Do Dooni Chaar: An uncommon film about the common man

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Duggal ki paathshaala

The hopes, aspirations, troubles and problems of the common man has for long been associated with RK Laxman’s old, dhoti-clad The Common Man.

After watching "Do Dooni Chaar", Rishi Kapoor could well replace the image in your mind when the subject of middle-class pathos rises. Indian cinema in the 70s and 80s often depicted the lives of the average Indians, but with the major bulk of the films of the last 20 years focussing on gorgeous locales and glamorous stars, it’s a bit startling to see the lead actress in this film in almost clownish sweaters and ill-fitting nighties. But then, this is a film that doesn’t tread the beaten path. The star cast too doesn’t include any commercial heavyweights, but instead has seasoned actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, a duo reuniting on-screen after 30 long years. The film addresses issues that cause much agony and frustration to the Indian middle-class, yet it does so in a light, breezy manner that does not make it too serious and arty to lose its appeal for the average Indian. One can hardly guess that this is Habib Faisal’s first outing as a director of a Hindi feature film.

"Do Dooni Chaar" begins with an excited Duggal family arguing over how an Income Tax refund of Rs 7200 will be spent. The mother (Neetu Kapoor) wants to buy a refrigerator, her teenage daughter Payal (Aditi Vasudev) wants an iPod while the son Sandeep (Archit Krishna) demands a Dish TV connection. A school teacher, Santosh Duggal (Rishi Kapoor) earns just enough to send his children to good school and sustain a modest living – this after working in a coaching centre as well. While the parents attempt at living cheerfully with what they make, the children cringe at their near poverty. Things only get tougher when Santosh’s sister invites them to her sister-in-law’s wedding and insists that in order to keep up appearances they must come in a car. How they go about borrowing a car to eventually owning one is the simple premise of this film. Within this plot are incidents that will warm people’s hearts, provide unusual and compassionate solutions to parenting problems, demonstrate how ‘honesty is always the best policy’ is not just an old cliché unpractical for these times, show the pitiful state of our country’s teachers, and also comment on how consumerism has begun to dictate the terms of our happiness.

Santosh Duggal is a lovable character, and as Rishi pulls a long face or cajoles his son to make the right decisions in his life, you cannot help but adore him. One could’ve never imagined Neetu would make a comeback in such a deglamourised role, but her honest and effortless portrayal of Mrs Duggal is likely to leave a stronger impression in people’s mind than a more run-of-the-mill role would have managed to achieve. Debutants Aditi and Archit deliver strong and believable performances, Archit more so than Aditi.

The greatest triumph of the film is giving the common man the centerstage he so thoroughly deserves. There is a certain joie di vivre that shines through in this entertaining yet touching tale. People will leave the film with a smile on their lips and thoughts to ruminate about long after.

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Back in the seventies, the pairing of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu kapoor meant spunky romance and sprightly humour

'Do Dooni Chaar', according to Shubho shekhar BhattaCharjee, CEO and Creative Director, Planman Motion Pictures, promises to be that and much more.

What do you feel is the USP of "Do Dooni Chaar"?

In the last few days I’ve been scanning newspapers and magazines; if you look at "Do Dooni Chaar", there’s a distinct flavour about it. The posters of upcoming movies come across as typical Hindi films. On the other hand, our movie has a family feel to it. I think we’re offering a very unique proposition at this time, considering it’s Navratras and celebration time with families is around the corner. Also it’s a Rishi-Neetu comeback after 30 years which is why we stand out.

How difficult was it to convince Rishi and Neetu for this film?

It wasn’t difficult to convince Rishi. Habib Faisal and I were sitting together and deciding the cast and the first name we thought of was Rishi Kapoor. We went together to him for the narration. After that, he asked, "What do you want me to play in the film?" and we told him it was the lead role. He loved the script. He asked if we had a producer and we were all ready for it.

It was difficult to get Neetu ma’am involved. Many other filmmakers have been waiting to re-launch Neetu ma’am and their positioning has been on the glamorous side. For this, she had to be completely de-glamorised and she wouldn’t agree. So, at one point we approached Juhi Chawla.

But she had issues. So we went back and asked Neetu ma’am to hear the narration just once. She loved it and said, "This has to be my comeback film!" She actually coloured her hair black, wore ill-fitting salwar kurtas and absolutely ill-fitting nighties, something not expected of Neetu Kapoor.

What made you believe Habib Faisal, a debutant director, would make a good film?

Habib is a very dear friend of mine. Whenever we met, I would talk about making a film together. He was writing for other producers but he wished to be a director. We talked about many ideas; discarded many. He’s a trained professional. He’s from Jamia and has been involved in film courses in New York. So I was very sure about his technical competence and was more convinced that he is a great storyteller.

Films from Planman Motion Pictures have won several awards. Do you see "Do Dooni Chaar" adding to your tally?

Yes, we have won a lot of awards, mostly National Awards. We definitely don’t make films with that explicit purpose. This was a very noble story that we wanted to tell and if we win, I’d be very happy.

Critical acclaim or box office revenue – what do you want more for "Do Dooni Chaar"?

For me, it’s not an either-or situation. Why can’t it be both? Yes, we have made films which have been for niche audiences, like "The Last Lear", but this film is for the masses. It’s for the middle class family. The entire country would be able to identify with that.


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Director Habib Faisal speaks on the making of 'Do Dooni Chaar'

how his personal experiences helped mould the script and how the common man is being wronged as he doggedly pursues the 'Do Dooni Chaar' way.

From television to cinema, how has the transition been?

Both are very entertaining mediums. The economics of television is such that your risks are much lesser. I strongly believe that television is able to tackle many more issues. I did my Masters in Cinema and then instead of getting into direction or writing, I chose to become a news cameraman for NDTV. I did that for five years and I covered the Kargil War, floods and poverty. I moved on to doing television fiction and then through friends, accidents happened and I got into writing films.

"Do Dooni Chaar" is set in the ethos of the modern, liberated and aspirational India. What drove you to conceive this story?

It all started when a small segment car was launched. Newspapers and television channels were full of stories about the middle class people being euphoric that a car was within their reach. It got me wondering why a car was so important. I read and researched and found out that when people prioritise their desires they put a car as the first thing that they want to buy, which is not a necessity such as shelter or education. I hail from a similar background and still remember the kind of excitement we had gone through when we had bought our first car, which was a second-hand car. So I got this thought in my head about a family and its journey from scooter to car, and I thought it would make for an interesting story. My dad was also a teacher and I have grown up with the same kind of complexes that the two kids in the film have, like why is my dad a teacher and earn a meagre salary despite being an educated man? Often we would run into his ex-students who would be doing well in their careers and driving cars while my dad would still only own a scooter. Such personal experiences found their way into the story. I had two intentions when making this film, one was to portray middle-class aspirations and how the common man doggedly sticks to doing things the right way, which is the "Do Dooni Chaar" way as against the "Do Aur Do Paanch" way followed by the rich, powerful and corrupt. The second reason was to highlight the position of the teachers in the society and show that it is a thankless job. The salary for a teacher who teaches the senior grades is around Rs 1.98 lakh. You can imagine how much the primary teachers would be making.

Was it intimidating to work with seasoned actors like Rishi and Neetu?

Only the first meeting was intimidating. I was star-struck like anyone else would be. I have grown-up watching their movies. But the moment a star says, "Oh you have scripted a great script!" you feel confident about your work. Once they had said yes to the film, we were like partners bringing the script alive.

How was the experience working with Planman Motion Pictures?

It takes a lot of guts to make a picture on the premise of a person’s journey from owning a scooter to a car. Most people want projects where there is a possibility of naach-gaana, glamour, sensuality, some chases… For a premise such as this and a script which is obsessively trying to be true to the fabric of the story, it was very gutsy of Shubho and Arindam Chaudhuri to stand by this film.

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