Movie Review: 'Dharam Sankat Mein'

Movie Review: Dharam Sankat Mein

Rating: 3/5

Genre: Comedy

The film outwardly seems to scoff at ritualistic religion. The idea of talking religion so openly on screen seems audacious enough. There are scenes in the early part of the film where Rawal’s Gujarati Hindu character scuffles verbally with his Muslim neighbour, played with emphatic elan by Annu Kapoor. These scenes are the backbone of the film. The dialogues penetrate sacrosanct spaces occupied by both the religious orders, offending both and thereby hurting none, so to speak.

Hats off the Rawal and Kapoor and the dialogue writers Alpesh Dixit, Sanjay Sharma and Vijay Desai for the absorbing lines shared by the two characters.  The film’s main dramatic core when Rawal discovers his Islamic parentage is squandered in trying to be sassy and funny. Throughout the film while Rawal discovers his religious identity, audiences become more and more confused about their own religious allegiances.

Naseeruddin Shah as the Hindu godsman ‘Neel Anand Baba’ is quite evidently modeled on a certain self-styled rock-star guru. Shah seems to have a lot of fun chanting the cheesy lines and being extra-friendly with female devotees. The fun, alas, never filters down to the audience.

There is an inherent dryness to the drama that is hard to ignore, and even harder to digest.  ‘Dharam Sankat Mein’ has some lucid moments of self-questioning where the religious divide is pungently scrutinized and satirized. Hilarity at the cost of organised religion is not an easy target to achieve for any filmmaker.

The film achieves a remarkable threshold of thoughtful humor. Though a lot of it is gradually eroded by over-punctuated satire, this is that rare film which takes potshots at the religious divide without offending anyone.