Dug Dug Quicktake: A Funny, Stylish, & Unapologetic Social Satire
Let it be said, Dug Dug director Ritwik Pareek puts the motion in motion pictures.
Pareek delivers an irreverent look at religious worship wrapped up in a mouth-watering buffet of sights and sounds. This stylish TIFF 2021 delight works as a subversive social commentary and a devilishly fun popcorn flick.
Dug Dug begins in the black of night in a middle of nowhere bar that looks ripped right out of From Dusk Till Dawn. We meet a man named Thakur (Altaf Khan) out on one hell of a bender. We don’t know him yet, but it’s clear he’s a man of indulgence. As he staggers outdoors, you can almost smell his booze haze wafting off the screen.
Aditya Kumar’s striking cinematography sets a high bar early on as Thakur strolls beneath thousands of pink and blue hanging lights. The bright lights slowly shift out of focus, morphing into what looks like a neon-lit galaxy. As the camera shifts its soft gaze, for a brief moment, Thakur looks at one with the universe.
“A subversive social commentary and a devilishly fun popcorn flick.”
He climbs on his scooter and darts off into the darkness, lurching and swerving without care. So it’s no surprise when a crash sends Thakur sprawling into the road. He remains lying in the road in a drunken fugue until a speeding truck rolls through and slices him in two.
But that’s not the end of this fateful story.
The authorities clean up the mess and impound the scooter. However, the following night, Thakur’s bike shows up at the scene of his death. The police think it’s a prank, so they empty the gas tank and place the scooter in lock-up. And once again, the bike appears at the scene of the accident. So when the chained up, stashed away bike repairs a third time, the townsfolk take notice.
People start placing spiritual meaning on these events, and folks start coming out of the woodwork to explain what’s happening. The situation snowballs out of control until Thakur’s death, and the return of his bike inspires a new religious movement.
Religious faith can’t be proven, but it can be validated. Dug Dug runs with this concept like a thief in the night. There may be religious authority figures, but no one walking the earth can prove they’re communing with a higher power. People take liberties with spiritual teachings, it’s all a matter of opinion, at the end of the day. Just look at how Christianity has splintered off into factions: Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Evangelicals.
“If you’re into flashy filmmakers, hold on to your seat…”
A new religion springing up amongst struggling people is like a gold rush for the power-hungry. So it’s no shock when people prey upon the faithful like a pack of wolves. The film provides a front-row seat to the birth of a religion to show how its beliefs are warped, manipulated, and co-opted in real-time.
Dug Dug shows us how people react to this new philosophy from several perspectives, such as religious gurus, charlatans, schemers, and even the well-intentioned. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but the story breezes by thanks to Bijith Bala’s tight editing and Pareek’s playful use of cinematic language.
The picture adheres to storytelling’s golden rule, show don’t tell. Much of the story is revealed through montages. If you’re into flashy filmmakers, hold on to your seat because Dug Dug is packed with visually striking sequences. Expect lots of slow zooms and whip pans set to catchy needle drops.
The beauty of this movie is how well it works on multiple levels. First off, you could watch it with the sound off and still have a blast. But what I love most is the way Pareek dives into some real meaty themes.
“You know right away you’re in good hands.”
On the surface, this is a story about a modern myth in the making. It shows us how, over time, shakey rumours, stories, and heresay bind together to form the foundation of religious dogma. Dug Dug is also a story about the vultures who swoop in to profit off the faithful. But what I find most compelling about the film is how it looks at the factors that compel people to believe in the first place.
Dug Dug uses religion to examine a broader issue. The fervour regarding Thakur’s death could be centred on a CEO, a political figure, or even a football coach. Look at the zealotry surrounding the recently voted out of office President, and the parallels are clear.
We all have an innate desire to believe in something bigger than ourselves. So if someone approaches us at just the right time, telling us the exact thing we want to hear, it’s difficult to tune them out. Great crime movies mine drama from watching desperate characters make moral compromises. In Dug Dug, time and again, we see desperate people making intellectual compromises.
Sometimes you turn on a movie, and you know right away you’re in good hands. Dug Dug is one of those films. It’s clever, stylish, and oh so pretty to look at. It has the confidence, style, and puckish energy you see in Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez, and Edgar Wright’s early work. This vibrant film bristles with energy that builds from scene to scene, leading to a knockout final moment.
Discovering Dug Dug will go down as one of my prized TIFF21 memories.
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