Dasara - A cocktail masala that has its moments

In the era of pan Indian films the audience gets access to a variety of content from all Indian languages.  The latest in the offing is 'Dasara' that has Natural Star Nani and Keerthy Suresh in the lead who are quite popular in Kollywood.  Whether this cocktail masala that mixes 'Paruthi Veeran', 'KGF' 'Pushpa' and 'Kantara' will strike a chord with the genre lovers remains to be seen.

Srikanth Odela makes an assured directorial debut with the Telugu film ‘Dasara’, exploring caste politics in a mainstream format, backed by good performances from the cast led by Nani and Keerthy Suresht.

As Suri and Vennela, Deekshith Shetty and Keerthy take centre stage, Nani stays in the background and the narrative is in no rush to push him to the fore. The bonding between the three is depicted beautifully, punctuated occasionally with humour. One of the earlier sequences in the police station helps to delineate the naivete of Dharani as opposed to the comparatively smarter approach by Suri..

What works best in 'Dasara' is the strong friendship between the lead trio and the romantic conflicts and heartbreaks that arise from them.  Multiple threads such as the evils of alcohol, village politics, caste discrimination etc are thrown open that keeps the first half interesting.  The cricket match scene in which Nani first turns into a hero is whistle worthy. There are two contrasting action sequences during the interval block when Nani runs scared and the climax when he runs riot that are both riveting to watch.

On the downside, as mentioned above 'Dasara' reminds the viewer of too many movies which work against it.  There are several logical loopholes including the important one as to why the heartless villain waits for twelve long years to force himself on the heroine.  Post the interval the screenplay struggles to pay off all that it set up and things fall flat till the climax.

Men from the lower caste drink outside and wouldn’t dare to set foot inside. When Suri and Dharani unknowingly become responsible for a shift in the power dynamics involving the bar, they cross paths with men – Samuthirakani and Shine Tom Chacko - from the most powerful family in the village. The repercussions that both Suri and Dharani have to face for their actions forms the crux of the story.

Verdict : 'Dasara' will give a festive feel to pure masala lovers