Dus Tola

As a kid, one of my favourite shows on TV was 'Malgudy Days'. It left an indelible impression on my mind, memories that I cherish to date. When I watch films set in a hamlet with assorted characters that seem straight out of life, memories of 'Malgudy Days' come alive instantaneously. That's precisely what I felt while watching Dus Tola.
Having a similar storyline as the Malayalam film Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu, Dus Tola has an interesting plotline and boasts of a few endearing moments, but the outcome is plain and simplistic. Also, the writing is quite erratic; it involves you at a few places, but is yawn inducing at most times.


Final word? Lacks the glitz and sparkle!
Shankar (Manoj Bajpayee) is the much loved goldsmith of a quaint coastal town Sonapur. Shankar is head over heels in love with the town beauty, his cunning astrologer neighbour's daughter Suvarnalata (Aarti Chhabria). Needless to say, Shastri (Dilip Prabahvalkar), Suvarna's father, is opposed to the budding romance.
Suvarnalata cooks up a fool-proof plan to manipulate her father into accepting the alliance. She convinces a smitten Shankar to make a necklace of not one tola, not two tolas, but ten tolas of gold so he can show Shastri that he can take care of his daughter and he is a suitable husband for her. Shankar puts everything he has at stake and slogs day and night to make a necklace for his beloved.