It seems that Bollywood is slowly turning its attention to the rural scene, this year there have been a string of movies based on this subject. Directed by Ajoy Verma, ‘Dus Tola’ is one of those simply told folk stories that are passed from one generation to the next. Co-produced by the Warner Bros studios, this movie holds a lot of promise to the audience.
Set in Sonarpur, the story of ‘Dus Tola’ revolves around the time-tested theory of the victory of goodness over greed. ‘Dus Tola’ aims to pull the heart strings of the average Indian who is still true to his/her roots. The film revolves around some of the colorful characters in the quiet and non-descript town of Sonarpur. Manoj Bajpai plays the role of Shankar, a goldsmith who is madly in love with his neighbor’s daughter Suvarnalata (played by Aarti Chhabria). Everything is not hunky dory as it might seem because there is a major hurdle in their union.
Suvarnalata’s father Daya Shastri (played by Dilip Prabhavalkar) is not very happy with this match and wants to get a bridegroom from Dubai who would gift lots of gold jewellery to his little princess. According to Daya Shastri, marrying his daughter off to a good family will help him climb up the social ladder and gain more respect.
On the other hand, our protagonist Shankar is not ready to give up that easily. Fate throws a lot of obstacles on his path but armed with his unique philosophy towards life Shankar keeps moving forward. ‘Dus Tola’ is a light hearted rural story that depicts the true nature of our society from a different perspective.
Manoj Bajpai has done a commendable job as the simple goldsmith and looks very convincing in his role indeed. Aarti Chhabria’s acting skills are not something that you will still talk about after leaving the movie hall but it gets the job done nonetheless. Dilip Prabhavalkar as Daya Shastri is one of the best supporting actors in the cast. The film does become a bit monotonous towards the end but it still manages to hold on to the audience’s attention.
Director: Ajoy Verma
Starring: Manoj Bajpai, Aarti Chhabria, Siddharth Makkar, Pallavi Sharda, Govind Namdeo, Asrani, Dilip Prabhavalkar.
Rating: ** 2/5
