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Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin (Review)

Another example of racism in a film. I see this constantly both in content I view and in real life. My agent is a black woman and she has told me how she has put up with constant discrimination throughout her life. 

What I’m getting at is, racism is part of the subject of this movie. In Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin, it opens up in 2002, when a young Indian family are asked to pull over by a police officer and he demands they step out. Suddenly, he gets run down while the family stand there in shock and his brother rushes over. It is now 20 years later, when the son of the family named Dayton (Umar Farooq Khan) is all grown up and trying to enjoy himself at a party but at the same time trying to cope with the fact his father Sukh (Dalj Brar) has been in jail for years. A ring is set up and some big raving white guy is wrestling a nerdy Indian boy but he’s being a bit too rough. Dayton is pressured into fighting against his own race, and while he wins, the loser gets the money. Strange method, but I don’t really know much about wrestling, or anything involving fitness. Sukh is a pretty tough guy himself being a respected fighter in prison boosting his physique and he is finally set free. He manages to reconnect with his some old friends, Lou (Henry J. Mah) and Lana (Mikela Jay) who run his favourite bar. Sukh catches up with everyone, but really wants to know what his son is up to. One person who especially doesn’t approve of Sukh is Paul Leno (Gabriel Carter), the sheriff. Dayton himself doesn’t seem to be good at choices, hanging out with Sheriff Paul’s nephew Brook (Joe Munroe), and his scum friends who make a living stealing stereos from cars whilst getting away with it. But at least Dayton has some true companionship from Lou and Lana along with a beautiful girlfriend named Marlow (Meghan Drew). By chance, when Dayton and the goons are shoplifting in the same corner store Sukh is running errands in, he decides to pay instantly for the stolen items and vouch for his son as the sheriff comes by on his usual patrol. Right around then, Sukh defends himself against Brook, getting caught by Paul who gives Sukh another warning and Dayton wants nothing to do with his father at all. No, things aren’t going well for either Father or Son. Brook takes out Dayton later on and since Dayton has the worst friends in existence, they leave him behind. Meanwhile, Sukh moves into his new apartment to adjust to his new relaxed life. He watches old video tapes of his younger years and remembers back to how things used to be. Sukh continues hanging out with his old friends and they even get some delicious food at an Indian restaurant. It just so happens Marlow is employed by Lou and Lana at the bar, so she learns who Sukh is, but Dayton continues to shut him out, not even caring about his side of the story or the fact that he’s his father. Sukh finds Dayton at his own personal training gym where he goes to personally train, and desperately wants to reconnect with his son. After some chatting, Dayton finally caves and joins everyone at the restaurant. Lou and Lana think Sukh would be great at training Dayton, but you can imagine where it goes. It takes a lot to push a stubborn young man, and at the same time Dayton and Marlow could be moving to Seattle due to her being accepted into college. But eventually, Dayton caves and reconnects as he learns his father’s side of the story, and Sukh trains Dayton for a boxing championship in town. After all, if Dayton wins, he’ll get a load of prize money to help with moving to Seattle. Throughout the rest of the movie, we get treated to real emotions and choices while Sheriff Paul pieces together some interesting clues on how his nephew Brook caused some robberies and Dayton was somewhat involved with his other crimes. Plus Dayton is so caught up with these horrible friends and his messed up life, he can’t get out of a life of crime. 

Do things get sorted out? If anything, things get worse and completely messed up and it takes time before things get straightened out. Much like a real life fight. The story disturbed me, but I enjoyed the emotions that came with it. Things eventually do get repaired and the healing makes up for the harm experienced. It was nice to see a film that featured some local talent who I have noticed before, and I couldn’t even tell it was in BC even. It looked so much like somewhere else so the scenery really was done masterfully combined with the camera work and lighting in general. I also like how the director took on the acting tole of Sukh. That’s right, Dalj did more than just act, he did a lot to make this movie happen, and he did a good job while doing so.

 

 

Dil Rakh: Gloves of Kin can be seen online at Amazon and Tubi.

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