Despite a formulaic story, Dasara achieves victory because of Nani’s solid act, Sathyan Sooryan’s rustic frames and Santhosh Narayan’s effective background score.
Cast: Nani, Keerthy Suresh, Dheekshith Shetty, Shine Tom Chacko, Sai Kumar, Samuthirakani
Director: Srikanth Odela
Writers: Srikanth Odela, Jella Srinath, Arjuna Paturi, Vamsi Krishna.
After witnessing a horrific event, Dharani (Nani) hides in a cowshed, cowering with fear. There’s chill in the air. The haunting imagery conjured by Nani, director Srikanth Odela and cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan lingers long. Dasara may consist of familiar tropes but it’s the way this trio adds their own flavours that makes this film a riveting affair.
What’s Yay: Nani, cinematography, musical score, interval block, finale
What’s Nay: Few character arcs could have been explored more, lack of depth in some scenes
Story
Dasara begins with Dharani’s voiceover introducing us to a tiny, lazy hamlet called Veerlapally. In the midst of this village, there is a toddy shop called Silk Bar where men drink their sorrows and boredom. Besides the bottles, it also has the stench of caste politics and power dynamics.
In this world, we have three childhood friends, Dharani (Nani), Soori (Dheekshith Shetty) and Vennela (Keerthy Suresh). Their names aligning with earth, sun and moon are symbolic of the relationship that they share with each other. When not sloshed, Dharani and Soori pilfer coal from running good trains in style.
Dharani is in love with Vennela. But, when he discovers that best buddy Soori too, has feelings for her, he sacrifices his love for him. Meanwhile, the thick as thieves friends, Dharani and Soori shift political gears from backing Shivanna (Samuthirakani) and his son Chinna Nambi (Shine Tom Chacko) to Shivanna’s kinder step-brother Rajanna (Sai Kumar) after an ugly incident. Unfortunately, soon, a murder takes place which turns Dharani and Vennela’s world upside down. The rest of the film revolves around how Dharani processes the repercussions of this ghastly tragedy and overcomes his fear to defeat the evil.
Direction
Like Dhanush’s Karnan and Ram Charan’s Rangasthalam, Dasara too, touches upon the subject of caste politics and oppression. However, in Dasara, debutant director Srikanth Odela chooses to present this theme through the lens of Dharani, Soori and Vennela’s love story and that’s where the predictability in the plot seeps in.
Odela never gives us a chance to soak in the warmth of Dharani-Soori’s bromance or Soori-Vennela’s budding romance to feel the ‘sharp’ blow of the tragedy. Instead, he relies more on the ‘shock’ value. Fortunately, that portion works well due to Nani’s able performance and the arresting visuals. Instead of resolving some character arcs and making revelations through verbal dialogues, one wished that Srikanth and his team had fleshed these scenes in a better way.
Having said that, Srikanth Odela is definitely a director to watch out for in the coming days. Despite borrowing textbook ideas and conflicts as old as hills in Dasara, he still manages to build an enigmatic world which is raw and intense.
Be it using a song to present the effects of liquor ban, the shot of a drop of blood falling from Dharani’s ear onto the paper carrying his signature, Vennela’s penchant for blowing diyas/candles or Dharani tying anklets on his wrist, the filmmaker has a keen eye for detailing in his narrative.
Further, the way he executes the terrifying interval block and the rousing climax deserves a huge applause. You leave the cinema hall on a high note.
Performances
Nani is an absolute show-stealer right from the first frame. After a ‘thrilling’ introduction, director Srikanth Odela pulls out a surprise by presenting Dharani as a meek guy who remains in the shadow of his best friend, Soori and uses alcohol as a shield against his fears. He isn’t your conventional hero.
With black soot covering him from head to toe and unkempt hair, you see him lying wasted outside Silk Bar most of the time and occasionally shaking a leg or two. In these portions, Nani brings with him a certain kind of charm that just clicks right. He is brilliant in the scene where his character sets off for a brief run after a moment of self-introspection.
Finally, Nani gets his moment of triumph when the subdued rage of Dharani bursts out in the climax which is nothing less than a visual treat.
Keerthy Suresh as Vennela gets her scenes right even when things get a tad melodramatic in the second half. As a vivacious girl and later as someone who has quietly resigned to her fate, she gives it all her best shot.
Tom Shine Chacko gets his ‘chilling’ moments but overall, they ain’t enough to send shivers down your spine. Dheekshith Shetty plays his part effectively. Sai Kumar and Samuthirakani barely get anything new to offer on screen.
Technical Aspects
One of Dasara’s heroes is Sathyan Sooryan’s striking camerawork which makes every frame, right from the earthy-brownish-reds to the black-browns, come alive on screen. Watch out for how he weaves magic with his lens in the ‘Ori Vaari’ song! Avinash Kolla’s top-notch production design deserves a mention.
Music
Santhosh Narayanan’s powerful musical score elevates the narrative of Dasara and lends a distinct, rustic touch. Be it the highly-infectious ‘Dhoom Dhaam,’ the heartbreak anthem ‘Ori Vaari’ or the Telangana folk melody, ‘Chamkeela Angeelesi,’ there’s a song for every mood which blends beautifully with the narrative.
Verdict
Quite early in the film, when a young Dharani asks his grandmother why she drinks a lot, the latter replies that courage is kindled only by alcohol. Speaking about Dasara, Nani’s blazing performance and Sathyan Sooriyan’s breath-taking frames are enough to leave you in high spirits.
