Dahanam Review

Dahanam Movie: What's Behind

Aditya Om who made an impact as an actor, and the director is coming to entertain with his film Dahanam. The film directed by Adari Murthy Sai already won awards and rewards at the international level. The film is releasing today 31 March 2023 and let us find out what impact it made on viewers after its riveting trailers and teasers got good attention. The film's OTT streaming will be done after the end of its theatrical run and the OTT partner will be finalized at a later date.

Dahanam Movie: Story Review

Dahanam's story is all about the developments in the lives of a village landlord, a priest, and a Katikapari (undertaker) at a graveyard in a village. Bharadwaj Sastry (Aditya Om) is a priest at Lord Shiva temple in Vadrevupalli village, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He is pious, religious, and honest and keeps utmost faith in Lord Shiva, and doesn't get tempted by worldly pleasures.

The village landlord Bhupathi (Santhi Chandra), decides to take over the properties his ancestors donated to the village for the Temple and also for the poor for agriculture. Bharadwaj Sastry approaches the court against the move and the court case goes on. Where this leads to, whether Bharadwaj Sastry is able to continue as the priest of the temple, whether the temple remains and what action will Bhupati takes, and how all these developments are connected to the Bairagi (FM Babai) a katikapari (undertaker) at the graveyard and how it affects the lives of the family members of Bhupathi, Bharadwaj Sastry, and Bairagi from the crux of the story.

Dahanam Movie: Artists Review

The performances in the film are top-notch. Aditya Om played the role of the priest and he showed good emotions, expressions, and body language. He did not show emotions as the priests are said to be cool, calm, and composed and his dialogue delivery is good. His mannerisms are good showcasing variations according to the situation, and maintaining composure when the landlord threatens and when faced with dire situations. He also performed well showing intensity elevating the pain of an honest priest and how they struggle to make their livelihood unable to stoop or bend below their dignity.

FM Babai who played the role of undertaker (Katikapari) made a powerful impact with his riveting performance on the screen. He showed how even the lower class cares for everyone and showed the pain in them rightly when even their right intended help is rejected outright in the name of caste. The scenes featuring FM Babai turned out to be the highlight of the film. Aditya Om and FM Babai's screen presence and the scenes featuring both of them and the conversation between both of them elevated the proceedings to another level.

Santhi Chandra as the village landlord is apt for his role. He showed his attitude as required for the landlord. He showed intent with his eyes and body language most of the time. Actors who played the roles of priest's wife, Katikapari's wife, and landlord's wife are good and Rajiv Naik and Sony Reddy who played the roles of priest's daughter and katikapari's son performed according to their roles.

Dahanam Movie: Technicians Review

Dahanam's story penned by Adari Murthy Sai is a hard-hitting film on the caste system and the differentiation that is prevalent in society. Adari Murthy Sai chose a good plot and interestingly narrated the story. Though the story is routine, he generated interest with his intense screenplay and direction. He has taken his own sweet time and the slow pace of the narration tests the patience of the viewers.

However, Adari Murthy Sai made up for it, with powerful and hard-hitting dialogues. He through the riveting scenes featuring Land Lord and the Priest, highlighted how the rich try to lure using all the methods while how the honest remain strong without getting influenced. Similarly through the scenes featuring the Priest and the Katikapari, he tried to question various social evils prevalent in the society.

Some of the dialogues like “Nithyam Aa Shivudi Dhyanam... Chinnappati Nundi Aa Shivudi Nama Smarana Thappa Naku Marokati Theliyadu… Samastha Jeevam Aayane… Ee Devalayame Naa Dehamani… Aa Shivude Naa Antharathma…”, “Chithilo Nuv Kalche Mantalu… Nenu Devudi Kosam Iche Harathi Velugu Roopam Okkate… Ardhaalu Veru…” are powerful. He showed how the priest longs for the blessings of Lord Shiva even in pitiable conditions and similarly he elevated the scenes featuring Katikapari longing to help those in need. Adari Murthy Sai got the optimum from the cast and crew to leave viewers pondering over the caste system even after they came out of the theatres.

Editing could have been far better. There are many drags in the film which slowed the pace. The slow pace in fact ended up testing the patience of the viewers. Rama Krishna's cinematography is good and showed the village atmosphere realistically and beautifully. Satish Kumar's music is good. The songs are situational and are well shot. The lyrics in the songs are hard-hitting and thought-provoking. The background music is good and in sync with the story. Production values of Open Field Media are good.

Dahanam Movie: Advantages

• Performances
• Storyline
• Dialogues

Dahanam Movie: Disadvantages

• Slow Pace
• Editing
• Lack of proper publicity

Dahanam Movie: Rating Analysis

Altogether, Dahanam is a powerful film on the caste system and the lack of human values in society. Adari Murthy Sai aided by the breathtaking performances from Aditya Om and FM Babai and impactful dialogues and riveting emotional scenes attracts viewers to the core. However, the routine elements, predictability a few times, slow narration, and lack of entertainment impacts the film. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 2 Rating for Dahanam.