Ritwik Pareek’s debut feature film, Dug Dug, offers a brilliant satirical and philosophical exploration of the fine line between faith and foolhardiness, observes Sukanya Verma.
Key Points
- Ritwik Pareek’s debut film Dug Dug is a satirical take on blind faith and opportunism, inspired by Rajasthan’s Bullet Baba Temple legend.
- The story revolves around a miraculously reappearing moped that gains divine status after its rider’s death, leading to a shrine and widespread belief.
- Aditya S Kumar’s hypnotic camerawork and Salvage Audio Collective’s effervescent score enhance the film’s humour, euphoria, and vivid imagery.
- Pareek’s direction blends traditional Rajasthani art with contemporary concepts, creating lyrical life metaphors while maintaining a benign worldview.
A lone rider makes his way into the eerily empty night speeding across a remote road of Rajasthan. Shrouded in darkness, our only impression of this drunk dude is the existential crisis in the voiceover’s monologue, ‘Manzilen mili unhi ko jo raaste mein hain goom.’
Babbles of a stoned fool or prophetic words of a sage mind? Dug Dug lets you decide after the dangerously dizzy ride meets its crashing end right before magician P P Sharma’s pulpy art poster eyes.
The Miraculous Moped and Rising Cult
Despite repeated attempts to confiscate the deceased’s bike by local cops, the blue and pink Luna keeps miraculously resurfacing at the exact same spot it was first found. As the moped earns divine status, word spreads far and wide and droves of believers flock the site-turned-shrine with offerings of beer, beedi and big bucks.
Director Ritwik Pareek’s debut feature film is a work of sublime vision and philosophical insight. In Dug Dug, presented by indie cinema champions Anurag Kashyap, Nikkhil Advani, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vasan Bala, Pareek reflects over the thin line between faith and foolhardiness yet steers clear of passing judgement.
Inspiration and Social Commentary
Inspired by the legend of the Bullet Baba Temple near Jodhpur, which came into being in the late 1980s after a Enfield rider was killed in an accident and his vehicle became a thing of worship, Dug Dug‘s Mano Ya Na Mano setting in Marwar is tailor-made for attention.
In a country where religious zeal and spiritual naivete are forever crossing paths, it’s an entirely plausible scenario. Pareek is quick to seize a satire in the opportunism of priests, press, politicians and people wielding power or paisa while the cult of a two-wheeler burgeons on the strength of common man’s desires and desperation.
Visuals, Sound, and Direction
Salvage Audio Collective’s effervescent score elevates both Dug Dug‘s humour and euphoria. Its swelling momentum, symbolised in the sight of a toy seller’s ever-growing balloon, threatens dire consequences in the tradition of a thriller and underscores Pareek’s talent for vivid imagery.
His robust use of pink and blue in all its neon and candy-coloured glory — be it the psychedelic opening scene, the electric celebration parades or a second half teeming with montages capturing the moped’s widespread success — convey its contrasts of magic and realism. Pareek’s assured eye is apparent in his ethereal use of art wherein he blends traditional Rajasthani miniature paintings and contemporary concepts to create lyrical life metaphors.
Although his worldview is benign and hellbent on the power of manifestation, the filmmaker doesn’t shy away from showing blind devotion’s monetisation in the garb of progress and purity. Except his wit is more visual than voice.
Cinematography and Themes
Dug Dug may allude to the sound in a bike but it’s the sights of Aditya S Kumar’s hypnotic camerawork that captivate when a landscape’s stoic, stark visage befitting a Western metamorphoses into the hustle bustle of a pilgrimage town.
More than character arcs, it’s the cycle of conformity that interests Pareek. Just when Dug Dug appears to be caught up in musical montages, save for the cops investigating the case of the curious bike early on, he throws a curveball. And a popular saying comes to mind: Na maano toh patthar maano toh bhagwan.
Dug Dug Review Rediff Rating:
