Rajkumar Hirani’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Dunki’ is a comedy-drama film based on ‘donkey flights’ (termed as ‘dunki’ in Punjabi), an illegal immigration activity used for unauthorized entry into countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. ‘Dunki’ Movie Review Suggest That It Is Fan’s Oriented. This method has gained notoriety among migrants, particularly those from Indian states such as Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Apparently the title of the film only works as its curiosity factor, as the film has nothing much about the ‘Dunki’ business and touches just the surface!

‘Dunki’ marks Shah Rukh Khan’s maiden collaboration with Raj Kumar Hirani, who had (reportedly) earlier offered him roles in his films Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) and 3 Idiots (2009) which SRK had rejected. Dunki is Taapsee Pannu’s first onscreen collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan whose Red Chillies Entertainment had earlier produced Taapsee starrer ‘Badla’.

A more important fact here about associations is that this is Raj Kumar Hirani’s first film outside a Vidhu Vinod Chopra production (Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, PK, Sanju). It could be a fair point of contention that the difference in story telling is evident what with Vinod Chopra’s latest directorial ’12th Fail’ also getting appreciation from all quarters. Is that the missing link in this illegal immigrant saga, I wonder!

Dunki is about these four friends – Manu, Sukhi, Buggu, Balli (Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Vikram Kochhar, Anil Grover) – in a small village Laltu in Punjab, who with their own logical reasons dream to go to London / England. But they do not pass the visa test. Their lives change one day when a soldier Hardayal ‘Hardy’ Shukhdev Singh Dhillon (Shah Rukh Khan) arrives and promises to take them to their dreamland. Together, they set out on a perilous journey which tests their courage and ideologies. ‘Dunki’ is positioned as a heartwarming story of friendships, borders, nostalgia for home and love.

The narrative is grossly broken into four segments.

The first, how and why Shah Rukh Khan lands into this village in Punjab (en route to ‘Pathan’kot) and meet up with the four friends who are struggling to move to greener pastures (read London) with nothing in favour of any of them. The second segment is the activities that these four friends along with the army ka jawan (Shah Rukh Khan) partake to pass the visa test. It is mostly limited to creating a mockery of learning English language with reluctance. Their reasoning is simple, when the British had come to India, we never asked them if they knew our language!

The next is glimpses into their Dunki journey, reaching London and the fate that they seal for themselves on the foreign soil for a good twenty-five years. And the last segment would be their journey back ‘home’, again through the Dunki route. A few happy moments and the disheartening finale!

All in all, the expectations were sky high as it was a Raj Kumar Hirani film with none other than Shah Rukh Khan as lead. Unfortunately the spark from the combination fizzles out sooner than expected. The narrative fails to hold the attention and does not offer anything exciting to take back. There is a dearth of exciting dialogues or sequences or for that matter even drama or action that one could vouch for. It is only in the later reels towards the climax that a twist in the tale brings a smile on the audiences face (and of course the characters). A sigh of relief that something unexpected was kept under wraps for King Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan looks uncomfortable in most scenes. He doesn’t seem to be in his elements trying hard to be ‘charming’. Not that the character has scope to be charming throughout the runtime but it is stuck in portraying the character in the actor what with aviators on in irrelevant situations.

Ditto for Taapsee Pannu who has a decent repertoire, looks out of place right from the first scene. Her smile and facial expressions don’t go along the visuals.

The most important actor in a Hirani film – Boman Irani – is shortchanged with a character that doesn’t have enough meat in it and lets down the guard too quickly. The character and the actor try hard to invoke humour and laughter but the situation does not permit hence fails.

Vicky Kaushal as Sukhi Mangal in a special appearance can be termed as the only actor and character that fits the bill and justifies what is expected out of him. He looks convincing in someone who wants to learn but unlearns sooner in the wake to save his beloved.

The rest of the cast including Deven Bhojani deliver as demanded by the director and pass the muster.

All in all Dunki is a clean film and if you are a Shah Rukh Khan or a Raj Kumar Hirani fan, one time watch might not harm, but it wouldn’t be cherished for a long time

Movie: Dunki
Directed by: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Boman Irani, Vikram Kochhar, Anil Grover, Jyoti Subhash, Arun Bali, Amardeep Jha, Deven Bhojani, Rohitashv Gour, Richard B Klein, Gurpreet Ghuggi
Duration: 2 hrs 41mins