Dunki

A group of friends set out on a perilous journey to emigrate to the United Kingdom via a clandestine route called 'donkey flight', risking their lives in the process.

Release date: December 21, 2023 (USA)

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Box office: est. ₹470.6 crore

Budget: 1.2 billion INR

Cinematography: C. K. Muraleedharan; Manush Nandan; Amit Roy

Language: Hindi

Early in Dunki, a simplistic but heartwarming take on the poor illegal immigrants from Punjab who make dangerous journeys in a desperate search for greener pastures, a set of hopefuls find a way to crack the English test. They memorise a paragraph by rote and decide to parrot it to the examiners by just changing the name of the topic.

Inadvertently, the long scene with diminishing returns becomes a metaphor for the sameness that surrounds Rajkumar Hirani’s storytelling. Over the years, he has engaged the audience with almost the same story structure, but has always managed to imbue it with a beating heart and a smiling face.

Sight and sound: The Bollywood narrative and its influencing power

In Dunki, Hirani’s first and long-awaited collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan, the purpose and social concern is again laudable, but the storytelling feels facile and laboured after a point, largely because Hirani doesn’t want to test newer ways to put his point across. The spontaneity that we associate with his work is sadly missing.