“DUKAAN” MOVIE REVIEW

By sanjayparekh@13

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Review of the movie “Dukaan” Set in Anand, Gujarat, Dukaan delves into the commercial realm of surrogacy and is based on real-life occurrences. Siddharth-Garima, the writer and director, approaches it from an ethical and sentimental perspective as well. Monika Panwar’s character Jasmine is a fiery young girl who has been physically abused by her father. She turns to commercial surrogacy after an unanticipated change of events forces her to start a family with Sumer (Sikandar Kher). She does, nonetheless, develop a link with the fetus. When the young woman feels wounded by her biological mother Diya’s (Monali Thakur) rejection of her maternal longing, she flees. The remainder of the narrative centers on her struggle to reclaim the boy after his biological parents forbid her from raising him in her role as his aaya (governess).

The Hindi movie follows Chameli, who, in an attempt to stand out, renames herself Jasmine (Pawar). Because of a horrible event that occurred in her home, she despises children. She does, however, manage to acquire a stepdaughter who is a few years younger than her and a husband named Sumer (Sikandar Kher). Every challenge life presents to Jasmine, she rises above it in her own special manner. She meets Dr. Navya Chandel (Geetika Tyagi) and other surrogates while looking for a job, and they end up becoming like her second family. However, when she wishes to keep the child that belongs to Diya (Monali Thakur) and Armaan (Soham Majumdar), the “baby machine” causes one to stumble. When both assert that they are his family, what will happen?

The way the fictional movie depicts Jasmine’s life makes it feel a lot like a biography of a person. However, because the actors never grow older, you could never tell what year the movie is set in—from the 1990s to the 2010s. Dukaan moves quickly between scenes, interweaving them with (very pleasant) musical interludes. However, it causes you to lose all sense of location and time. The narrative goes at full speed in the first and second half, making it impossible for viewers to catch up or match up facts. This is similar to extended montages. In addition, the actual argument between Jasmine and the Mishras is overly dramatic and drawn out.

Although Pawar’s portrayal of Jasmine overuses small-town Gujarati clichés and stereotypes, it nevertheless has the perfect kind of flare. With her carefree attitude on life, the actress steals the show in the majority of the sequences. The remainder of the actors, including Sikandar Kher and Himani Shivpuri (who plays Jasmine’s mother), isn’t in the movie long enough to have a greater impact. With their loud emotions, Thakur and Majumdar went a little too far. Some minor characters, such as surrogates with glaringly artificial stomachs, are more irritating than a Greek chorus.

From the awkward opening sequences to the corny epilogue, Dukaan seems unsure of how to approach its central theme of adoptive families and parenthood. A more compelling narrative about a self-sufficient lady who discovered parenting is included in the documentary, although it is overshadowed by the theatrical elements. Although the filmmakers may have intended to make a video about how surrogacy is treated in India, they wind up lecturing more than they provide any better alternatives.

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