Dasara

Violence, Murder, Death, Sexual Exploitation

• Title: Dasara
• Cast: Nani, Deekshith Shetty, Keerthy Suresh, Shine Tom Chacko …
• Director: Srikanth Odela
• Music Director: Santhosh Narayanan

Suri, Dharani and Vennela are friends from childhood. Suri and Dharani both love Vennela but Dharani happens to voice his feelings out first. Dharani, who values friendship over everything, chooses to not confess his feelings to Suri and Vennela.

Years later, the friends get roped into town politics. During this time, Suri is murdered. The rest of the movie addresses why Suri is murdered and what happens to Dharani and Vennela.

The movie revolves around the town Veerlapalli. Instead of having a single theme or central idea like friendship or caste-based discrimination, the team focused on the intertwined lives of the people of Veerlapalli. By letting the community dictate the story, multiple real-world problems and conflicts were addressed.

• Direction: With the number of slow-motion shots happening, I was anticipating a lag in the story but that never came. Smartly used narration and transitions quickly moved the story along. Point to be noted, Srikanth Odela was an assistant director for the movie Rangasthalam which has similar elements that are seen in this movie. This, however, did not turn out to be a negative for this movie.

• Acting: Superb performances were delivered by almost everyone on screen. Deekshith Shetty and Nani brought natural chemistry to their brotherhood. I applaud Srikanth Odela for bringing out such natural performances from the cast. Notable performances were given by Jhansi and Poorna whose other performances have not had the scope to be notable. Shine Tom Chacko gave a subpar performance to the character he was given. Without the help of the music and writing, his scenes would have been underwhelming.

• Cinematography: The fact that the audience can sit through the movie and forget the artificial light and setting speaks to the excellence of the cinematography. In scenes that happened after sunset, there was an amazing use of headlights, oil lamps, diyas, and fire. One of the most notable long shots was the ending shot of the ‘Dhoom Dhaam’ song.

• Production Design: The cast’s level of readiness to get down and dirty (literally) to fit in a village near a coal mine has to be recognized. There was a lot of thought and care that went into making every corner of the set look natural. The costumes and jewelry also complemented the environment.
  One of the biggest visual problems comes with the actor’s makeup. Keerthy Suresh’s facial makeup is a clear cake. There’re inconsistencies with complexion as well.
  A huge distracting part of this movie was the CGI. The green screen shots were obvious and distracting. In the pre-intermission episode, the water falling around and over a character appeared overly reflective. The beheaded body was not passable. The worst CGI was probably in the ‘Ori Vaari’ song when Dharani walks toward Vennela and her body disintegrates. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
  Another element with room for improvement was within the fights. People jumping or being pushed a distance moved in straight, unnatural lines. Dharani’s small friend is pushed in a fight and the way he horizontally shoots off-screen gives a fleeting but present Tom and Jerry-esque moment. Dharani jumping off the Ravan structure looks overtly artificial with him coming down straight at a 45-degree angle.
  Overall, it seems like the team didn’t get the resources they deserved. While it may have removed from the experience of the movie, it didn’t affect the story.

• Editing: You’d be surprised how much narration you can get away with when you have a team that works well together. A lot of the story moves forward with narration. The characters are actually not very verbal. There are multiple instances where there are large gaps between characters speaking even though they are on screen. But the editing, acting, and music conveyed the emotions and story to the audience.
  Two surprising transitions:
  – When Dharani first steps into Silk Bar you feel a redundant fight scene coming on but instead, there’s a smooth transition into what happens afterward.
  – Additionally, the transition from the campaign meeting with the town women to after the election skipped over predictable and unwanted scenes.

• Music: Music played a vital role in delivering the story of this movie. It filled a lot of gaps between dialogues and enhanced the audience’s connection to the characters. For example, there are times when the background music goes out of focus as Dharani struggles to process what’s happening. After Chinna Nambaiah’s wife explains that Dharani has limited time to help Vennela, we hear a clock ticking in the background, giving us a sense of urgency.
  The highlight of the songs were the lyrics. All the lyrics had accessible and fitting language that continued the story smoothly. ‘Chamkeela Angeelesi’ was the positive respite that both the characters and the audience needed.
  
• Dialogues: There was a subtle genius in the placement of conversations. Every message that was communicated to the audience was done through organic conversations and interactions.
  
• Themes: The most common underlying factor across the various storylines is respect. A lot of the imbalances in the characters’ relationships are caused by a lack of respect due to a multitude of identities such as gender, caste, class, etc.

• I mean, the blood on Dharani’s teeth in the final fight says it all
• The friendship montage during the final fight was awkward and unnecessary. The movie had us invested so much already, we didn’t need a refresher. If the montage had to stay, it would have been better without any of the effects on it.
• During the final fight, tying and pulling apart the axes was extra. Not my cup of tea. Work with either, not both.
• Keerthy was made to look darker than her natural complexion. Deekshith Reddy, whose makeup is not as obvious, was also made to be darker than his natural complexion. People with fairer complexions can come from villages and can be poor. Complexion does not and should not limit what people can be. If not for my brother, I would not have gone to watch the movie after the atrocious makeup I saw in the trailer. I’m sick and tired of the extra effort that goes into reinforcing false beliefs. Just cast people and stop painting them, not that hard.
• There were no excessively long monologues or repetitive conversations. The characters did not need overly sophisticated language to have complex thoughts. Characters with rural accents are commonly given simplistic dialogues and personalities whose dialogues offer nothing but comedic value from their “lack” of worldview. The dialogue in this movie highlighted that it isn’t a lack of worldview but their own worldview which can be nuanced and intelligent.
• Nitpick: There was an excellent use of environmental sounds throughout the movie. During the panchaayathi, Chinna Nambaiah talks about Dharani’s alcohol consumption, takes the bottle tied to his waist, and drops it. To not hear the sound of the bottle hitting the ground echo as we see Dharani process was a lost opportunity.

Absolutely. Multiple stories, well-written characters, fun hype scenes, and excellent dialogues make this movie watch-worthy for a wide audience.

• Finally, we see clearly see people moving from grieving to moving on. I cannot contain my frustration when characters have a change of heart within seconds. We see Vennela move on from Suri in a realistic timeline.
• The use of rap music against the cricket game was my favorite music moment.
• I don’t know about the other residents of Veerlapalli but Dharani and Suri switching from rings to earrings got me hyped up for the election
• Favorite Line: “Evarni adigi thaali kattav ra?” – This line had me immediately in tears. It was one of the first things Vennela says after Suri dies.
• I loved that they gave a nod to community and connection through the setup of ‘Chamkeela Angeelesi’
• I was waiting for at least one of the women characters to support Dharani in the final fight. Maybe Vennela? She did show a certain nonchalance toward societal norms.
• I can’t wait to rewatch the movie and pick apart the cinematography and such. I’m sure I missed subtle details they made around the characters – Vennela (moon), Suri (sun), and Dharani (earth).

Movie Rating: 8/10

Maguva Impact Scale: +2