नानी याद आ गई 😎

नानी याद आ गई: My quick take on Nani’s “Dasara”

What appeared to be another Pushpa from the trailers and teasers, surprisingly turned out to be a movie with a plotline that we had seen in the b/w era of HINDI cinema of the 50s/60s. The era when my grandma (नानी) would have seen such movies with village politics, caste divide, brothers in the feud, two friends with a common love interest, then दोस्ती के लिए प्यार की क़ुर्बानी, sarpanch elections, villains hired goons, dhishum dhishum, village fair, bloody badla , खून का बदला खून , hence मुझे नानी को देखते नानी याद आ गई. 😉

Set in a place near an open coal mine from where our hero pilfers coal from a moving train transporting this black gold, surprisingly the villagers instead of working in the coal mine spend time in the only watering hole in the village where they start and end the day in high ‘spirits’. The period of the plot can be ascertained by looking at Silkamma’s painting on the ‘silk bar’ and NTR, the CM’s दारूबंदी announcement.

Though the plot and setting are not novel, it is the way the story unfolds makes it interesting. Nani’s performance is superlative, his metamorphism from an evasive drunkard who stays away from trouble to a bloodthirsty revenge-seeking individual is comendable. Keerti Suresh is the vertex of the love triangle, she impresses with her lively performance. I wish they had picked some menacing personality as the villain, shine tom Chacko has neither persona nor could shine as bad man.

Highlight of the movie is it's ‘bloody’ climax which is clearly ‘influenced’ by Kantaara's climax. These last 15 minutes makes your 2-hr plus ordeal in the theater a paisa vasool affair. Hindi voice dubbing is impressive (Sharad kelkar has give voice to Nani) however the song dubbing is simply pathetic. Cinematography is top notch especially in low light night shots, overall sepia color grading adds authenticity to the period drama.

Movie is a good testimony on how oft seen story can be retold with good production value and impressive performances. This Dasara would definitely be on OTT before Dasara this year, hence you can enjoy IPL matches instead.