Meaningful, thought provoking film-making. Review on Ek Doctor Ki Maut

There are two schools of thoughts, when it comes to film-making. One school believes that films are about entertainment (obviously, mouthshut belongs to this school, as it has put this film under entertainment!), while the other school believes that films should have a meaning, and a soul -- whereas, entertainment is optional. Not that this division is either-or. But films like Ek Doctor Ki Maut, belong to the second school, exclusively.

Ek Doctor Ki Maut is a story of a scientist/doctor Dipankar Roy, who is working on a vaccine for Leprosy. He is also working in a public hospital, for sustaining himself, and his family. But his passion is research, done in his spare (and not so spare) time. He is supported by his wife, at the cost of various sacrifices she has to make almost every day. Dipankar is obsessed with his work, and sees nothing else when he is in his lab.

After years of efforts he finally gets the break. To his dismay, though, the battle has just begun. His over-enthusiastic journalist friend (played by Irfan Khan, a measured performance), publishes the results prematurely, including an observation that Dipankar has made - that the vaccine had miraculously ''cured'' sterility in a female monkey being tested for the vaccine, and that the vaccine has a promising potential in that domain. This innocent observation creates a controversy, and intense lobbying by some leading gynecologists sees Dipankar being transferred to a remote corner of country, where he has to come up with a research paper, detailing his results. He has to fight more bureaucracy, and red-tapism for submitting his paper, as he is a government servant.

The film is based on a story Abhimanyu by Ramapada Choudhury. The title is driven from the end of that story, where the scientist guy finally kills himself. The film has a slightly more optimistic end, but not too much!

Ek Doctor Ki Maut, is an age-old story of society against genius, told in a poignant fashion. Pankaj Kapoor has delivered a sublime performance, and has really managed to get in the skin of the character of Dipankar, a highly laconic, moody, and obviously very intelligent scientist, for whom work is everything. The interaction between him and his wife, played convincingly (as usual) by Shabana Azmi, are so real, that you routinely chuckle. The best scene in the film, though, is when Dipankar has to appear before a government committee to explain his research. Pankaj Kapoor shows what he's really capable of, if given a chance!

But the oh-so-realistic direction of Tapan Sinha takes the spotlight, as the film has his stamp all over it. The screenplay, also done by him, is brilliant. Plus (again!) his haunting music score goes a long way into creating an integrated cinematic experience.

Ek Doctor Ki Maut is the cinema of the highest caliber. It's one of the finest, and one of the last, product of a genre of films, that has died a premature death in India. But then as they say, all good things must end!