Do Hanso Ka Joda - Searching Mr. Right in Hindi Cinema

Hindi cinema has defined the concept of “Mr. Right” for many a young girl. For a very long time, heroes of popular commercial films have ruled the roost as Mr. Right. Be it Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan or Shahid Kapoor-all of them have been the role model for young hearts to shape their dreams of “Mr. Right” on. Of late, Hindi serials have been putting up a strong fight, providing women with healthy alternatives of male icon who are not ‘demi-god like’ in their status and prowess, like film heroes, but more down-to-earth and believable.

Preeti of Do Hanso Ka Joda has grown up worshipping film heroes and expects her Mr. Right to be someone who will have all the qualities of all her favourite heroes. However her mother selects for her a person who is so far removed from all her hopes and aspirations that she is shattered. Suryakamal, the name itself is so ‘uncool’ to begin with. As compared to Raj, Aryan, Rishi, Suryakamal sounds dated and archaic, immediately creating in our minds the image of an old, lacklustre person. Her Suryakamal not only sounds ordinary but even has ordinary looks. His oiled and brushed hair, simple clothes, round spectacles and moustache make him stand out in a crowd but in a manner that often makes people laugh.

However as they say looks are deceptive. For despite his ordinary looks, Suryakamal is a person of extra-ordinary strength of character. He is honest, guileless, confident (in spite of his obvious lack of charm) and large-hearted. Preeti and her cousin Suman, try to make him back out of the marriage by telling him that Preeti suffers from epilepsy that the family members have wilfully hidden from him. They believe this will make Suryakamal back out of the marriage. But instead of backing out, he reaffirms his decision to marry Preeti, thereby suggesting that he is not scared of problems and difficulties and likes to meet them head on.

The beauty of Suryakamal’s character comes out when he refuses to accept dowry that Preeti’s father wants to give out of his own volition. In fact he makes Preeti’s father promise that he will not indulge in gift giving. Upon being chided by his step-mother for turning down the dowry, he politely points out that he is capable enough to provide for his family without having to resort to external help. In his actions and choice of words, he puts across an enormous depth of thought and clarity of vision. Indeed Suryakamal is representative of those many middle-class boys and men, who might not look right, dress right or even talk right; but who are made of such sterner stuff that they can easily surmount any hurdle. Do Hanso ka Joda deserves special applause for introducing such a common-yet-extraordinary protagonist to us all.