Gritty drama, massy Telugu film exploring the ugly caste politics in a semi-fictional story – Dasara has it all and it only belongs to Natural star Nani. Breaking out of his ‘boy-next-door always’ image, Nani displays the rage of Dharani in full glory in Dasara. Can we get enough of him, especially in the second half? (No spoilers!)
It’s not KGF or Pushpa, Dasara takes us to their world where alcohol excess is a way of life or perhaps a way of escaping the travesty of the daily grind, as Dharani amma said, “Alcohol gives us strength to fight from all of this.’
Written and directed by debutant Srikanth Odela, Dasara sets in the backdrop of the coal-laden village Veerlapally, Telangana. The village runs on Sarpanch’s order and he also holds the selling rights to alcohol through Silk Bar at one corner of Veerlapally. The men in the village live on two sources: coal and alcohol.
In the film, two friends, Dharani and Suri get caught in the village politics as they grew up due to caste discrimination. They used to steal coal from moving trains to make their living. Their childhood friend Vennela is their common love interest. Suddenly the situation in Veerlapalli village and the lives of the three friends change with the evil nature of Sarpanch’s son, the new Sarpanch, Chinna Nambi.
Fans were eagerly waiting for Dasara as we were all excited to see Natural star Nani in a raw and never-seen avatar. Nani shines in a raw and rustic portrayal of Dharani. He left no stone unturned in impressing the audience with his authenticity.
Is Dasara to be actor Nani’s biggest film to date in terms of acting and scale? Well, I think he nailed it gracefully. Without exaggerating, he proved it by walking, getting into his character’s skin, and action sequences, I guess that’s why he is called a Natural Star. The bewitching swag of Dharani has our hearts now!
Dheekshith Shetty’s role as Suri (Dharani’s best friend) in the film is a stark contrast from all the urban characters he has played so far. He takes the action-front position in the first half, but due to weak writing, he failed to grab the limelight.
As Nani said in his interview Keerthy Suresh’s character Vennela is the ‘heart of Dasara’ and we firmly believe that it’s true. Before the interval, she couldn’t show her skills, but in the second half, the diva managed to leave a mark. After Saani Kaayidam, Keerthy broke out of the ‘girl next door’ image and widened her horizon by providing the necessary emotional angle to the film.
Dasara movie review: Direction
The debutant director, Shrikanth Odela, who assisted Sukumar on Nannaku Prematho and Rangasthalam earlier, will be his biggest contribution to the film industry. He perfectly knows how to carry the sort of colour and flavour in the film. We give due credit to his sincerity and the emotions that he tried to bring to the table, but the film derailed due to weak narration in the first half.
In one of the scenes, Dharani was required to convey his emotions with his body language and silence and it was brilliant. The way caste politics plays out is something I haven’t witnessed often in a mainstream Telugu film. Keeping aside all the flaws in the first half, Srikanth Odela makes an assured debut and swept off our feet in the second half.
I have to admit that it’s been a while since watching such a chilling, nerve-wracking interval sequence where you can’t wait to witness what’s going to unravel next.
Dasara movie review: In a nutshell
The film’s writing might seem to be smeared by conventional writing choices, which will remind us of some previous movies, but the performances by every single character, technical finesse, the strong drama, a beautiful bond like friendship, slick action sequences in the second half make it a ‘paisa vasool’ experience as a whole.
