Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 9, 2016

“Dukhtar” is a Pakistani production that takes a look at the cyclical nature of child exploitation in the region, often packaged as religious and cultural formality. However, instead of preaching to the audience, writer/director Afia Nathaniel uses thriller conventions to help detail the impact of female submission, highlighting the horrors and humanity of a land she clearly loves. It’s nail-biter for sure, but “Dukhtar” has something more on its mind than panic, working to define its disposable characters as people struggling for a gasp of freedom.

Samiya Mumtaz stars as a mother of a young teenager girl ordered to prepare her child for a wedding, helping to build trust between warring mountain tribes. Unable to participate in such a practice due to her own experience as an adolescent bride, the parent takes off with her daughter, on the run from family, hoping to reach a city and disappear. She finds help from a bus driver (Mohib Mirza), and while the hunt plays a major part of “Dukhtar,” benevolence also factors into the experience, with the protective parent meeting someone who values her bravery. Nathaniel is saddled with a limited budget, but she launches the feature with remarkable emotional precision, conjuring the pain of separation and the terror of capture while zooming around locations. The level of suspense presented here is impressive, making the viewer feel near-misses and threats.

Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (---- aspect ratio) presentation remains in line with other HD-shot productions, delivering strong textures on faces and places, keeping detail sharp and locations vivid. Colors are bold, handling environmental changes accurately, while costuming brings out bolder hues, finding yellow and orange particularly strong. Skintones are accurate. Delineation is acceptable, never swallowing frame information. Some banding is detected.

Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix finds the open air of the locations, providing subtle but effective atmospherics throughout. Dialogue exchanges are sharp, but inherent recording issues are detected, with louder demonstrations of panic finding microphone limitations. Scoring is clean and comfortable, achieving precise instrumentation and placement. Sound effects carry some low-end activity, including rumbling car rides and gunfire.

Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Afia Nathaniel.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:12, HD) is included.

Dukhtar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Dukhtar" settles down in its second half, spending time developing characters and arranging a few dreamscape visits. Mumtaz is stellar in the lead role, communicating pain and pressure with subtle reactions, and Nathaniel limits hysterics, keeping the picture insular for most part, until it needs to remind viewers exactly what's at stake. "Dukhtar" is world cinema with a message, but it's also tense and heartbreaking, using formula to explore regional woes, and doing so quite vividly.