What is Dunki? The dangerous ‘donkey route’ in Shah Rukh Khan and Tapsee Pannu starrer

By Martina Ward On Dec 25, 2023

Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film Dunki is now officially out in theatres.

The comedy-drama, which was released on 21 December, captures an immigration technique known as the “donkey route”, which is used to enter countries such as the US, UK and Canada.

Dunki, which is Khan’s third release year, follows the story of four friends from a village in Punjab India, who want to travel to England. But there is a slight problem as neither of them have a visa or a ticket.

In the midst of hoping to make it across the world, the group of friends meet a soldier who promises to take them to the “land of dreams”.

Khan has described the movie as a “journey that will take you through a madcap ride of friendship, the comedy and tragedy that life is and a nostalgia for home and family,” according to reports from Business Standard.

At a recent event in Dubai, the star explained the meaning of the movie’s title: “Dunki is an illegal trip a lot of people take to get out of their country across borders all over the world. It is called the Donkey travels.”

So, what exactly is the “donkey route” ?

“Donkey flights” or “donkey route” is a term based on the Punjabi word “dunki”, which means to “hop from place to place”.

The word itself refers to an illegal method which involves people crossing a country’s borders through a backdoor route with multiple stops in other countries.

An example is when people apply for a tourist visa for European Union Schengen countries – this allows them to move freely between 26 bordering nations. After reaching the EU zone, “consultants” or “agents” help with illegal entry into the UK.

These “agents” usually charge large amounts of money to help essentially smuggle people into the country of their choice and according to Business Standard some agents might even do things legitimately while offering dangerous options to the client.

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Agents can offer different services from fake paperwork to smuggling people through shipping containers.

Is this method dangerous?

Yes, it is.

There are several risk factors, including imprisonment, deportation and maybe even death.

According to a report by The Times of India, citing the US Customs and Border Protection, between February 2019 and March 2023, as many as 149,000 Indians were detained for attempting to enter the US illegally – of this, most of those detained were from Gujarat and Punjab.

Earlier this year, the outlet also reported a 32-year-old man from Haryana’s Kaithal district lost his life after reportedly being taken to the US through the “donkey route”.

At the time, the victim’s brother told the press: “We had paid him Rs 25 lakh (around £23,645.85) in advance after borrowing money from arthiya (commission agent). Malkit was taken through Kazakhstan to Turkiye, but his phone was disconnected once he reached Guatemala.

“We came to know about his death through social media, and it appears to be a murder. The tour has planned his murder and strict action should be taken against him,” the brother said according to the publication.

A method that has been going on for many years, in 2010, a police chief in Jalandhar, was reported saying that authorities had been struggling to cope with the innovative “Donkey flights”.

“Those who want to go abroad by any means will try to find an agent to fulfil their wish. There are many people working in this business,” he was quoted saying at the time.

“Out of every 100 people, maybe up to 10 are caught.”

Now, Khan’s latest movie aims to highlight the method and the difficulties that come with it.

Dunki is directed by Rajkumar Hirani and also stars Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Boman Irani and has been co-written by Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, and Kanika Dhillon.