Movie Review : Dharm

[amazon_link id=”B001KQFARG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Bhavna Talwar
Cast : Pankaj Kapoor, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Hrishitaa Bhatt, K.K. Raina
Kid rating : PG

Dharm is about a Hindu priest Pandit Chaturvedi. A very learned and religious man, Panditji, a Brahmin, believes in following the shastras to the T, interpreting them very strictly. Thus he is a much revered scholar and teacher. But, he is also close-minded and conservative, and differentiates very strongly between religions and people based upon the religion they follow. Pandit Chaturvedi and his wife(Supriya Pathak) have one daughter Mani (Hrishitaa Bhatt). Both, the wife and daughter, follow his dictats – in their home, his rule is law.

When Mani is one day handed over a baby, Chaturvedi’s wife out of the piety in her heart takes him in. Chaturvedi, initially, not in favor of keeping the child, succumbs once it is clear that there is no one to claim the child, and he has been assured that the child is also a Brahmin. Many years later, when the Pandit has grown to love the child, now named Kartikey, the child’s mother presents herself at their door. She is Muslim, and calls out to little Kartikeya as Mustafa. Panditji, horrified, sends little Kartikeya with his mother, but Hindu-Muslim riots break out in the city, and the child’s mother pleads with Chaturvedi to keep Kartikey/Mustafa with them. The Pandit is firm though – little Mustafa is his son no more . . .

This is a beautifully crafted film about prejudices and bigotry ingrained within the self. Can the study of books alone ensure true learning ? This is on the philosophical level a great question and the film attempts to answer it via Panditji’s tale. Pankaj Kapoor is superb as Pandit Chaturvedi, harsh and pitiless in following his religion as he sees it, but yet helpless in the love for his adopted child. This film has everything a good film should have – a strong storyline, great acting, superb screen-play and deft direction. It is a rather austere film, compared to the usual Bollywoodian junk, since it has no frivolity and fripperies, but it is a great film nevertheless. Highly recommended.