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Nagesh Kukunoor who began with a hand camera way back in 1998 to make a film called 'Hyderabad Blues' is a director now on his own. During the last eight years he has made films like 'Rockford', 'Teen Deewarein' and 'Hyderabad Blues 2' to please the festive circuit besides a surprise commercial hit in 'Iqbal' to win millions of accolades from masses. Nagesh is a good technician; he writes his own stories, gets inspiration from real life incidents and transforms them on celluloid with his point of view. If the technician indulges more in art than in e medium, chances are that he will end in pleasing himself but not the takers. Nagesh Kukunoor's latest offing 'Dor' falls in this category.

A person who made his film with just one hand held camera now uses cranes and trolleys to picturize sand dunes and forgets to keep pace with the demand of the medium! 'Dor' is no doubt a masterpiece in terms of its making but its handling is not at par with that of his 'Iqbal'. If 'Iqbal' could co-relate to common man it was because the situation was more humane and the treatment looked real. In 'Dor', Nagesh once again takes on a real story but somewhere he camouflages his narration in artistic approach. The pace of the film slows down and so also the interest of the viewers. At the end, the viewer looks tired while coming out of the theater.

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Nagesh Kukunoor started work on 'Dor' while he was making 'Iqbal'. Like any filmmaker he might have thought of making a good and different film in 'Dor'. That must have also be the reason that he chose an actress like Ayesha Takia who is more inclined towards glamour side of Bollywood. To look deglamourised is the fashion of the day though. Sushmita Sen did it in 'Samay' and 'Chingari'; Bipasha Basu did it for the sake of Madhur Bhandarkar in 'Corporate'.

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Earlier, Madhuri had tried her luck in 'Mrityudand' and 'Lajja'. Incidentally, all these were established actors, but Ayesha took a big risk in the dawn of his career. 'Dor' is the story of love, desperation, separation, relations and union. And, it takes two female characters to define all this with one male. The females here are Zeenat (Gul Panag) and Meera (Ayesha Takia) and the male character is Behrupiya (Shreyas Talpade).

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The events take Zeenat on a journey to meet Meera. The fate has it that they will have Behrupiya as their common destiny but it is not that easy in life. The girls are different in nature, their background is different too and so are their fates. The life has to end in death, the luck has to suffer adversity and the human has to face the destiny. The only link is the three chracters. But they are not alone there; there is a plethora of other characters. However, walking on a very thin line of story, filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor fails to judge them.

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After the stupendous success of 'Iqbal', the viewers expected a better film from him. And, Nagesh does not disappoint his followers. People who have been watching Nagesh's films regularly are his die-hard fans. Moreover, the reason behind the success of 'Iqbal' was not the bunch of his fans, but millions of those who loved the story of an underdog. You can find these kinds of underdogs in every street of the country, but not a Behrupiya. Nagesh repeats hero of 'Iqbal' in 'Dor'. In Shreyas, he discovers an aura that makes him go blind to look further in his career.

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No doubt, 'Dor' will be loved by the connoisseurs of the cinema, but what about people in Meerut, Nagpur, Bhopal and Patna. Will they connect with this film? This is the question Nagesh must ask himself before making another film. It takes hell lot of pain to make a film and to make a film just for one's own passion is risky . Nagesh involves a good battery of people to showcase his story on celluloid. Sudeep Chatterjee as cinematographer ranks first among these. He has caught locales of hills and desert alike. The second person is art director Muneesh Sappal. But the film fails at editing table and Sanjeev Dutt must get ready to receive brickbats for it. The film is very slow and almost comes to a standstill at places.

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Among actors, Shreyas Talpade is the sole beneficiary of the film. He walks miles in his second film and shows that he has arrived on the scene. But, once again the problems are the same; will he fit in the typical commercial game of the Hindi Cinema? He is very talented actor and now is the time that he takes on the challenge to pass the litmus test of a hero in Bollywood. Gul Panag is effective and delivers more than expected from her.

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But, what prompted Ayesha Takia to take on this kind of role so early in her career remains unanswered. She works hard and comes out as a dedicated actor though. The film will always be remembered for her good work. Then, there is Girish Karnad, who proves that he is still effective. Many other new faces are there in the story and they come and go with their roles ending with one reel or two. 'Dor' connects them all but fails to tie a knot at the box office. On the whole, a class film not for masses though.