Do Dooni Chaar

Long after "Khosla ka ghosla" has a good movie with middle class background has come up. I would say the movie is far better than anyone can expect of Habib Faisal.

The movie starts with a very simple layout and continues the simplicity of middle class throughout. Definitely the characters are perfect suited for their roles and the storyline. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh came out very realistic. This movie has changed the picture of Rishi Kapoor-the rich dad to Rishi Kapoor-a middle class man.

The movie portrays a normal family with mummy like housewife saving a rupee wherever possible; father still using age-old scooter; decent and trying to be a boy daughter; and a ambitious son doing just good with his demanding girlfriend. The best part is there were no Golmaal-type events or songs to make the viewer happy or sad and everything comes out very naturally except for 1-2 scenes. I assure you the climax is not very expected type but you would appreciate the originality and attention to detail.

Basically, the movie contains a great deal of drama, comedy, sentiments and definitely suspense as to what happens of the CAR. If you liked "Khosla ka ghosla-quest for middle class house" this "quest for a car" is your type. No food for thought-just entertainment.

I am a middle class salaried person, having two children (one son and one daughter), a wife having the typical middle-class mindset and a moderately furnished house. Till three years back, I was riding a scooter only (still I ride the scooter only for most of the time). In 2007, upon shifting from Rawatbhata (Rajasthan) to Delhi, I bought a car (Maruti 800). So when I saw the promos of this movie, I at once decided to watch it because I felt I would relate to it. And my prediction came true.

Do Dooni Chaar (two twoja four) is the story of a typical middle class family living in a metro like Delhi whose head is not a permanent employee in a govt. office or a reputed company. He is a mathematics teacher (that's why the name of the movie is a mathematical one) in a private college, getting moderate salary and he supplements it by doing tuitions. He rides an old Bajaj scooter and lives with his family (consisting of his wife, son and daughter) in a moderate single bedroom flat. Like almost all the middle class Indian families, they have to spend more than their capacity for the sake of pomposity, relationships and social prestige. Like several middle class children living in metro cities, their children also like to make girlfriend / boyfriend, visit Mc Donald for eating and make quick money for out of pocket expenses which their parents are not able to provide them. Like most of Indian middle class parents, they also want their children to study in reputed English medium educational institutions and become something big in their lives. For that sake, they control their own expenses but ensure that the children's future is not adversely affected for want of money.

However this Do Dooni Chaar family has a family head with a difference from likewise family heads. Though like a typical middle class housewife, the wife wants her husband to earn some extra bucks even by compromising his conscience, the head of the family has his own morals to cater to. They pay bribes to the corrupt Indian establishment under compulsion (like most middle class Indians have to) but they do not do anything likewise themselves. The first reason is conscience. However the bigger reason is fear of doing something bad (or unlawful, to be exact). However when they have to suffer humiliation upon using the neighbour's car upon the special occasion of attending a marriage in close relation, the self-respect of the head of the family (the Duggal family) gets hurt to that much extent that he decides to buy his own car. Now what happens in making arrangement for down payment of the car which is not a small amount for a hand-to-mouth family in the capital city and how several allied things come to the fore, form the post interval part of the story.

Do Dooni Chaar is an excellent and very well made movie. While watching the movie I was feeling as I were Rishi Kapoor, my wife were Neetu Singh and my children were their children. Everything shown and every character shown (especially the family members) are so realistic that even for a moment you do not feel that you are watching a fictional story of an imaginary family. And it is this realistic touch of simple middle class Indian life and simple middle class Indian characters that makes this movie a winner all the way. Whether it's Rishi's prohibiting his daughter from doing a call centre job or it's his blaming himself for his son's spoilage or it's Neetu's complaining to her husband for making her leave her job or it's her fuming over the monthly income and expenditure budget of the family; everything is natural. It's the typical Indian middle class family which barely manages to live a reasonable life but still dreams big. And still owning a car and owning a house are the biggest dreams of the typical Indian middle class people.

The movie also effectively underscores the nobility of the noble profession of teaching alongwith the fact that teachers (especially in the non-govt. sector schools) are the one of the least paid salaried people in India which is a major factor behind the poor educational standards in our country.

Rishi-Neetu are awesome in their performances with their off screen chemistry coming alive on the screen. But the actors (Archit Krishna and Aditi Vasudev who is the anchor also) playing their children have overtaken them by their brilliant performance. All others (including Akhilendra Mishra as their neighbour and the actress playing Phupho to be specially mentioned) have also done exceedingly well.

Music is not great except the marriage song - Banni Hamaari Chaand Se Pyaari. The art director has done a splendid job by capturing the life in Delhi with utmost reality. In fact the whole Do Dooni Chaar team deserves a big hand alongwith the writer-director Habib Faisal. The only thing which may not appeal to the non-Delhites and non-Punjabis is the overdoz of Punjabi language. But that's not a big issue.

This movie reminiscing the Hrishikesh Mukherjee-Basu Chatterjee movies of the seventies and early eighties, is just like a gust of fresh and cool breeze in the cinematic environment suffocated by so-called NRI movies. I recommend this light-mood family drama wholeheartedly and unconditionally to all the movie buffs.

The portrayal of Mr. Duggal of a honest, hard-working teacher is amazing. Any teacher looks forward to appreciation and respect of his hard-work and efforts towards making a student realizing his potential. This is hardly recognized by parents/guardians. They think teaching is another way of making money, whereas that is not true. Loved the way director and script-writer projected the thoughts of common man towards the noble profession of teaching.

Another aspect that really makes movie special is the exploration of parent-children relationship. Parents sometimes forget that they are also equally responsible as much as a child for going astray.

Fine approach to describe state of teachers in our country though I don't completely agree with the climax.

Was flipping through channels on Sunday night after having nothing better to do and saw this wonderful movie do dooni char. Captured essence of middle class life so succinctly and reminded me of my childhood. Best was ending of movie when narrator (daughter of protagonist) claims that consumerism is not bad. In family's desire to buy a car they could rediscover their dad, started taking pride in their lives and his brother and father came close to each other. Their effort to win lucky draw by opening thousand boxes of detergent reminded me of how dutifully mom was collecting each edition of local newspaper when they had a maruti draw or how I used to try KBC phone religiously in college. Typical middle class dreams and desire to fulfill them. How one has societal pressures of showing one in good position in marriage at one's relatives, how neighbors fight and learn to live together and how old teachers always live in heart of students.

Thank God, I'm watching lot of good films nowadays!! It is good for mental health!! Do Dooni Chaar is a movie that is excellent in all aspects. Be it the casting, the dialogues, the direction, or anything. Just one word, excellent!! There have been crap movies in the past, there have been movies in which the director attempted to do something good ,but ended up as a failure. I suggest such people watch this movie. This is a textbook for people who want to make simple films with great intentions. Of course, Do Dooni Chaar hits the right target, and that is the success of the director. No wonder, after watching this movie Sachin Tendulkar wanted to act in this director's movie. And one more thing, this movie is produced by Arindam Chaudhury, the famous economist and the founder of IIPM. He has done a good thing to produce such a great movie. So, what's the movie about?? It revolves around the life of Duggal family, consisting of a dad, mom and two children. Real life couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh have come up together on screen after so many years, ant the chemistry is extra ordinary. The girl and the boy who acted as their children are equally good. The story is completely natural, simple and refreshing. The movies like Do Dooni Chaar should be made, this is doubtlessly a real gem in Indian cinema, one of the best movies of the recent times!! Habib Faizal, you rock!!