The calculation went wrong

Jasmine Singh 

Although there is no success mantra for a hit film, a good script, direction and acting together can give a film the desired shape. Even if one department falters, the entire project shakes up. This holds true for this week’s release Do Dooni Panch, a good concept crumbles because of weak direction and overacting. 

A satire on the education system, Do Dooni Panch, directed by Harry Bhatti can also be seen as a courtroom drama, weak and uninteresting. 

Director Harry Bhatti has taken too many liberties, many that do not fall into the realm of creative license. You have a judge holding a court, with media and people watching, in his floral shirt and Bermudas. Not only this, instead of presiding from his chair, he is seen squatting on his table. When have judges started doing this in a make-shift court! Two, a teacher (Rupinder Rupi) is knitting to eternity. When her character is introduced, she is knitting and throughout the film, her knit is not complete. Another character, a Hindi subject teacher, makes you cringe with overacting and misplaced Hindi. 

While introducing a number of characters, the director probably forgot to tell them that he was casting them for a film, and not street theatre. The characters of Do Dooni Panch do not act, they overact, every single one of them.

Most of the scenes in the film could have been trimmed on the editing table (especially the scene in the bus where a passenger is laughing uselessly), and if this was to happen it would not be a feature film, but a short film! One time when Amrit Mann approaches an advocate to fight a case against all his teachers, you feel now this is going to be interesting. But as the film moves into the court, you realise that you’ve been fooled in believing that something interesting was about to happen. The dialogues of the film are flat and about the climax....well, it actually says...to be continued. The end is so abrupt that you are left zapped.

The artistes in the film are overacting from take one, except for Amrit Mann who doesn’t overact, because for that he has to act first! Isha Rikhi, the pretty face, you see in the first half, and then forget all about her. And when you have forgotten about her, she appears from nowhere.

And then there is Nirmal Rishi, Sardar Sohi, Harby Sangha, Malkit Rauni, Rupinder Rupi and Nisha Bano screeching on their top of their voices... They weren’t told they were part of a film!

The only good thing about the film is the concept, rest whether Do dooni can be panch is what you need to figure, or you’d be lost in calculation.