Dobaaraa (2022/ Hindi/Cinema Release)
(NO spoilers)
Writer- Nihit Bhave
Based on – Mirage (Spanish)
Director- Anurag Kashyap
Cast – Taapsee Pannu, Rahul Bhat, Pavail Gulati, Saswata Chatterjee
Plot
A terrible stormy night in 1996 turns too dark for a young boy Anay. He witnesses something he shouldn’t have had.
A similar stormy night in 2021 turns Antara’s life topsy turvy. She tries to save someone’s life, not knowing she is about to lose her own.
Anatara has to struggle and strive to get back her past.
Anay has to struggle and strive to find a closure and get past his past.
Analysis
I have always found time zones, parallel worlds and space time concepts complicated. Never liked them much in action flicks and pure sci fi genres.
But the concept intrigues me when not too complicated or when accompanied by a mystery or thrill or slight drama involved.
And that is why Dobaaraa clicked perfectly for me.It is a great blend of mystery and space time continuum. It begins with what what looks like murder mystery and soon transforms into something much more complicated. You are continually trying to run ahead of the screenplay trying to guess what to expect. But this one is not going to be that easy for the Sherlock in you. There are not just the characters at play but parallel timelines that continually try to derail your guessing skills. The mystery is relentless and delicious.
Joining the dots is going to as difficult for you as it were for Anatara and Anay. At some point of time these characters gain an emotional hold too. You can feel the loneliness and mess in their lives.
Loved the well timed, well worded and melodious song” Waqt Ke Jungle” .
On the flip side, initially at some points, there did seem some loopholes or rather unanswered questions. But when the story proceeds, you get so entwined in its loop, so involved in your protagonists’s lives , so desperate to find a closure for them, you would overlook it.
The film remans so engrossing through out, that even at points where you are not wowed, it has your rapt attention. The holes fade out in the story’s own warp and weft just like in an optical illusion, something successfully takes your focus elsewhere.
Anurag uses atmospherics and his able cast well to add gravity to this mystery thriller.For a change there is not his dark or offbeat touch here.
Taapsee’s performance is the fulcrum of the film. She is so convincing as the baffled woman, unhappy wife and a doting mother desperate to get back her life and child. The emotional hold Anatara had over me is all credit to her.
Loved Rahul Bhat . There is always something very appealing and honest about his performances whether in Ugly or Section375 or this one. He adds heft irrespective of the length of his role.
Pavail Gulati holds fort. Though his character didn’t enjoy the arch and depth of his role in Thappad where I found him fantabulous, I liked him here. Will look forward to more of his meatier roles.
Recommendation
The mystery thriller lover in me was throughly enraptured by the film. I loved the puzzle, the guessing game,re- arranging the events in the correct time lines and was quite happy with emotional closure.
A must watch for those who love this genre.
Score 3.5 on 5
BHAVNA TALKIES 