‘Dhuin’ Maithili movie review: Nuanced, poignant take on dreams and a harsh tussle with reality
Achal Mishra’s ‘Dhuin’tells an everyday story of everyman’s burden and it unsparingly shows the cost of dreaming in our world
(Originally published in The Hindu on February 12, 2023)
Fog. Dreams. Desires. Mornings. Cold…The frames with which indie filmmaker Achal Mishra invites us to Dhuin are tender, but the story to follow is as harsh as it can get. After a stellar debut with 2019’s Gamak Ghar, Achal brings Dhuin, a fascinatingly nuanced and poignant story about an aspiring actor’s dream and a deeply aching tussle with reality. Immersive in form and measured in its narration, the 50-minute indie film feels like an arresting polaroid capture of everyday suffering.
With misty visuals of a mundane, sleepy town, Dhuin tells a story of a young man’s tacit fight with reality. Pankaj (Abhinav Jha) harbours dreams of becoming a big movie star, but like most dreamers from underprivileged backgrounds, he lacks the means to do it. He spends his time performing in local theatre plays, taking selfies near the airport, and in the meaningless addas with fellow actors and filmmakers that keep his dreams cosy and secure. Pankaj’s only known course of action is to get a train to Bombay, Indian cinema’s land of dreams.
Yet, it seems like Pankaj’s yearning doesn’t come from his will to chase his dreams, but to escape the life he’s leading in Darbhanga. He spends most of his time in the foggy daybreaks until late at night, as if to look away from everything his elderly parents and their bleak financial situation reminds him of. Even his quietest moments seem to carry….
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