A Political Thriller. Review on Dharti

Religious films are always made keeping the regional viewers in mind because they are hardly released outside their respective state where majority of the people understand the language well. We have often seen Hindi films remake of South Indian films but very rarely we have seen or heard that a Punjabi film or an Oriya film or a Bengali film is remade in Hindi.

Even though my first visit to Punjab was in 2002 but being a Punjabi I have seen many Punjabi films on CDs and few on Doordarshan. Most of the films of actors Satish Kaul & Shashi Puri were revenge oriented where the main hero grow up to take revenge from the zamindar or chaudhary of the village. Meher Mittal, the most popular comedian of his times use to be a part of almost every film. He was like Mahmood of Hindi films & will have a heroine beside him and will be given a song as well.

Our film industry is full of Punjabi actors & film makers but barely have they tried to make a Punjabi film even though Raj Babbar did some good Punjabi films like Chann Pardesi (won National award for best film), Aasra Pyaar Da, Long Da Lashkara, Shaheed Udham Singh, etc. In the early days Prithviraj Kapoor, Dara Singh, Sunil Dutt, Som Dutt, Prikshit Sahni have given a some popular Punjabi films but somehow none of the young generation have bothered to do a Punjabi film.

I have found Punjabi films to be of stereotype hence had stayed away from them for a long time but when I read that Jimmy Shergill has started producing Punjabi films I decided to watch ‘DHARTI’, which was co-produced by him with playing the lead role as well.

Jimmy Shergill deserves all the praise for being a part of the production team because here is a film that has changed the face of Punbaji films. A taut political thriller with well-known star cast was never thought off to come in Punjabi but then this world is full of surprises and DHARTI is a pleasant surprise by all means.

DHARTI though is a family drama set in Punjab with the backdrop of Punjab politics but has shades of Godfather, where the latter was based on underworld whereas the former is purely political. Manoj Jha who has written the story, screenplay & the dialogues has really worked hard & did full justice to his role, which at times might fall flat.

Prem Chopra, the head of ruling political party has two sons. Elder son Ramandeep Arya is actively involved in politics & is a popular among people, while younger son Jimmy Shergill who could have made big in politics but due to a conflict with his father joins Indian Air Force.

Rahul Dev is son of a popular member of party & is most likely to be named as next head of the party since his father is not well but Prem Chopra during the press conference announces his elder son Ramandeep to take over the charge, which upsets Rahul Dev.

Jimmy Shergill is sent to Punjab to explain to college students what IAF is so that they can consider themselves a career with IAF. Meets his brother who requests him to return home & apologize to father to which he agrees if he meets Jimmy next day to wish him happy birthday.

Ramandeep is run over by a speeding vehicle when they meet, which due to the circumstances is later suspected that it was a well-planned murder by Rahul Dev. Jimmy Shergill returns to politics to take revenge & during a conference an attempt is made to kill Rahul Dev. When they escape from the scene the vehicle in which Rahul Dev & Jimmy Shergill were supposed to travel is blown up with a bomb, killing only Rahul as Jimmy escaped in different vehicle. It now dawns at Jimmy that someone wanted to kill both of them. But why? If Rahul was not the mastermind to kill his brother then who was?

Jimmy involves himself in politics, begins the investigation & as the film heads towards the finale it leaves the viewer stunned with the identity of the main culprit & moreover the way Jimmy kills him.

The music by Jaidev Kumar is okay & is different from typical dhol beats as the composition is in taste with the modern days’ demand. Photography is top class & many scenes in the film are visual treat.

Ranvijay Singh leaves a mark & with his fluency in Punjabi he must consider doing more Punjabi films. Jaspal Bhatti though had a small role & was hilarious. In fact you will burst into laughter with some of his one liners.

Surveem Chawla is the leading lady & does well. She is gorgeous & has a good future in Punjabi films if she thinks on the lines of Priti Sapru & Rajni Sharma who were big names there.

Ramandeep Arya has a good screen presence & does well. Rahul Dev gave a different touch to his character with his dialogue delivery. Prem Chopra is once again top class. His eye delivered hatred when required & immense love when he embraces Jimmy. Excellent performance by the veteran.

Jimmy Shergill is the show stealer. His tough looks, extremely likable body language & cent percent commitment towards his work makes his character very strong, which he plays with utmost ease.

DHARTI though is well written by Manoj Jha but the director Navaniat Singh has ensured that the product is presented as serious political suspense thriller & he succeeds big time. He has created the atmosphere that is seen during the elections & the impact on the screen appears in a large scale & the camera angle gives it an additional push towards creativity, which broadens the horizon for sure.

DHARTI is a unique example of what a perfect team work can do. Good story with unexpected twists & turns, excellent dialogues, nice development of characters, well executed & superbly performed scenes with the duration of the film kept of 105 minutes makes this film a MUST watch not only for people who love political thrillers but also for them those who have lost faith in Punjabi films.