you will be able to relate. Shard Kelkar is another gem of an actor who keeps on surprising with his powerful performances. I liked Flora Saini as she does well in her role. Rasika Dugal impresses in her special appearance.

Overall, Darbaan works on electrifying performances, strong storyline with a beautiful life lesson - being honest. Encouraging 3/5

A straight forward no nonsense emotional movie.

No masala, no extra dramatisation.

Good performance by Sharib, especially the gradual transformation from a young man to old man.

This movie will always be in my list of most Heart touching movies of all time.......