Dunki Movie Review: Shah Rukh Khan & Rajkumar Hirani, This Isn’t Something We Expected After Waiting So Long!

December 21, 2023

567 3 minutes read

Dunki Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vikram Kochhar, Anil Grover, Boman Irani & Vicky Kaushal

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Dunki Movie Review Out! (Picture Credit: IMDb)

What’s Good: Rajkumar Hirani and Shah Rukh Khan coming together for a subject like illegal immigration, rather than taking a risk-free route of commercial entertainers

What’s Bad: Gives you Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots vibes but fails to match that excellence

Loo Break: Interval is enough

Watch or Not?: Since two powerhouses have come together for the first time, you should give it a try

Language: Hindi

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 2 hours and 41 minutes

User Rating:

Based in Laltu (a small village in Punjab), three close friends, Mannu (Taapsee Pannu), Buggu (Vikram Kochhar), and Balli (Anil Grover), are fed up with their lives and want to earn big. Their dream destination is London, but getting there isn’t an easy task. Then Hardy (Shah Rukh Khan) comes into the picture. A professional soldier and street-smart guy, Hardy, eventually develops a close bond with the trio and promises them to make their dream come true.

With Hardy’s trick, Balli manages to get a VISA for London, but for others, there’s only one option: Donkey Flight (a term used for illegal immigration). Hardy, Mannu, and Buggu go through a perilous journey but somehow reach their dreamland. But what happens next comes as a real shocker to Hardy, Mannu, and Baggu as they get to know about the dark side of illegal immigrants’ lives.

Dunki Movie Review Out! (Picture Credit: IMDb)

Dunki Movie Review: Script Analysis

I’m a huge fan of Rajkumar Hirani’s films. While he has always been a phenomenal filmmaker, his writing also amazes me. If you observe closely, the stories of Hirani’s films are very simple. It’s the characters and the screenplay that take films to the next level. Characters with a back story, situational humor, and a perfectly placed emotional quotient have always been strengths of his films.

In Dunki, despite the big team of Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi, and Kanika Dhillon, the film fails to pack a punch. They had an interesting concept of illegal immigration in hand but failed to develop it into a better story. The film seems unconvincing at points, and it could have been much better. There are some genuinely funny moments and emotional scenes that take Dunki to a high level, but overall, the momentum isn’t maintained. Even the characters don’t stand out.

The cinematography team consists of C. K. Muraleedharan, Manush Nandan, Amit Roy, and Kumar Pankaj, and their work is decent. The VFX could have been better, as, in some scenes, you can literally say that it has been shot in a studio.

Dunki Movie Review: Star Performance

Shah Rukh Khan fits in with ease in Rajkumar Hirani’s canvas. His charm and style of humor suit well for Hardy’s character. Throughout the film, his presence seems effortless, but in a couple of scenes, he looks a bit unconvincing. In a court scene, he’s brilliant, though!

Taapsee Pannu as Mannu is good, and her chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan looks breezy and natural. Vikram Kochhar, as Buggu, has also done his job well and makes you laugh whenever he’s on the screen.

Vicky Kaushal, in a cameo, has done a superb job, and his character also serves as one of Dunki’s high points.

Dunki Movie Review Out! (Picture Credit: IMDb)

Dunki Movie Review: Direction, Music

Rajkumar Hirani is among the best Indian directors when it comes to delivering commercial entertainers that are loaded with strong social messages. This time, too, he had that opportunity with an interesting concept in his hand but simply couldn’t match the standard of his own previous work. The reason is the half-baked story of the film. There are some scenes like the one in Gulati’s Classes or a suicide scene that give you a typical Rajkumar Hirani vibe, and I wish Dunki had more.

The music of Pritam is decent, and Lutt Putt Gaya works the most. Chal Ve Watna and O Maahi go well with the situation in the film.

Dunki Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, Dunki has its share of shortcomings and positives. It’s not the cinematic magic I expected from the duo of Shah Rukh Khan and Rajkumar Hirani. I wish the duo work together in the future but with a better story and execution.

2 Stars!