Darbaan
Ratings: 4.7/5
Duration: 2 hrs 25 mins
Language: Hindi
Genre: Drama
Director: Bipin Nadkarni
Writer: Bipin Nadkarni, Radhika Anand, Rakesh Jadhav
Based On: A story by Rabindranath Tagore
Producer: Bipin Nadkarni, Yogesh Beldar
Music: Amartya Bobo Rahut, Raajeev V., Arjith Singh Bhalla, Rohhan Patel
Cinematography: Amalendu Chaudhary
Editing: Jayant Jathar, Vandita Chakradeo
Art Direction: Kushal Mahant
Release Date: 4 December 2020
Streaming On: Zee 5
Star Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar, Rasika Dugal, Flora Saini, Harsh Chhaya, Suneeta Sengupta, Varun Sharma
Plot: Based on the 1891 short story by Rabindranath Tagore, the film follows the life of a caretaker whose life is disturbed due to a single act of carelessness.
Review: Darbaan is an adaption of a 1918 short story Khokababur Pratyabartan written by Nobel Prize winner Rabindra Nath Tagore. Darbaan is based on Rabindranath Tagore’s popular story of a loyal servant who does the unthinkable act of sacrificing his son in order to keep his master’s family happy.
The screenplay is about the friendship between a boy and his caretaker who come from different steps on the social and economic ladder.
Marathi filmmaker Bipin Nadkarni, who debuts in Hindi with Darbaan, adapts the story and adds his own narrative bits. The story begins in 1971 and is set against the backdrop of the then-Indira Gandhi-led government’s decision to nationalise coal mines.
The film has an emotional strain to it and what has aided it is a slow-paced screenplay and its extremely heartful soundtrack.
Darbaan is a bitter-sweet film. Nadkarni has chosen an impressive cast to tell the tale of extreme loyalty, identity, class, and loss, human psychology, and health in ‘normal’ times and after a calamity. Above everyone, Sharib Hashmi puts up a worthy performance. His character as Raicharan has been portrayed so well and not just in one but the many transitions and ups and downs that the character faces and goes through only proves Sharib’s versatility as an actor.
If one was to compare Darbaan to the Bengali film starring Uttam Kumar that was also adapted from Tagore's Khokababur Pratyabartan; that’s only when the film’s flaws float to the surface. Darbaan lacks that depth, intuition, and social discernment.
Most of the first half of the film was spent on establishing Raicharan’s extreme dedication to his job and his heart-warming relationship with Anukul Babu as a child and after. The bond between the two is shown through a single opening song that plays in the background along with the credits.
Rabindranath Tagore’s story focuses on the two men’s awareness of their different classes despite their friendship and fondness for each other. In Darbaan though, the VO at the start stresses that Naren, Anukul, and Raicharan view each other as equals. “Naren never considered Raicharan his servant, Raicharan never considered Naren his master. How does one explain this relationship?” says Kapoor’s voice: it never happens in the real, cruel world!
Apart from a thing here and a matter there, this film is a delight to watch!
