Dorasani marks debut for Vijay Deverakonda's younger brother Anand Deverakonda as hero, Shivatmika, daughter of Jeevitha, Rajasekhar as heroine and KVR Mahindra as director. Did the trio do their job pertinently for this much publicized Telangana love story? Let’s discuss in review part.
A daily labor's son Raju (Anand Devarakonda) who goes to nearby town for higher education comes back home for Dussehra holidays. The moment he had a glimpse of Dora’s daughter Devaki (Shivatmika) at Bathukamma festival, he falls flat. Getting attracted to his poetic skills, Devaki too starts adoring him. Things go smooth until Dora gets aware about their affair. What's the punishment their love is bestowed with? How Naxalism joins the story is rest.
Set in the backdrop of remote Telangana village in 80’s perowhen feudalism existed, the film is a romantic tale of a poor, lower class youngster and the girl from Dora family. We might have seen many films with similar storyline but what makes Dorasani different is the realistic approach adopted narrating a story based on true events. KVR Mahindra’s selection of artists for lead and other key roles is spot on. The film also benefits from the Telangana culture and the dialect which brings out loads of authenticity to the story. It's the tedious narration with repetitiveness in romantic track kills all the interest. Mahindra showed his inexperience in missing of balance between the two key points of romance and naxals fight against feudalism. Had he made narrative more intriguing, result would have been a Jayam. Cinematographer Sunny Kurapati takes us on a trip to village in Telangana given that visuals looked rooted and authentic. Prashanth R Vihari needs special mention for his outstanding work on music. While songs were melodic and haunting, background makes this an emotional watch. Coming to editing part, the film needed many chops especially first half where romantic track turned monotonous. Production values are just perfect for a periodic film.
Onto performances, as mentioned earlier, all the artists looked apt for their respective roles. Anand Devarakonda did not look handsome like his brother yet he did his part quite efficiently. He even acted semi-nide in one particular scene, showing off his dedication. Shivatmika was also not so striking on looks. She was apt for the role of Dorasani. Anand and Shivatmika looked good together. Vinay Verma’s characterization was a director’s fault because villainy is not elevated and things look flat. Anand’s friends batch have done neat job in providing some entertainment. Kishore was good as a naxallite leader.
Take off
Authenticity
Right Selection Of Artists
Music
Cinematography
Slow And Repetitive Narration
Weak Screenplay
Inexperienced Direction
Imbalanced Characterization
Predictibility
Dorasani is the story based on true events. Romance, feudalism, naxalism and importance of education were discussed in unequal ratios. Utmost importance is given to love track which lacked magical after a point. Had Mahindra balanced two parallel points- romance and fight against feudalism, the outcome would have been convincing.
First half begins on an interesting note with a naxallite who is about to release from jail after 30 years of imprisonment is willing to meet his co-prisoner Raju our protagonist. The story then goes back to 80’s where in Telangana the poor and low class people are literally treated like slaves. Telangana culture is shown in the festivities of Bathukamma and Dussehra. Initially, the romantic track of the lead pair was mesmerizing. Soon repetitiveness brings down the enthusiasm. While hero as a routine comes to Gadi (palace) at night times to converse with Dorasani’ just with eyes, heroine on the other hand enjoys his company. In parallel, naxallites fight against feudal system, while police do fake encounters to protect Dora. Interval episode is predictable with Raju and Dorasani caught red-handed while kissing.
Latter half starts on a bit slow note with the lead pair suffering on separation. When we expect, Dora to behave cruel and go atrocious, nothing of sort happens. He acts as if he is also another normal person in village. Raju meeting naxallite leader in jail and story movement from there on is lazy. With a twist, movie ends on tragic note, followed by director’s message on drawing parallels at love, feudalism.
All in all, Dorasani is not an extraordinary film. Though the film has some positives, screenplay and direction played spoilsport. Yet, a decent debut for lead pair. CJ goes with 2.5 stars and we need to wait and see how the film fares at box office.