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The title means a ‘heartbeat.’ It narrates the story of a foul-mouthed, near-inhuman and completely unscrupulous and callous man living and prospering (not necessarily by fair means) in a foreign country named ‘Numai’ where he is worth a 100 billion now in Indian rupees.
Dahyabhai (Deven Bhojani) from a Gujarati village has dumped his past behind. He has ditched his wife Urmila (Tejal Panchasara) and sister Ganga (Ami Trivedi), both of whom he would also ill-treat (even physically) and illegally migrated to the US. He has then faked his own death by a false report and moved to the country he now resides in, where he is equally arrogant and worse there with associates, employees and even strangers.
A sudden collapse on the road leads to the doctor stressing on the need for a heart transplant. Dahyabhai, who is known in Numai as Ashok Patel, even lashes at the doctor with his tongue, manages to obtain a compatible heart out of turn using his dubious means and gets his transplant. And from that moment, incredibly, his nature changes!
Full now of remorse, he first apologizes to the doctor (he tells him that he has never said ‘Sorry’ to anyone in 65 years!) and then leaves for Gujarat to make amends to everyone he has cheated, ill-treated and made to suffer in any fashion. However, once he enters Gujarat in a cab, he is waylaid and even his clothes stolen after he is drugged.
A cabbie, Kano Kathiyawadi (Aarjav Trivedi) discovers him by the side of the road and Dahyabhai tells him that he would need to get new clothes and head to his village, Saraspur. Kano is told his backstory and decides to escort him, and since he loves stories, offers free travel in his cab in return for Dahyabhai’s narration. The story narrated to him is met with amusement, sarcasm and often with skepticism, but soon when they reach his village, Kano realizes that what Dahyabhai has told him is absolutely true.
For Dahyabhai faces a volley of abuses and threats from the village inhabitants and promises them a crore of rupees for developing the hamlet before he is ‘forgiven.’ But his main agenda is to hunt for his wife, who he is sure is still alive after 30 years, his sister and also his close friend, Gaffar (Kumud Mishra), who he had betrayed.
Intrigued and now sympathetic with Dahyabhai, Kano decides to stay on and in the reverse order of the above, the rich and reformed brat finds, first Gaffar, then Ganga and finally his wife. But what happens on the way, and what takes place when he discovers Urmila in the pilgrimage town of Dwarka, is what the film is about.
“Dhabkaaro” as a movie, minus any ‘heart transplant’ (!), is a compassionate drama on human values and follies and about how a human being commits wrongs and what happens when he seeks amends as well as God’s forgiveness with complete sincerity.
Writer-director Abhishek has earlier made Hellaro (2019), the first Gujarati film to win the National award for Best Feature Film, and his mastery over another message-oriented story is excellent. Messages emanate from the film, about humanity and human behavior, friendship, gender equality, caste discrimination and much more. In the second half, the film could have been a tad crisper, but that’s not a big nitpick.
The dialogues and situations have a permanent undercurrent of humor to mitigate the dramatic and poignant elements in the story. A scoundrel now looking for redemption with rare intensity is sketched with precision here.
With good technical values and a melodious music score by Mehul Surti, the film has stalwart actor-director Deven Bhojani (Sarabhai Vs. Sarabhai, Khichdi, Scoop, Murder Mubarak, Office Office, Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, Dekh Bhai Dekh and many more) etching an effortless and thus award-worthy performance as the cad with a purpose.
Aarjav Trivedi is a luminous foil to him as Kano, while Kumud Mishra as Gaffar and Ami Trivedi as Ganga do well. But Tejal Panchasara is fabulous as Urmila in a small impact-making role. The actors playing the cardiac surgeon as well as the old bedridden postmaster score in small roles.
This film deserves to be watched for its sheer uniqueness and the way it pans out, thus demonstrating the sheer craft of cinema.
Rating: ****
Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment’s Dhabkaaro Produced by: Sajid Nadiadwala Directed by: Abhishek (Shah) Written by: Abhishek (Shah) & Keyu Shah Music: Mehul Surti Starring: Deven Bhojani, Aarjav Trivedi, Tejal Panchasara, Ami Trivedi, Kumud Mishra & others
