Name: Doordarshan
Director: Gagan Puri
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2020-02-28
Cast: Mahi Gill, Manu Rishi Chaddha, Dolly Ahluwalia, Supriya Shukla, Rajesh Sharma

Synopsis

Doordarshan

Sunil "Chiku" Bhateja lives with his young daughter Sweety and son Sunny and is going through a rough phase with his estranged wife Priya "Billo" Bhateja who is demanding a divorce from him. His mother Darshan Kaur Bhateja is in a state of coma for the last 30 years and the rented place belongs to his friend Goldie. Sunil is unwilling to vacate the home due to Darshan's state. Sunny has a crush on Goldie's daughter Twinkle, and the father is furious about it. Sunny's friend Pappi regularly gets magazines with porn stories and both enjoy reading them. Both are alone at home when Pappi reads out the latest edition of the magazine to Sunny in the room where Darshan is resting. As fate would have it, Darshan wakes up from coma listening to the porn story, and the name of the central character "Bimla" sticks in her mind. However, she falls unconscious again. Later when the doctor examines her, he tells them that she would soon regain her consciousness but her mind is in a very weak state, and thus, they must ensure that they don't do anything to dishearten her. Everyone quickly starts working on a changeover of the look of the house to the 80s as that's when Darshan went into the coma. The biggest hurdle is that Sunil will have to convince Priya to return home. Sunil pleads her to return and on the insistence of her aunt, she agrees. Here, Sunil has asked his children to pose as househelps.

Director: Gagan Puri
Release: 28 Feb 2020
Run time: 119 min
Language: Hindi

Reviews

Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.

Critics' consensus

Mixed

Across 2 available source-linked Indian-media reviews for Doordarshan, reception is mixed.

IMDb is a reference rating and is not counted as an Indian-media review.

Best forViewers looking for comedy and drama in Hindi cinema.

Reception Order

All 2 reviews shown

Rediff

2020-02-28

Director Gagan Puri has an interesting premise here, but fails to keep it together. The trigger to recreate the world of 1989 seems unconvincing. The doctor just advised them not to let her stress out but that does not mean one creates a superficial world. There was really no need for it. The director tries to ingest the trademark things from the '80s, including the fixing of the antenna, Ramayan and much more, which is supposed to make you remember those days. But it evokes no response. The only time you feel slightly moved is when the signature Doordarshan logo plays out. Words like Chitrahar, Buniyaad are liberally thrown in, but they doesn't interest you at all. There are also unfunny jokes on the stereotypical representation of gays and a speech-impaired friend of Sweety. Try what you may, Bollywood loves stereotypes and just can't do away with it.

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Scroll

2020-02-28

None of this insight is evident in Doordarshan, which has been written and directed by Gagan Puri. The production values match the average teleserial, and the device of creating a time machine that serves as a reminder of a gentler era is barely exploited. The recreation of older news broadcasts – one of the highlights of Good Bye Lenin! – is unimaginative and barely amusing. Darshana’s inability to comprehend that everybody is vastly older than when she last saw them breaches the suspension-of-disbelief principle – all she had to do was examine her hair, which has gone white.

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