Do Dooni Score!

Film: Do Dooni Chaar (Hindi)

Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Akhilendra Mishra

Director: Habib Faizal

Rating: 4/5

Before its release, this film was being promoted on the back of the Kapoor couple re-uniting after a hiatus of 30 years. Once you watch the film, you want to ask them - why the hiatus in the first place? More importantly, this film is a rockstar even sans the promotions.

Director Habib Faizal portrays a very real, believable picture of a middle class family that aspires to own a car despite its purse strings pulled tight. Santosh Duggal (Rishi Kapoor) is a 51-year old school teacher who shunts and slogs across the school classroom and a tuition centre in order to earn every extra buck that he can for his kids to earn quality education, even if that must mean working under an antique lamp through the night on his study table. Kusum Duggal (Neetu Kapoor) is the nonchalant home-maker who makes near peace with the family's finances, along with a dollop of love for her husband and tons of jam sandwiches for the children - a rebellious daughter Payal (Aditi Vasudev) who is as embarrassed about disclosing the contents of her middle-class wallet in her college as about taking a ride on her father's run down scooter; and Sandy (Archit Krishna) who ensures his KFC soirees and gelled hair are always in order despite their limited means.

There is not an element of the film which you will point out as unnecessary. It is beautifully woven, with specific attention to details in an examination hall, in the personal snides made by pesky neighbours, and in the materialistic shallowness of distant relatives. The kids, thankfully, act out their part with much maturity, sparing us the mindless hamming (remember the Bhootnath kid?) and giving us a very convincing set of siblings who are well-webbed into the family's culture, yet yearning to break free. Rishi Kapoor comes up with arguably his best performance, snippets of which you see in the dilemma he faces between a teacher's noble scruples and the profane lure of bad money. Also, the emotional connect between the father and daughter over the realization of his self-pride is subtle yet endearing. But the real surprise in the entire deal is Neetu Kapoor, who makes you sore about the fact that she went missing for so many years. Her effortlessness in her role is totally awesome. She is, in fact, so classy that in a couple of instances through the length of the film she fails to hide her elegance under the garb of a middle-class, cardigan-clad housewife.

Do Dooni Chaar is a perfect score - a rare film that must get its due credit by all means. We desperately need masterful storytellers who can give out a sensitive message, without asking us to carry our dispenser of tissues along to the hall.