Dunki (film)

''Dunki'' is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film based on the " donkey flight" illegal immigration technique. Directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani from a screenplay he wrote with Abhijat Joshi and Kanika Dhillon, it was produced under the banners of Red Chillies Entertainment, Jio Studios and Rajkumar Hirani Films. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal (billed as a special appearance), and Boman Irani.

The film was announced in April 2022, along with the official title. Principal photography began the same month, taking place in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kashmir, Budapest, London, Jeddah, Neom, and wrapped in April 2023. The soundtrack was composed by Pritam, while Aman Pant composed the background score. C. K. Muraleedharan, Manush Nandan and Amit Roy handled the cinematography of the film.

''Dunki'' was theatrically released worldwide on 21 December 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics, and has grossed over worldwide against a production and marketing budget of . It emerged as the 6th highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023, 9th highest-grossing Indian film of 2023 and the 29th highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

Plot

In 2020, an aged Manu Randhawa (Taapsee Pannu) runs away from a hospital in London and meets an immigration lawyer Puru Patel ( Deven Bhojani). She requests his assistance in connecting her with her ex-lover Hardayal "Hardy" Singh Dhillon (Shah Rukh Khan). In Laltu, Punjab, an aged Hardy is ecstatic to receive Manu's call after 25 years. She asks him to meet her in Dubai so that he can bring her back to India through the '' Dunki'' route because she is unable to get an Indian visa.

In 1995, Manu and her friends Buggu (Vikram Kochhar) and Balli, live in Laltu and yearn to immigrate to London for a better life. Though poor and uneducated, they are unable to procure a visa despite trying various methods. One day, Hardy, an ex- army officer, arrives in their village. Manu's brother Mahinder had saved his life in combat, and he has come back to return his personal belongings, but realises that Mahinder has died in an accident, leaving Manu and her family in a poor financial situation. Hardy promises to help Manu reach London as a return for her brother's kindness. They enroll at an IELTS coaching class taught by Geetu Gulati ( Boman Irani), where they meet Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal). Sukhi wants to immigrate to London to save his ex-girlfriend, who was married off to an NRI man who physically abuses her. Balli eventually clears the exams and the rest fail.

Once in London, Balli sends photos of himself in front of a big house and a car, making his friends and family in India believe that he has made it big in the UK. He also tells Sukhi that his ex-girlfriend has died by suicide after learning about Sukhi failing in IELTS, due to which Sukhi immolates himself.

Traumatised, Hardy promises to take Manu and Buggu to London himself through the "Dunki" route. After a treacherous journey through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey during which three of their co-passengers are killed and Hardy saves Manu from getting sexually assaulted. Finally, they reach London where they come across Balli working as a living statues. Balli takes them with him to the place he lives in, where they realise that the photos he had sent were false, and he is actually living hand-to-mouth in the UK, and shares a small ramshackle house with a number of other illegal immigrants sleeping in Bunk beds, and in constant fear of being discovered by the police and immigration authorities.

They meet a lawyer Puru Patel, who advises Manu to enter into a sham marriage as an easy way to get UK citizenship. Manu agrees and marries a drug addict. While in church, Hardy is enraged by the drug addict's attempt to kiss Manu, and they engage in a fight due to which they are both arrested. In court, Puru advises them to seek right of asylum to stay in the country by claiming that their lives are under threat in India. As an ex-army officer, Hardy refuses to betray his country, but the rest agree as a means to get asylum and settle in England. Hardy is soon deported back to India, while the rest become British citizens, initially working as Living Statues.

In the present day, Manu tells Hardy that she wants to go back home as she is dying of brain tumor. They try to leave for India via cargo containers. They eventually fool immigration officials into believing that they were Indian citizens traveling illegally to London, and are thus deported to India. Once they reach Laltu, Manu is shocked to learn that Hardy never married out of love for her. Shortly after Hardy proposes to her, Manu dies from her ailment. Heartbroken, Hardy puts the engagement ring into her hands and hugs her, watching the fireworks in the evening of Diwali. The film ends with an epilogue that no visas were issued to travel to other countries about 140 years ago.

Cast

Production

Development

In late 2020, it was reported that Rajkumar Hirani would collaborate with Shah Rukh Khan for his next directorial. Hirani narrated the story to Khan during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The film marks Khan's first collaboration with Hirani. Khan revealed that Hirani had offered him roles in his films ''Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.'' (2003) and ''3 Idiots'' (2009) which he rejected. By August 2021, the screenplay was completed and the film was announced in April 2022. Hirani co-wrote the film with Abhijat Joshi and Kanika Dhillon. Cinematographer Amit Roy was chosen first, but he left the film due to creative differences with Hirani and was replaced by C. K. Muraleedharan. This marks his fourth collaboration with Hirani after ''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (2006), ''3 Idiots'' and '' PK'' (2014). As per reports Manush Nandan, Amit Roy and Kumar Pankaj also worked on the film as cinematographers.

Casting

Mukesh Chhabra was the casting director. Taapsee Pannu was cast as the female lead in January 2021 marking her first onscreen collaboration with Khan. Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment produced her film ''Badla'' (2019). Vicky Kaushal was announced to be playing a significant role in the film. Boman Irani joined the cast in October 2022.

Filming

Principal photography commenced in April 2022 in Mumbai. The Mumbai schedule ended in June 2022 and the international schedules commenced in July 2022. Filming took place in Budapest and London in July 2022, and was completed a month later. A bike sequence featuring Khan was filmed in Mumbai in October 2022. A 12-day schedule took place in November 2022 in Saudi Arabia, which included the locations Jeddah and Neom. A three-day schedule happened in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh in December 2022. In January 2023, the underwater sequence featuring Khan was filmed in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Khan who was also working on another project ''Jawan'' finished his shooting in April 2023''.'' The same month, the team moved to Kashmir for a four-day schedule that took place in Srinagar, Pampore, Sonamarg including Thajwas glacier and Pulwama. A song sequence was shot in Kashmir choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. The filming was wrapped up in Sonamarg, Kashmir by April 2023. The film was shot over 75 days out of which Khan shot for 60 days. The film is reportedly budgeted at 120 crore, including the marketing cost.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by Pritam, while background score is composed by Aman Pant. The first single titled "Lutt Putt Gaya" was released on 22 November 2023. The second single titled "Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se" was released on 1 December 2023. The third single titled "O Maahi" was released on 11 December 2023. The fourth single titled "Banda" was released on 18 December 2023. The fifth single titled "Chal Ve Watna" and the sixth single titled "Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga" along with the soundtrack album were released on 20 December 2023.

Marketing

The film's teaser titled "''Dunki'': Drop 1" was released on 2 November 2023 coinciding with Khan's 58th birthday. There was 8 "Drops" and were released one after another. Drop 2 was released on 22 November as the song "Lutt Putt Gaya". Drop 3 was released on 1 December as the song "Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se". The film's trailer titled "''Dunki'': Drop 4" was released on 5 December 2023. Drop 5 was released on 11 December as the song "O Maahi". A promotional event was held in Dubai on 17 December. Drop 6 was released on 18 December as the song "Banda". Drop 7 and Drop 8 were released as songs "Chal Ve Watna" and "Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga" on 20 December.

Release

Theatrical

''Dunki'' was theatrically released on 21 December 2023. The film was rumoured to be postponed to 2024, which was denied by Khan during a press conference for '' Jawan'' (2023).

Distribution

Pen Studios acquired the theatrical rights for North India and West India under the Pen Marudhar Entertainment banner. Sree Gokulam Movies acquired theatrical distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Rajshri Pictures distributed it in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Mysore territory rights was acquired by Panorama Studios. SVF acquired the theatrical rights for West Bengal.

The overseas distribution rights were sold to Yash Raj Films. Home Screen Entertainment bought Singapore distribution rights of the film, while Lighthouse Distribution acquired the distribution rights for Spain. Action Cut Entertainment distributed the film in Bangladesh.

Home media

International non-theatrical distribution rights for the film were sold for 230 crore, while domestic non-theatrical streaming rights were acquired by JioCinema for 155 crore.

Reception

Critical response

Tushar Joshi of ''India Today'' gave 4/5 stars and wrote "''Dunki'' might not be Hirani's best work in comparison to ''3 Idiots'' or '' PK'', but it still entertains and leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling". Sreeparna Sengupta of ''Times of India'' also gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "''Dunki''s story is an emotional one - rolling in friendship, romance, heart-wrenching and heart-warming moments all into one. And in trademark Hirani style, there are dollops of comedy which is laced with satire to make it an entertaining ride, along with the strong message the film brings forth". A reviewer for ''Pinkvilla'' considered it "a modern-day classic", but was critical of the film's pace. A reviewer from '' Bollywood Hungama'' awarded the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote "''Dunki'' bears the Rajkumar Hirani stamp of filmmaking with the right message and emotions as a backdrop. However, it is not as outstanding as his previous films as the writing plays spoilsport to a great extent." ''Filmfare'' Devesh Sharma was pleased by the film's messaging of "a world beyond borders", and praised the performances of Khan and Pannu. Monika Rawal Kukreja of ''Hindustan Times'' labelled it a "heartwarming tale that's high on emotions", but despite praising the performances of Khan and Pannu, she was displeased with their chemistry.

NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee believed that the film's strength lay in its ability to not be in service of Khan's stardom, instead allowing the supporting cast to shine, particularly Vicky Kaushal. A reviewer for Film Companion also believed that Kaushal's special appearance had enhanced the "simplistic" film. Writing for ''The Hindu'', Anuj Kumar considered ''Dunki'' "not the best of Hirani but has just about enough to make you chuckle and churn". ''Mint Lounge'' Uday Bhatia compared it negatively to ''The Dupes'' (1973), a Syrian film about border crossing, writing that unlike that film, ''Dunki'' "is only interested in illegal immigration and the refugee crisis to the extent that it allows Hirani and Khan to grandstand".

Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com opined, "''Dunki'' is high on ambition but its flimsy premise renders this nearly three hours long journey into farfetched adventures hard to believe, harder to buy into". Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in dismissed the film as "flat and unfunny", adding that the "strangely anodyne film is briefly enlivened by Khan's dimpled charm and spirited turns by Taapsee Pannu, Vikram Kocchar and Anil Grover". Shubhra Gupta of ''The Indian Express'' criticised it as a "crashing bore" and considered it Hirani's weakest film.

Internationally, Manjusha Radhakrishnan of ''Gulf News'' rated the film 4/5 and wrote "Illegal immigration and unauthorised cross-border migrant crossings are grim issues, but director Rajkumar Hirani humanized them with an emotionally engaging tale". David Tusing of ''The National'' wrote "With ''Dunki'', Khan takes on a poignant immigration tale with a whole lot of heart that's bound to strike a chord with audiences".

Box office

''Dunki'' had the 13th-biggest advance booking of all time for a Hindi film. On its opening day, it collected a net total of in India. It had net domestic collections of and on its second and third day, respectively.

As of 1 January 2024, ''Dunki'' has grossed in India, with a further overseas, for a worldwide estimate of .

Notes

References

External links

''Dunki''
at IMDb
''Dunki''
at Bollywood Hungama

{{Rajkumar Hirani

2020s Hindi-language films
2023 films
Films about illegal immigration to Europe
Films directed by Rajkumar Hirani
Films featuring songs by Pritam
Films shot in Budapest
Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir
Films shot in London
Films shot in Mumbai
Films shot in Saudi Arabia
Indian comedy-drama films
Illegal immigration to the United Kingdom
Indian avant-garde and experimental films
2020s avant-garde and experimental films
Films about suicide
Films about interpreting and translation
Indian survival films
Films set in Punjab, India
Films set in England
Films set in Afghanistan