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Dunki Movie Review : Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki is dunked with love and longing
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Kapil Marwaha 47 days ago
Poorly made
Samin yasar 253 days ago
hate from bangladesh
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User jain 276 days ago.
Cast & plot quite good but it's been average to above average film ! Little disappointed, can't awarded but one time enjoyable entertaining knowledgeable! Still fingers crossed for it
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Dunki Reviews
However, Dunki fails to tell a sincere story despite the grave issues it attempts to interact and engage with.
Full Review | Apr 23, 2024
After a decade and a half of not really caring and producing the same garbage, [Karan Johar showed] that he can actually do it if he wants to. [On Dunki, Rajkumar Hirani is] so far gone that there’s no redemption possible with any frame in this movie.
Full Review | Mar 6, 2024
It’s ultimately because Khan posits himself as an actor who keeps rethinking how he approaches his multiple façades on the screen that makes Dunki worth a watch.
Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Mar 5, 2024
It’s possible that director-writer-editor Rajkumar Hirani doesn’t know the difference between empathy and sympathy [we saw enough evidence of it in Sanju (2018)].
Full Review | Feb 22, 2024
The movie's slick style undermines the gravity of these later scenes; no matter what time period it's in, it has that same digital, cranked-up, streaming-ready sheen where every welcome blast of color winds up looking like artificial sweetener.
Full Review | Feb 16, 2024
Dunki clumsily mixes absurdist comedy with preachy drama in making statements about the dangers of undocumented immigration. Every time a serious life-threatening situation is depicted, the movie then throws in silly jokes for some cheap laughs.
Full Review | Jan 7, 2024
In the end, Dunki undermines its own messaging, sandwiching a series of informative cards about donkey flights between a rushed conclusion and comedic coda.
Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Dec 29, 2023
Dunki succeeds in creating a complete cinematic experience, laced with broad optimism, as it runs the emotional gamut.
Full Review | Dec 26, 2023
“Dunki” manages to combine wish fulfillment and polemic in a warm-hearted package that knows what it wants.
Dunki marks an uncharacteristic stumble in Rajkumar Hirani’s illustrious career, lacking the director’s usual brilliance and failing to deliver a compelling narrative despite its ensemble cast and technical prowess.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 26, 2023
Dunki is an over-wrought, over-stretched, over-crowded sample of cinematic mediocrity, marked by clunky writing and puerile politics – an inexplicably incompetent film coming from one of the most successful teams in Hindi film history.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.75/5 | Dec 23, 2023
Though Dunki is mawkish and overly sentimental—sometimes to its detriment—it wears such monikers as badges of honour. Throughout each of its 160 minutes, Dunki’s heart remains true...
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 23, 2023
Khan takes on a poignant immigration tale with a whole lot of heart that's bound to strike a chord with audiences.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 22, 2023
Dunki, with its laboured storytelling, long humourless stretches of action, and simplistic approach, culminates as an uninspiring collaboration between an actor and a director, both of whom prove to be woefully dated.
Full Review | Dec 22, 2023
The 161-minute movie is frivolous about the reasons for widespread immigration from India and shallow about what awaits the Laltu quartet...
Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki was entertaining and the concept was good, but lacked depth.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2023
Watch the film for its message and for the superb acting display by both Taapsee Pannu, Shah Rukh Khan and the entire ensemble cast.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 21, 2023
A bigger problem with Dunki is that it's also a Shah Rukh Khan film. On paper, he plays the quintessential Hirani hero...the intrusive SRK hero usurps the humanitarian Hirani hero.
Full Review | Dec 21, 2023
In the 161-minute run-time of the Rajkumar Hirani film, I was hard put to find anything that made me feel. Even Shah Rukh Khan’s Hardy comes off as working too hard for not enough pay-off.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Dec 21, 2023
Shah Rukh Khan and Taapsee Pannu serve a heartwarming tale that's high on emotions.
- Cast & crew
- User reviews
When his friends in Punjab struggle to clear the immigration process, an ex-soldier guides them on a risky journey to enter the UK without permission. When his friends in Punjab struggle to clear the immigration process, an ex-soldier guides them on a risky journey to enter the UK without permission. When his friends in Punjab struggle to clear the immigration process, an ex-soldier guides them on a risky journey to enter the UK without permission.
- Rajkumar Hirani
- Abhijat Joshi
- Kanika Dhillon
- Taapsee Pannu
- Ryan Cretney
- Priya Sindher
- 522 User reviews
- 53 Critic reviews
- 4 wins & 25 nominations
Top cast 99+
- Manu Randhawa
- Patel Office Staff
- Laltu Race Commentator
- Laltu Race Runner
- Manu's mother
- Hardayal Singh Dhillon
- Geetu Gulati
- Megaphone Announcer
- Buggu Lakhanpal
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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Did you know
- Trivia Shahrukh Khan's first collaboration with director Rajkumar Hirani after previous attempts of Munnabhai & 3 Idiots couldn't be worked out between those two..
- Goofs Since "Qatar Airways" was one of the sponsors of the film, there are scenes of their Airbus A350 being used throughout. But when the story from 25 years ago was being told, the same Airbus A350 was used in the narrative. Even though that type of plane wasn't built during that period, only after 2011.
Hardy : When the British came to India, we never asked them whether the know Hindi or not, so how dare they not allow us to enter their country without knowing English
- Soundtracks Lutt Putt Gaya Composed by Pritam Chakraborty Lyrics by Swanand Kirkire , IP Singh Performed by Arijit Singh Duration: 3:42
User reviews 522
The one who can relate will love this..
- parasanatan
- Dec 20, 2023
- How long is Dunki? Powered by Alexa
- December 21, 2023 (India)
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (unknown)
- Jio Studios
- Rajkumar Hirani Films
- Red Chillies Entertainment
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- ₹1,200,000,000 (estimated)
- Dec 24, 2023
- $15,473,051
- Runtime 2 hours 40 minutes
- Dolby Atmos
- Dolby Digital
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Stream It or Skip It: ‘Dunki’ on Netflix, an Indian Immigration Saga
Where to stream:, ‘citadel: honey bunny’ star samantha breaks down her incredible chemistry with varun dhawan: “i’m always cracking up when he’s around”, stream it or skip it: ‘ctrl’ on netflix, a propulsive hindi-language ai tech thriller, stream it or skip it: ‘modern masters: s.s. rajamouli’ on netflix, a documentary about the world renowned ‘rrr’ filmmaker, stream it or skip it: ‘wild wild punjab’ on netflix, a slapstick hindi-language road trip movie.
Dunki is a large-scale immigration story – a Bollywood comedy-melodrama about a group of Indian friends trying to make the move from near-poverty in their home country to a better life in England, even if this means undertaking a treacherous and illegal “donkey” journey across multiple borders.
DUNKI : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: In this Bollywood hit that just surprise-dropped on Netflix, an extended flashback set in the mid-90s follows a trio of friends Manu (Taapsee Pannu), Buggu (Vikram Kochhar), and Balli (Anil Grover) in their efforts to emigrate from India to London despite lacking the funds, education, or connections that could ease their passage. Eventually they’re joined in their quest by Hardy (Shah Rukh Khan), who knew Manu’s brother in his military days, and Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal), who wants to reach England to help an ex-girlfriend. Their various paths are dramatized by a mix of semi-zany comedy and more serious melodrama (along with, of course, a splashy musical number). The title refers to a complicated and dangerous “donkey” method of illegal immigration that several characters are eventually forced to pursue, involving a multi-stop journey that includes a lengthy trip in a shipping container. This aspect adds a survival-thriller element to the proceedings.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Bollywood movies are so distinct from their Hollywood equivalents in style, running time, and music, among other elements, that a film like Dunki resists easy comparisons to non-Bollywood productions. Some of the tonal swings are reminiscent of American filmmakers, like Tyler Perry , who feel comfortable juxtaposing comedy, tragedy, and romance in a single project, though Dunki is made with a lot more blockbuster-style visual slickness than a Perry film.
Performance Worth Watching: Kaushal recently won a Filmfare award in India for his supporting work here, but that seems at least partially based on his character’s weighty arc rather than his actual performance. His fellow Filmfare nominee Taapsee Pannu is a major highlight, playing drama, comedy, and romance as Manu.
Memorable Dialogue: During the interview process for an English student visa, the friends know that they’ll be quizzed on their language knowledge through – so out of desperation, they all memorize the same English passage, where they indignantly wave off small talk and boast of their (actually limited) grammar skills. When one interviewer presses Balli to simply talk about his family, he must use his limited vocabulary to improvise: “Father… dead. Mother… dead. Father’s mother… dead.” Naturally, he clears the exam.
Sex and Skin: None. The romance is more in the old-fashioned and longing-across-decades style.
Our Take: There are plenty of American-based melodramas about the immigrant experience and its many hardships, often made with handheld, kitchen-sink authenticity. So it’s fascinating to see treatment of this material produced in a decidedly different tone (or, really, a variety of tones) without denying the seriousness underneath. These characters are seeking better lives for themselves and their families, facing obstacles that further disadvantage the poor in the guise of fairness. But – especially in the first half of the movie’s 160 minutes – Dunki also observes the comically frustrating absurdities of immigration systems, allowing its characters some goofy behavior alongside their earnest striving and suffering. At its best, this material rounds out the experience, rather than narrowing it into an instructional slice-of-life.
Sometimes that approach can be overwhelming. With the movie’s supersized runtime, several sections that might be afforded a quick montage in a shorter story are given more detailed treatment here. (This is especially true of the sequence where the characters enroll in their ill-fated English course, which takes a while to show them not learning the language.) The movie never turns boring – like some other recent Bollywood productions, it approaches the three-hour mark at an impressive clip, throwing in courtroom scenes, action scenes, and slapstick – but its eagerness to entertain results in a movie that often feels like it’s skimming the surface of both its subject and its characters. That’s especially true when it comes time for the movie to jump ahead in time, following some of its characters 25 years later. (A framing device makes clear upfront that this will happen.) There’s real poignancy in the idea of the leads longing for a better life elsewhere, then, with age, longing for a return to a home that may no longer exist. But the movie’s slick style undermines the gravity of these later scenes; no matter what time period it’s in, it has that same digital, cranked-up, streaming-ready sheen where every welcome blast of color winds up looking like artificial sweetener
Our Call: Bollywood fans who want to check out a recent award-winner should definitely check it out. Newcomers, though, might want to SKIP IT in favor of something that merges sentiment and spectacle with a little more skill.
Jesse Hassenger ( @rockmarooned ) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com , too.
Where to Watch Dunki
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