MUMBAI: The cast and crew of Sahara One Motion Pictures’ Dor is upbeat about the release of the film. Dor will hit cinema screens on 22 September. Director Nagesh Kukunoor, whose last release Iqbal for Mukta Arts had won for him laurels galore says, “With each film I make, a lot of time is spent on the casting. For Dor, I went through an entire audition process.”
“Dor is based on a real life story. I have woven a tale, which tells you to what extent you can go for the sake of the person who you love. The characters in my movie are real and the tale has been told in a larger than life format. I have touched upon elements, which are dramatic. Without doubts, I would say that Dor is my most dramatic film. As a filmmaker, I make it a point to challenge myself. At times I may succeed and at times I may not. It has always been my attempt to give something different each time when I set out to tell a story,” he adds.
Actress Ayesha Takia, who plays the role of an orthodox, simple and conventional Rajasthani girl named Meera in Dor says, “I live by the strict traditional of my Rajput roots. I am a sweet, innocent woman who is content with what life has given me and does not question my existence in the patriarchal settings of Rajasthan. Then one day, my life changes drastically when my husband dies and I embark on a long journey.”
Takia says that while it was not tough to portray the character of Meera, it was emotionally draining her as an actor. “I could learn a lot about life from the character of Meera. Dor was indeed an exciting challenge for the actor in me,” she says.
Actor Shreyas Talpade adds, “I play the character of Behrupiya who helps Gul reach Ayesha. I observed the behrupiyas in Rajasthan and incorporated their dialect and accent along with their body language for my role. It was tough for me to play the handicapped character in Iqbal because I’d have to do a character, which I am not in real life. While working in Dor, I had to wipe out my image as Iqbal, especially since the character of behrupiya has much more depth than even Iqbal. Though one tends to go overboard as an actor most of the times, the way Nagesh handles the character as a director, he makes you feel that it is very simple for you to delineate the character. I am glad that I got a complete shift of character after Iqbal from the same director.”
Gul Panag who plays the character of Zeenat in the film says, “Dor is an unusual story about love, loss, friendship, hope and ultimately redemption. It is a tale of two different but ordinary women-Meera and Zeenat, from two different worlds. I play the role of Zeenat, who is an independent and self assured young woman from Himachal Pradesh, who lives by her own rules. My role in this movie is a very multi dimensional, multi layered part and hence it was quite tough to play the character,” she says.
