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Ab Dilli Dur Nahin, An Underdog’s Inspirational Story

Ab Dilli Dur Nahin

Rating: ***

Imran Zahid plays Abhay Shukla, an aspiring perspiring wannabe civil servant from Bihar slogging to fulfil his parents’ dream in Delhi.It is a moving performance,especially towards the end when during his conversation with Mahesh Bhatt(who for reasons best known to the writers, plays a fictional mentor to the hero named Devesh Kapoor), Imran Zahid lets all the unexpressed acrimony hurt and struggle of his character come out in a spill of tears and trauma.

Sadly this is more of a romance less of a struggler’s story. The screenwriters have elected to meander across adventures of a naïve Bihari boy in the big bad city and his romantic liaison with his landlord’s daughter, rather than focus on how the aspirant got to his goal,how he finally cracked the examination,what is the secret formula for the underdog’s triumph…these are questions that this well-meaning film needed to ask.

How one wishes the film had a more tightly controlled narrative landscape and better actors.The rawness and unexposed profile of the actors lends a freshness and authenticity to the proceedings even as the cast’s amateurishness comes in the way of the narrative’s smooth progression.

Imran Zahid’s sincere attempt to convey his character Abhay Shukla’s struggles underscores the endeavour.His romantic co-star Shruti Sodhi tends to stick out in a milieu that favours a naturalness over artificiality. The romantic songs and romantic scenes are out of place .

Ab Dilli Dur Nahin(the title harks back to the 1957 classic produced by Raj Kapoor) is a credible attempt to tell a common man’s story with sincerity. One hopes the protagonist was able to create a more focused atmosphere for his studies than the makers of this film are able to in telling the protagonist’s story.

Nonetheless commendable for bringing out the struggles of a hero who doesn’t save the world. He saves his own soul, finally.