An East Indian man served 20 years in prison for standing up to racism. Upon his release, while attempting to reconcile with his son, he realizes the world has not changed. Dayton has been dealing with the same hate and discrimination from a local group of boxers. As he attempts to rebuild his relationship with his son, they must decide if fighting is the only option.
Dil Rakh is Director Dalj Brar’s homage to Rocky with an undercurrent of social commentary on the state of today’s society.
The film is beautifully shot and has a classy production gloss feel to it and it’s very easy on the eye.
Solid performances surround Dil Rakh as it features a strong cast with stand-out performances from Joe Munroe and Umar Farooq Khan being two particular highlights that grounded the film, gave it purpose and drove the story despite a few lulls here and there.
Dil Rakh showcases some great fight sequences and some beautiful camerawork when navigating the boxing ring scenes, how the film captures these particular scenes gives it a raw edge that I haven’t seen in many boxing films before. Usually, the film is very obviously pulling punches (it’s all about the angles) but Dil Rakh is shot in a way that just hits home in a more realistic way.
Director Dalj Brar lent a hand to the script but also stars in the film as Sukh Sidhu and has a very prominent role in the film. That’s quite a lot to juggle!
At times throughout Dil Rakh I did feel as though there were just some slight lulls between certain narrative-driven scenes despite its rather short runtime. Aside from this I certainly would be scraping the barrel to find many negatives of this rather interesting yet thought-provoking film.
It feels very well put together and you can tell the creators behind it genuinely cared about the story they wanted to tell.
For a film about boxing the violence (for the most part) takes a backseat as we are shown an openly racist society and Dil Rakh manages to highlight this in a way that doesn’t overpower the film’s narrative but it certainly leaves a lasting impression.
Think of it like a punch that leaves a permanent mark, it’ll make you think and it’ll make you aware and I believe this was intentionally done and with good reason too.
I went into Dil Rakh with admittedly low expectations, I normally know what I’m getting when an independent film lands in my inbox but I’m pleased to say this one certainly impressed me and whilst it’s not a film that boxing afficiando’s could quite sink their teeth into there’s certainly enough to see here and a strong enough message to resonate throughout.
Whilst a little light on the boxing side of things but Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin has a stronger message to tell and it resonates throughout in this thought-provoking, gritty, dominant and aesthetically pleasing independent feature
Check out the trailer for Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin below:
Our Rating
Summary
A little light on the boxing side of things but Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin has a stronger message to tell and it resonates throughout in this thought-provoking, gritty, dominant and aesthetically pleasing independent feature
