Dasara Review: From Known To The Unknown

Reviewed by: Team NaThing

Dasara Review: Before DasaRaw

The more local the story goes, the more global the film becomes – Vetrimaaran, Indian filmmaker (Tamil Cinema)

This has been the trend these days in Telugu Cinema. There are two ways to create buzz among the film buffs. One is to present a film in a rustic setting containing raw characters, localised music and with a particular slang. The other is to make big budget epic fantasies. 

The first one has a pioneer in Telugu by Sukumar and his Rangasthalam. The second one is well known. Baahubali. Nani seems to have chosen a middle ground.

In the last five years, he has scored only two successes in the form of the sports Drama Jersey which was an instant classic. The other film was Shyam Singha Roy. The first one was initially stampeded by the simultaneous release of Kanchana 3. Fortunately for Jersey, it emerged as an alternative to another bigger film Avengers: Infinity War which quickly washed out the routine Kanchana 3. Then courtesy of great reviews and word of mouth, Jersey picked up pace from the second weekend onwards. Shyam Singha Roy mostly received positive reviews and did well enough. 

After the stunningly unexpected failure of Ante Sundaraniki, Nani is back this time with Dasara. Made by Srikanth Odela who had to prove his worth initially by shooting a couple of scenes on a shoestring budget, Dasara is advertised as an intense emotional journey through a rural landscape. 

Presented itself as a so-called Pan-India film, the promos proved it has everything to make it a great film, if the movie reaches at least half of the hype. Let’s see how this life-turning effort from Natural Star Nani delivers with DasaRaw review.

Nani’s Dasara Review: The Known Unknown

We all know the story. Something that happens in a village. That can happen to anyone – you, me, or someone else. 

The boy loves the girl. She has someone in her mind. That someone is not the lead actor but his friend. And one of these men gets involved in Village politics. We know the rest. 

But it’s the treatment of the subject that matters in the end. Srikanth Odela has come up with a character driven drama. These days the audience is mostly investing in the characters rather than the story. A story is necessary for a movie but the characterisations are leading the way to box office success. 

Take, for example, Captain America: Civil War has its resolution at the end of the second act. The entire third act is about how the relationship between the Cap and Iron Man, or to be precise how the friendship and trust in each other of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers get affected. It has nothing to do with the events of the first two acts. The filmmakers presented it as having the repercussions of the Civil War but in the end it was turned into a personal ego feud between the Cap and Tony. Here, as the audience invested in the Cap and Tony, the film worked (also thanks to the larger narrative of the MCU).

Dharani, Vennela, and Soori are from the village Veerlapally where coal mining is the livelihood. Village politics and the ego clashes or the lack thereof play a part in moving the film’s narrative forward. The director cleverly established the world of his story and made the audience get acquainted with the characters in an engaging manner. This helped during the time when the film has yet to reach the central conflict. 

Then he moved things faster with some raw emotional moments climaxing with a stunning interval block (common for Indian films). 

But the second half took a beating. It appears that the director had visualised the village, the interval block, and the exhilarating and chilling climax and tried to spin the rest of the narrative around them. It worked only partially. The screenplay has its moments but unfortunately failed to give super high moments to Nani.

Dasara Review: Artists

Coming to performances, Keethy Suresh is the heart and soul of this movie and her character set in motion the major events of the movie. She has given her all by owning up a bold role (rustic and traversing pathos, not the so-called bold role). She’s a sort of actress, as we had previously observed in our Sarkaru Vaari Paata review, who becomes the character. The Mahanati actress once again proved her worth. 

Deekshit Shetty is highly competent in portraying Soori. He was manly in a few moments and delivered a tremendous performance in a highly unexpected manner. But the director has given him cold shoulder at key impactful moments is another matter. But his histrionics helped him shine well. 

Shine Tom Chacko, the Malayalam actor who impressed one and all with his terrific act in moral policing drama Ishq, is good in an important role. But the role isn’t etched well. An artist of the calibre Samuthirakani is wasted in another film with a chopped of role (editing table effect -ETE). Other regulars like Sai Kumar, Jhansi, and others like Rajasekhar did justice to their stock roles.

Dasara: The Team Behind

The musical score by Santhosh Narayan who is famed for this type of films in Tamil – turned out to be one of the biggest strengths of the film alongside the brilliant cinematography. Sathyan Sooryan has given this film it’s required texture by joining forces with the art department. The colour palettes, and lighting scheme deserve special mention. Editing is average at best. The movie has severe pacing issues in the second half. Thankfully it picks up speed towards the extra-long (necessary) climatic action. The production design is top notch. The makers took care of their film very well.

Nani’s Dasara

Now, coming to Nani, he is the Kartha, Karma, and Kriya of this film and he passes with distinction. If not for him, this film – Dasara – wouldn”t have existed, not would it have received this much mileage. He is authentic in his portrayal of the role of Dharani which is created in muted colours compared to some of the roles with similar texture in other movies – Tamil et al. A life time role, and he excelled.

Conclusion

Dasara is DasaRaw. It has a simple, on the surface story which is known to everyone. But it depended on the idea that life may be predictable to a large extent. But it throws unexpected surprises. Dasara is a surprise coming from Nani. Srikanth Odela takes us into his world quiet easily without any effort. Such is the power of his creation. For a first time he almost pulled off a miracle. Don’t give much thought about lags or drags, just immerse yourself in the world. Dasara gives an experience. Whether you like it or not is another matter. 

Watch out for:

1. The contrasty mood for the time of the song Chemkila Angilesi

2. Nani’s relish in beating the crap out of someone 😄

3. Keerthy Suresh’s performance in the final portions of the film

4. Detailing in the first half hour. Exactly at the 17 minutes mark (SPOILER)

RATING: 2.5 out of 4