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Dor (film)
Encyclopedia
Dor is a 2006 Indian drama film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor
and features Ayesha Takia
, Gul Panag
and Shreyas Talpade
as the lead actors. The film, which is a remake of the Malayalam film, Perumazhakkalam
(2004), was well received by the critics after its release on 22 September 2006. Dor, which also released on a DVD, garnered rave reviews from both critics and film buffs.
The film, which was produced by Elahe Hiptoola
, had cinematography
by Sudeep Chatterjee and editing by Sanjib Datta. For the film that had Hindi as the predominant language with a sporadic use of Urdu
, Salim-Sulaiman
composed the background score for the film.
The film is about two women who come from different backgrounds and how fate brings them together. Meera (Ayesha Takia
), a young woman who becomes a widow shortly after marriage, is trapped by tradition. Zeenat (Gul Panag
), on the other hand, faces the daunting task of saving the life of her husband, who is on trial for murder. A bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade
) helps her reach Meera, who holds the "string" to Zeenat's hope. The companionship that develops between Meera and Zeenat results in redemption for both.
) is an independent Muslim
woman living in Himachal Pradesh
. She agrees to marry Amir Khan, her boyfriend despite his parents' reservations. After their marriage, her husband leaves for Saudi Arabia
to begin with a new employment.
Meera (Ayesha Takia
), a simple Rajasthan
i Hindu
woman, has everything in her life in accordance with customs and traditions: her formative years, her recent marriage into a traditional Rajasthani family and her daily chores within the walls of her haveli
. Coincidentally, her husband is also away to Saudi Arabia, his new workplace. Meera finds it tough without her husband, Shankar, but they manage to stay in touch despite the geographical distance. Shankar regularly kept sending his wages back home so as to support his family that included his father, Randhir Singh (Girish Karnad
), mother, Gowri Singh (Prateeksha Lonkar), his paternal grandmother (Uttara Baokar
) and his wife, Meera. One day, Meera does not find the periodic remittance from Shankar. Time passes by and when there are neither any further remittances nor any correspondence from her husband, Meera gets worried. When frantic inquiries are made, she is devastated to know that Shankar was killed in a freak accident that was allegedly caused by his Muslim roommate.
When the news of Shankar's death reaches the Singh haveli, everyone turns somber and as per the Rajasthani tradition, the ceremonies towards rendering her into a widow emotionally drains Meera. Her vivaciousness and exuberance are thrust behind her black veil. The rest of the family vents their frustration of losing their only bread-winner on Meera, by blaming her for bringing ill-luck to their family. Meera, while being her respectful self, bears the insults silently.
On the other side, Zeenat hears the same news and an Indian officer suggests to her about the Saudi law which permits release of a criminal if the relative of the deceased forgives the guilt. Armed only with a photograph for Shankar and Amir, Zeenat sets out to find Meera. En route, she meets a bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade
) on the way. The bahuroopiya introduces himself and his profession as being multi-faceted and multi-talented in arts and mimicry. This profession requires him to keep visiting different places to perform "tricks" for his income. He turns out to be a petty con-man when he hoodwinks Zeenat and steals her belongings. However, when Zeenat is in trouble, he returns to rescue her with his artistic talent. He reveals his sympathetic view when Zeenat details her plight and he offers to help her with whatever knowledge he has. After making a lot of educated guesses, they both reach Jodhpur
and with local help, they identify the Singh haveli. When Zeenat directly requests the Singh family to pardon Amir's mistake, their anger drives her away. She feels that maybe talking through and befriending Meera might help her cause. The bahuroopiya takes leave of Zeenat and wishes her the best for her efforts.
At a temple, which Meera visits as her daily ritual, Zeenat makes her first contact. Over time, both become good friends and spend most of the time together and their friendship brings out the missing part in each of their personalities. In the process, Zeenat realizes helplessness; this is totally new to her forthright way of thinking. Meera, on the other hand, gets a glimpse of freedom; this brings her out of the shell of the traditions in her haveli and gives her a new perspective on her own life.
In the meanwhile, the Singh haveli is under a debt to Chopra, a local factory owner (Nagesh Kukunoor
). When Randhir Singh requests him to provide him more time to repay it back, he is given an offer - pardoning the debt in exchange for Meera. Though initially setback by Chopra's offer, Singh prefers the haveli to Meera.
When the news of the imminent death sentence arrives, Zeenat is compelled to tell the truth to Meera. Meera is shocked beyond belief to hear Zeenat's words and the fact that her friendship has been betrayed is what hurts her more. She immediately refuses to sign the maafinama (translation
: statement of forgiveness) and leaves for the haveli. Zeenat, initially, is deeply hurt to know of Meera's decision, but eventually accepts it as fate and decides to leaves for her hometown. Shankar's paternal grandmother empathizes with Meera when she breaks this news to her and she suggests her to look beyond what happened. Besides this, since Meera was "traded" by Singh, she gets encouraged by the grandmother's words and hurries towards the railway station, where she meets Zeenat. It is then assumed that Zeenat's journey to save Amir's life was successful and that Meera was equally successful in beginning a fresh life.
in November 2005. During the festival, he had hinted to a journalist that he began writing his next script. He confirmed this in another interview that after watching the Perumazhakkalam
(2005), whose story is based on a newspaper article, at the Film Festival, he decided to make his own version of the film. After purchasing the story rights from Kamal, director of Perumazhakkalam, he wanted to remake it in a different way. Through his story, he wanted to emphasize the protagonists' ordeal while in isolation in the form of a visual drama. However, the acknowledgments to Perumazhakkalam or its makers were not provided in the filming credits.
Kukunoor announced the news about film making in early March 2006 and suggested of its release in August 2006. He conceptualized the film in thirds; the first and third for the lead characters and the second for the supporting one. However, Kukunoor said that all his films, at the core, have "the human element - the simplicity of the basic emotions that bind us all".
Since the backdrop of the film was to be Rajasthan
, he had been there and did the necessary research so as to better portray the place and characters.
The CEO of Sahara One Motion Pictures, who also produced Kukunoor's Iqbal (2005), while speaking about their motivation to continue the association with Kukunoor said, "we all look forward to Kukunoor's films mainly because the subject and content is so out of the ordinary and captivating."
or Himachal Pradesh
before, but he felt that he would find great locations there. In spite of this geographical inexperience, all went as per the plans while shooting in Rajasthan. However, minor modifications in the script were allowed as per the local surroundings. Though Panag had been Rajasthan before, she felt the scorching summer heat unbearable at times. She liked the only continuous shooting schedule and said that it provided consistency in look and performance. In Himachal, it was slightly different when the crew had hard time framing the mountains correctly. On seeing the captured frames, they shifted all the interior shots to outside.
The filming was completed in 37 days in several locations of Rajasthan. Since most of the old palaces in Rajasthan have been converted into hotels, the crew stayed at a palace resort called Manwar. They also resided at a palace resort in Pokhran
, while filming was also done at Mehrangarh Fort
in Jodhpur
. Kukunoor, after completion of the shooting, said that it was his most challenging film as it involved a real-life story.
Kukunoor said that he always wanted to cast those actors who can relate to the audience and hence preferred actors from the non-parallel films.
Gul Panag
was impressed with Kukunoor's previous film, Rockford (1999) and her constant correspondence with him fetched her the role of Zeenat. Kukunoor felt that Panag had characteristics of someone who was lean and fit, good height, large frame, and with an appropriate skin tone. After a successful audition, she was chosen for the character that she felt was a difficult one to portray. Critiquing the actress with "I see urgency, pain but no sadness" and "I see anger and vulnerability but no guilt", the director pushed Panag to her limits. She felt that Kukunoor was such a man of conviction that he constantly forgot to eat and this once caused him a stomach infection. Gul Panag
, on the other hand, said that her role was very multi dimensional, multi-layered and hence it was quite tough to play the character. She said that Kukunoor helped her in defining her character with ease and said, "Nagesh looked at the minutest detail and was an immense support to me as an actor." However, Dor's executive producer, Elahe Hiptoola lent her voice
for Panag in the film.
It was in Socha Na Tha
(2004) that Kukunoor noticed Ayesha Takia
and until then he assumed her to be a glamor doll. After getting convinced about her acting skills, she was roped in for the character of Meera. Takia said that though her character emotionally drained her, it was not tough to portray and that she could learn a lot about life. She further said that, "Dor was indeed an exciting challenge for the actor in me. I am happy that it was also a very exciting role, which not many actors get to portray at such a young age." She also said that with Dor, she was not only in the film industry for glamor, but also for her acting prowess. While filming, Kukunoor bonded so well with Takia that he requested her to be his sister. Since she did not have a brother in real life, she got quite emotional with Kukunoor's brotherly proposal. This affection eventually solemnized in the form of a rakhi symbolically.
When Kukunoor was thinking of a character full of disguises, he first came up with an old man. When the thought of a scene with the three major characters dancing in the dunes came up, he realized that an older character could not realistically dance in the desert sands. He immediately felt that Shreyas Talpade
, whom he knew of knowing mimicry, could be used for bahuroopiya. Kukunoor, who worked previously with Girish Karnad
, said that he was the strength for the film and added that he found him not only to be a good actor, but also a good human being.
According to the DVD extras, Nagesh Kukunoor first wrote the screenplay in English, then had it translated to Hindi.
and incorporated their dialect
, accent, and their body language for his character. About Kukunoor, he said that, "though one tends to go overboard as an actor most of the times, the way he handles the character as a director, Nagesh makes you feel that it is very simple for you to delineate the character." Through his character of a bahuroopiya, Talpade was required to perform mimicry. While he was good at mimicry in college, it was during the filming of Iqbal, Kukunoor noted this talent of his and thus Dor came into Talpade's hands. About his co-actors, he said that it was refreshing to work with Panag and Takia despite the scorching heat of 45 °C (113 °F).
About the background score, Kukunoor said that "to put soaring music to give it a larger-than-life film image was pretty difficult". Despite this worry, with Salim-Sulaiman
composing the music, he was happy with the way it was composed according to the sequence. Karsan Saquria, Sunidhi Chauhan
and a Pakistan
i singer, Shafquat Amanat Ali Khan were among those who sang the songs. While releasing the soundtrack, Kukunoor said that Salim-Sulaiman and he tried make songs that "stood out from the clutter and something that was different from the item number
s or the boring love ballads."
38 million in India at the end of 2006.
said in its review about the film, "When you first watch Nagesh Kukunoor's impressively shot Dor, you want to simply applaud it as good cinema. Whether it's Ayesha's award-worthy performance or Shreyas' amusing moments, the credit marks pile up in favor of the director who has made engaging cinema." The Times of India
said:
About the technical department, The Hindu
said:
Another review from The Telegraph says:
While writing about the plot and the picturization, Rediff.com
concluded:
Taran Adarsh
, while writing about the chances of its commercial success, said, "Dor is a well-made film that caters to those with an appetite for qualitative cinema. Awards and glowing critical acclaim, yes, it has the power to win it. But, box-office rewards and a mandate from the aam junta (translation: common man) will elude it. The lethargic pacing will also go against it."
, theater officials withdrew the film from screening after just one week of its theatrical release. The reason cited for this withdrawal was due to many simultaneous releases such as the films Woh Lamhe
and Snakes on a Plane
. However, commercial success notwithstanding for these films, Dor was brought back to the screens. Following this, Dor was screened at the annual Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival and the Atlanta Indo-American Film Festival.
Along with nominations for cinematography
, dialogues
, lyrics
and supporting actor
(for Shreyas Talpade
), the film won the critics award for Ayesha Takia
and Gul Panag
at the 2007 Zee Cine Awards
. At the annual Star Screen Awards
, Talpade and Takia won the best actor in a comic role and critics choice for best actress awards respectively along with other nominations. At another such awards ceremony, Takia and Panag won awards for their performances. Takia further won the best actress award at the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
.
The DVD release, which was distributed by Eros Entertainment, is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen
, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive
24 FPS
, widescreen
and NTSC
format. With a runtime of 147 minutes, the DVD also has a provision for English subtitles. However, some versions of the film jacket and Netflix incorrectly list the runtime as 63 minutes.
and the lyrics by Mir Ali Husain, was released on 26 August 2006 with a typical and traditional Rajasthan
i flavor.
One review about the soundtrack said that, "this is no ordinary album and will be preferred by musical elites. Infused with classical music and Rajasthani folk music
, it is a good quality album coming out of Salim-Sulaiman
. But the shortcoming comes in the form that this is not the kind of music that'll please every ear." Another review, in a similar tone, said that the album "works only for those who are either followers of classical music or enjoy hearing songs with a Rajasthani folk music base. There is no doubt that composers good quality throughout, but overall the album caters only to a niche audience.
Nagesh Kukunoor
Nagesh Kukunoor is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is known for movies such as Hyderabad Blues , Rockford , 3 Deewarein and Iqbal .-Early life:...
and features Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
, Gul Panag
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
and Shreyas Talpade
Shreyas Talpade
-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
as the lead actors. The film, which is a remake of the Malayalam film, Perumazhakkalam
Perumazhakkalam
Perumazhakkalam is a 2004 Malayalam film directed by Kamal. The film stars Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Dileep and Vineeth. The film was adapted to Hindi by Nagesh Kukunoor as Dor....
(2004), was well received by the critics after its release on 22 September 2006. Dor, which also released on a DVD, garnered rave reviews from both critics and film buffs.
The film, which was produced by Elahe Hiptoola
Elahe Hiptoola
Elahe Hiptoola is a Bollywood film actress, producer, and costume designer.Her credits include executive producer of 3 Deewarein, Hyderabad Blues 2, Iqbal, and Dor.-Career:Elahe Hiptoola frequently works with producer Nagesh Kukunoor...
, had cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
by Sudeep Chatterjee and editing by Sanjib Datta. For the film that had Hindi as the predominant language with a sporadic use of Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, Salim-Sulaiman
Salim-Sulaiman
Salim Merchant And Sulaiman Merchant are a musical duo of brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, India. They belong to Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India..Steeped in a family tradition of music as the...
composed the background score for the film.
The film is about two women who come from different backgrounds and how fate brings them together. Meera (Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
), a young woman who becomes a widow shortly after marriage, is trapped by tradition. Zeenat (Gul Panag
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
), on the other hand, faces the daunting task of saving the life of her husband, who is on trial for murder. A bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade
Shreyas Talpade
-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
) helps her reach Meera, who holds the "string" to Zeenat's hope. The companionship that develops between Meera and Zeenat results in redemption for both.
Plot
Zeenat (Gul PanagGul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
) is an independent Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
woman living in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
. She agrees to marry Amir Khan, her boyfriend despite his parents' reservations. After their marriage, her husband leaves for Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
to begin with a new employment.
Meera (Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
), a simple Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
i Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
woman, has everything in her life in accordance with customs and traditions: her formative years, her recent marriage into a traditional Rajasthani family and her daily chores within the walls of her haveli
Haveli
Haveli is the term used for a private mansion in India and Pakistan. The word haveli is derived from the Persian word hawli, meaning "an enclosed place"...
. Coincidentally, her husband is also away to Saudi Arabia, his new workplace. Meera finds it tough without her husband, Shankar, but they manage to stay in touch despite the geographical distance. Shankar regularly kept sending his wages back home so as to support his family that included his father, Randhir Singh (Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
), mother, Gowri Singh (Prateeksha Lonkar), his paternal grandmother (Uttara Baokar
Uttara Baokar
Uttara Baokar is an Indian stage actor, who also acts in both on films and television. An alumna of National School of Drama, she remained lead actress with the NSD Repertory Company in the 1970s and '80s, a period which saw the revival of Hindi theatre in Delhi, before moving to television and...
) and his wife, Meera. One day, Meera does not find the periodic remittance from Shankar. Time passes by and when there are neither any further remittances nor any correspondence from her husband, Meera gets worried. When frantic inquiries are made, she is devastated to know that Shankar was killed in a freak accident that was allegedly caused by his Muslim roommate.
On the other side, Zeenat hears the same news and an Indian officer suggests to her about the Saudi law which permits release of a criminal if the relative of the deceased forgives the guilt. Armed only with a photograph for Shankar and Amir, Zeenat sets out to find Meera. En route, she meets a bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade
Shreyas Talpade
-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
) on the way. The bahuroopiya introduces himself and his profession as being multi-faceted and multi-talented in arts and mimicry. This profession requires him to keep visiting different places to perform "tricks" for his income. He turns out to be a petty con-man when he hoodwinks Zeenat and steals her belongings. However, when Zeenat is in trouble, he returns to rescue her with his artistic talent. He reveals his sympathetic view when Zeenat details her plight and he offers to help her with whatever knowledge he has. After making a lot of educated guesses, they both reach Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
and with local help, they identify the Singh haveli. When Zeenat directly requests the Singh family to pardon Amir's mistake, their anger drives her away. She feels that maybe talking through and befriending Meera might help her cause. The bahuroopiya takes leave of Zeenat and wishes her the best for her efforts.
In the meanwhile, the Singh haveli is under a debt to Chopra, a local factory owner (Nagesh Kukunoor
Nagesh Kukunoor
Nagesh Kukunoor is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is known for movies such as Hyderabad Blues , Rockford , 3 Deewarein and Iqbal .-Early life:...
). When Randhir Singh requests him to provide him more time to repay it back, he is given an offer - pardoning the debt in exchange for Meera. Though initially setback by Chopra's offer, Singh prefers the haveli to Meera.
When the news of the imminent death sentence arrives, Zeenat is compelled to tell the truth to Meera. Meera is shocked beyond belief to hear Zeenat's words and the fact that her friendship has been betrayed is what hurts her more. She immediately refuses to sign the maafinama (translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
: statement of forgiveness) and leaves for the haveli. Zeenat, initially, is deeply hurt to know of Meera's decision, but eventually accepts it as fate and decides to leaves for her hometown. Shankar's paternal grandmother empathizes with Meera when she breaks this news to her and she suggests her to look beyond what happened. Besides this, since Meera was "traded" by Singh, she gets encouraged by the grandmother's words and hurries towards the railway station, where she meets Zeenat. It is then assumed that Zeenat's journey to save Amir's life was successful and that Meera was equally successful in beginning a fresh life.
Cast
- Ayesha TakiaAyesha Takia-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
as Meera, one of the two protagonists. Coming from an orthodox RajputRajputA Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
family, she has to descend into a life devoid of joy. - Gul PanagGul PanagGul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
as Zeenat, the other protagonist. A gutsy and determined wife who hopes to save her husband's life and this leads her to Meera. - Shreyas TalpadeShreyas Talpade-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
as Bahuroopiya, the multi-faceted personality. He plays a supportive role to Zeenat by helping her to find Meera. - Girish KarnadGirish KarnadGirish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
as Randhir Singh, father-in-law of Meera. Quite orthodox in their customs and traditions, he turns tough on Meera after the death of the only bread-winner of their house, his son. - Nagesh KukunoorNagesh KukunoorNagesh Kukunoor is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is known for movies such as Hyderabad Blues , Rockford , 3 Deewarein and Iqbal .-Early life:...
as Chopra, a businessman. Comes up with a proposal to forgive the debt of Randhir Singh's ancestral house at the expense of Meera. - Prateeksha Lonkar as Gowri Singh, Randhir Singh's wife. On the pretext of tradition and customs, she exercises restraint on Meera's freedom and choices.
- Uttara BaokarUttara BaokarUttara Baokar is an Indian stage actor, who also acts in both on films and television. An alumna of National School of Drama, she remained lead actress with the NSD Repertory Company in the 1970s and '80s, a period which saw the revival of Hindi theatre in Delhi, before moving to television and...
as Dadima, Meera's grandmother-in-law. Her grumpy nature towards Meera transforms into empathy after Shankar, Meera's husband's death. She plays a significant role in Meera's redemption from oppression.
Pre-production
The story of Dor began when Nagesh Kukunoor was attending the International Film Festival of IndiaInternational Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...
in November 2005. During the festival, he had hinted to a journalist that he began writing his next script. He confirmed this in another interview that after watching the Perumazhakkalam
Perumazhakkalam
Perumazhakkalam is a 2004 Malayalam film directed by Kamal. The film stars Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Dileep and Vineeth. The film was adapted to Hindi by Nagesh Kukunoor as Dor....
(2005), whose story is based on a newspaper article, at the Film Festival, he decided to make his own version of the film. After purchasing the story rights from Kamal, director of Perumazhakkalam, he wanted to remake it in a different way. Through his story, he wanted to emphasize the protagonists' ordeal while in isolation in the form of a visual drama. However, the acknowledgments to Perumazhakkalam or its makers were not provided in the filming credits.
Kukunoor announced the news about film making in early March 2006 and suggested of its release in August 2006. He conceptualized the film in thirds; the first and third for the lead characters and the second for the supporting one. However, Kukunoor said that all his films, at the core, have "the human element - the simplicity of the basic emotions that bind us all".
Since the backdrop of the film was to be Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, he had been there and did the necessary research so as to better portray the place and characters.
The CEO of Sahara One Motion Pictures, who also produced Kukunoor's Iqbal (2005), while speaking about their motivation to continue the association with Kukunoor said, "we all look forward to Kukunoor's films mainly because the subject and content is so out of the ordinary and captivating."
Locations and casting
Kukunoor had not visited RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
or Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
before, but he felt that he would find great locations there. In spite of this geographical inexperience, all went as per the plans while shooting in Rajasthan. However, minor modifications in the script were allowed as per the local surroundings. Though Panag had been Rajasthan before, she felt the scorching summer heat unbearable at times. She liked the only continuous shooting schedule and said that it provided consistency in look and performance. In Himachal, it was slightly different when the crew had hard time framing the mountains correctly. On seeing the captured frames, they shifted all the interior shots to outside.
The filming was completed in 37 days in several locations of Rajasthan. Since most of the old palaces in Rajasthan have been converted into hotels, the crew stayed at a palace resort called Manwar. They also resided at a palace resort in Pokhran
Pokhran
Pokhran is a city and a municipality located in Jaisalmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the test site for India's first underground nuclear weapon detonation.-Geography:Pokhran http://marupradesh.org/ located at...
, while filming was also done at Mehrangarh Fort
Mehrangarh Fort
Mehrangarh Fort, located in Jodhpur city in Rajasthan state, is one of the largest forts in India.The fort is situated 400 feet above the city and is enclosed by imposing thick walls. Inside its boundaries there are several palaces known for their intricate carvings and expansive courtyards. A...
in Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
. Kukunoor, after completion of the shooting, said that it was his most challenging film as it involved a real-life story.
Kukunoor said that he always wanted to cast those actors who can relate to the audience and hence preferred actors from the non-parallel films.
Gul Panag
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
was impressed with Kukunoor's previous film, Rockford (1999) and her constant correspondence with him fetched her the role of Zeenat. Kukunoor felt that Panag had characteristics of someone who was lean and fit, good height, large frame, and with an appropriate skin tone. After a successful audition, she was chosen for the character that she felt was a difficult one to portray. Critiquing the actress with "I see urgency, pain but no sadness" and "I see anger and vulnerability but no guilt", the director pushed Panag to her limits. She felt that Kukunoor was such a man of conviction that he constantly forgot to eat and this once caused him a stomach infection. Gul Panag
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
, on the other hand, said that her role was very multi dimensional, multi-layered and hence it was quite tough to play the character. She said that Kukunoor helped her in defining her character with ease and said, "Nagesh looked at the minutest detail and was an immense support to me as an actor." However, Dor's executive producer, Elahe Hiptoola lent her voice
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
for Panag in the film.
It was in Socha Na Tha
Socha Na Tha
Socha Na Tha is a Hindi language movie, released on 4 March 2005. It debuts Abhay Deol and stars Ayesha Takia & Apoorva Jha. It is the first movie Imtiaz Ali directed...
(2004) that Kukunoor noticed Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
and until then he assumed her to be a glamor doll. After getting convinced about her acting skills, she was roped in for the character of Meera. Takia said that though her character emotionally drained her, it was not tough to portray and that she could learn a lot about life. She further said that, "Dor was indeed an exciting challenge for the actor in me. I am happy that it was also a very exciting role, which not many actors get to portray at such a young age." She also said that with Dor, she was not only in the film industry for glamor, but also for her acting prowess. While filming, Kukunoor bonded so well with Takia that he requested her to be his sister. Since she did not have a brother in real life, she got quite emotional with Kukunoor's brotherly proposal. This affection eventually solemnized in the form of a rakhi symbolically.
When Kukunoor was thinking of a character full of disguises, he first came up with an old man. When the thought of a scene with the three major characters dancing in the dunes came up, he realized that an older character could not realistically dance in the desert sands. He immediately felt that Shreyas Talpade
Shreyas Talpade
-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
, whom he knew of knowing mimicry, could be used for bahuroopiya. Kukunoor, who worked previously with Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
, said that he was the strength for the film and added that he found him not only to be a good actor, but also a good human being.
According to the DVD extras, Nagesh Kukunoor first wrote the screenplay in English, then had it translated to Hindi.
Filming and music
Talpade, who previously featured as the title character of Kukunoor's Iqbal (2005), observed the bahuroopiyas in RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and incorporated their dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
, accent, and their body language for his character. About Kukunoor, he said that, "though one tends to go overboard as an actor most of the times, the way he handles the character as a director, Nagesh makes you feel that it is very simple for you to delineate the character." Through his character of a bahuroopiya, Talpade was required to perform mimicry. While he was good at mimicry in college, it was during the filming of Iqbal, Kukunoor noted this talent of his and thus Dor came into Talpade's hands. About his co-actors, he said that it was refreshing to work with Panag and Takia despite the scorching heat of 45 °C (113 °F).
About the background score, Kukunoor said that "to put soaring music to give it a larger-than-life film image was pretty difficult". Despite this worry, with Salim-Sulaiman
Salim-Sulaiman
Salim Merchant And Sulaiman Merchant are a musical duo of brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, India. They belong to Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India..Steeped in a family tradition of music as the...
composing the music, he was happy with the way it was composed according to the sequence. Karsan Saquria, Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films and is credited with over 2000 songs....
and a Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i singer, Shafquat Amanat Ali Khan were among those who sang the songs. While releasing the soundtrack, Kukunoor said that Salim-Sulaiman and he tried make songs that "stood out from the clutter and something that was different from the item number
Item number
An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...
s or the boring love ballads."
Release and reception
Dor accumulated about Rs.Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
38 million in India at the end of 2006.
Reviews
The TelegraphThe Telegraph (Kolkata)
The Telegraph is an Indian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and the newspaper vies with the Times of India for the position of having the widest widest circulation of any newspaper in Eastern India.According to the Audit...
said in its review about the film, "When you first watch Nagesh Kukunoor's impressively shot Dor, you want to simply applaud it as good cinema. Whether it's Ayesha's award-worthy performance or Shreyas' amusing moments, the credit marks pile up in favor of the director who has made engaging cinema." The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
said:
Dor makes a strong feminist statement without being strident or shouting slogans. And all along, the riveting friendship between the two polarized women and the events that bring them together, keep tugging at your heart. Shreyas TalpadeShreyas Talpade-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
proves that (his previous film), Iqbal was no accident and Gul PanagGul PanagGul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
gives one of the most convincing portrayals of her career. But, it is Ayesha TakiaAyesha Takia-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
who simply blows your breath away. Her journey from joyous subjugation — where she is content to dance before her husband and be at the beck and call of her in-laws — to silent emancipation is absolutely endearing.
About the technical department, The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
said:
- "There is this one scene when the director cuts from Zeenat (Gul Panag) trying to fix her house literally from the outside, perched on a ladder, with a hammer in hand, to Meera (Ayesha Takia) inside the house and behind a veil. The play of such visual metaphors throughout gives the film a world-class feel, the kind of stuff you usually see in Iranian cinema."
Another review from The Telegraph says:
- "Sudeep Chatterjee's cinematography is excellent. He composes and constructs stylised but simple images which don't scream for attention, but unassumingly add up to create the film's striking overall visual design."
While writing about the plot and the picturization, Rediff.com
Rediff.com
Rediff.com India is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 as "Rediff On The NeT" and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA....
concluded:
- "The script is engaging; the dialogues entertaining, witty and yet quite profound. Every scene seems to have been well etched out. The character sketches are strong and the characters are inspiring but not patronizing. The script, the story and the characters take the spotlight and the sets, though picturesque add to the plot instead of overshadowing it."
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
, while writing about the chances of its commercial success, said, "Dor is a well-made film that caters to those with an appetite for qualitative cinema. Awards and glowing critical acclaim, yes, it has the power to win it. But, box-office rewards and a mandate from the aam junta (translation: common man) will elude it. The lethargic pacing will also go against it."
Reception and awards
As per the reviews, the film could not capture much appeal at the theaters. In KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, theater officials withdrew the film from screening after just one week of its theatrical release. The reason cited for this withdrawal was due to many simultaneous releases such as the films Woh Lamhe
Woh Lamhe
Woh Lamhe... is a 2006 film starring Shiney Ahuja and Kangna Ranaut and directed by Mohit Suri. The film is a based on the true story of Parveen Babi's life, her battle with schizophrenia and her relationship with Mahesh Bhatt to whom she was a lover as well as a mentor in his struggling days.Bhatt...
and Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006 in North America...
. However, commercial success notwithstanding for these films, Dor was brought back to the screens. Following this, Dor was screened at the annual Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival and the Atlanta Indo-American Film Festival.
Along with nominations for cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
, dialogues
Dialogue (fiction)
Dialogue in fiction is a verbal exchange between two or more characters. If there is only one character, who is talking to himself in his mind, it is known as interior monologue.-Identifiers:...
, lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
and supporting actor
Supporting actor
A supporting actor is an actor who performs roles in a play or film other than that of the leads.These roles range from bit parts to secondary leads. They are sometimes but not necessarily character roles. A supporting actor must also use restraint not to upstage the main actor/actress in the...
(for Shreyas Talpade
Shreyas Talpade
-Early life:Talpade was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. He attended Shree Ram Welfare Society's High School in Andheri-West. He is married to Deepti Talpade. Shreyas met his wife Deepti when he went to her college as a celebrity...
), the film won the critics award for Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...
and Gul Panag
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Her notable films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, and Straight....
at the 2007 Zee Cine Awards
Zee Cine Awards
The Zee Cine Awards or "ZCA" for short is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. It was first held in 1998 in Mumbai. Since then, it has gained substantial popularity as a notable awards ceremony to the Indian population as well as to the viewers of Zee Network.In 2004, the ZCA went...
. At the annual Star Screen Awards
Star Screen Awards
The Star Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony in India honoring professional excellence in film. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professional from the industry itself.- History :...
, Talpade and Takia won the best actor in a comic role and critics choice for best actress awards respectively along with other nominations. At another such awards ceremony, Takia and Panag won awards for their performances. Takia further won the best actress award at the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
The Bengal Film Journalists' Association is the oldest Association of Film critics in India, founded in 1937, by the inspiration and determination of the handful of pioneers amongst the then thin section of scribes that were drawn to film journalism with a lofty mission to serve the developing...
.
DVD
The DVD version of the film was released on 20 October 2006.The DVD release, which was distributed by Eros Entertainment, is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive
Progressive scan
Progressive scanning is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence...
24 FPS
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
, widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
and NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
format. With a runtime of 147 minutes, the DVD also has a provision for English subtitles. However, some versions of the film jacket and Netflix incorrectly list the runtime as 63 minutes.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack, which was composed by Salim-SulaimanSalim-Sulaiman
Salim Merchant And Sulaiman Merchant are a musical duo of brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, India. They belong to Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India..Steeped in a family tradition of music as the...
and the lyrics by Mir Ali Husain, was released on 26 August 2006 with a typical and traditional Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
i flavor.
One review about the soundtrack said that, "this is no ordinary album and will be preferred by musical elites. Infused with classical music and Rajasthani folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, it is a good quality album coming out of Salim-Sulaiman
Salim-Sulaiman
Salim Merchant And Sulaiman Merchant are a musical duo of brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, India. They belong to Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India..Steeped in a family tradition of music as the...
. But the shortcoming comes in the form that this is not the kind of music that'll please every ear." Another review, in a similar tone, said that the album "works only for those who are either followers of classical music or enjoy hearing songs with a Rajasthani folk music base. There is no doubt that composers good quality throughout, but overall the album caters only to a niche audience.