Shah Rukh Khan’s Hardy and his group of Punjabi-speaking friends encounter armed security personnel and touts as they traverse through desert and sea, trying to reach London even after repeated visa denials in the trailer of Rajkumar Hirani’s upcoming film Dunki.
Dropped by Red Chillies Entertainment on Tuesday, the three-minute-one-second long trailer begins with a clean-shaven, sunglasses-sporting Shah Rukh getting off a train at a railway station, a scene reminiscent of Main Hoon Na (2004) and Chennai Express (2013).
His voiceover introduces his friends — barber Balli (Anil Grover), garment shop salesman Buggu (Vikram Kochhar), Manu (Taapsee Pannu) and Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal) — and narrates their story that started in 1995 in Laltu, a small town in Punjab.
Gulati (Boman Irani) is introduced as the teacher entrusted with the task of teaching English to Shah Rukh and his friends.
Along with a first look at the characters, the trailer also explores the backdoor immigration process, known as Donkey Fight, to countries like the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada.
The Munna Bhai MBBS and 3 Idiots director appears to add his flavour of social messaging in the form of a light-hearted comedy. From characters singing “I want to go to lavatory” in their English class to Sukhi retorting that a non-Punjabi speaking foreigner can live in Punjab but a non-English speaking Indian cannot go to live in England, the film promises to explore a relevant rhetoric in a light and palatable format.
The trailer offers glimpses of action that has become a common feature of Shah Rukh’s recent films like Pathaan and Jawan. Their struggles to cross borders and reach the UK after failing to immigrate legally is shown in the form of a montage in the video. Shah Rukh concludes by introducing himself as Hardayal Singh Dhillon, also known as Hardy, who claims that 25 years after the beginning of his immigration story he is going to put an end to it. Closing shots of the trailer shows a grey-haired and bearded Hardy still fit enough to run a race.
Dunki will release in theatres on December 21.
