Movie : Dhada
Director : Ajay Bhuyan
Music : Devi Sri Prasad
Cast : Naga Chaitanya, Kajal, Rahul Dev, Kelly, Sriram, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmanandam
It’s unfair to compare Akkineni Nagarjuna’s body of work with his newbie son’s. However, that is something Naga Chaitanya will have to live with.
With Dhada releasing, hopes of a hit were high, but it doesn’t look like the film will deliver.
The story follows Vishwa (Naga Chaitanya) who stays with his brother Rajeev (Sri Ram) in the US.
One day, Vishwa happens to stumble across a gang who deals in the flesh trade and helps rescue several young girls. That does not go down well with the gang’s head honcho RD (Rahul Dev) and his partner Kelly (Kelly Dorjee).
RD’s gang wants Vishwa’s blood because he cost them crores in losses.
Meanwhile, Vishwa meets Ria (Kajal), the only daughter of a business tycoon (Mukesh Rushi), and falls in love with her.
However, Ria’s father arranges her marriage with a young billionaire, Amith. Realising that Vishwa and Ria are in love, Amith approaches RD and pays him one crore to kill Vishwa.
And now the story gets convoluted. RD entrusts the job of killing Vishwa to his brother Rajeev, who is RD’s trusted lieutenant.
Naga Chaitanya, who tasted success with romantic roles in Ye Maya Chesave and 100% Love, tried to change his image by playing an action hero. Unfortunately, he didn’t pull it off. There is a lot of scope for improvement in his diction, body language and in the action sequences.
Kajal is also very disappointing. Unlike in her previous films, where glamour played a big part, this time her role is etched out in jerks and she is invariable shown teary eyed. Disappointing.
Sri Ram and Sameeksha play their roles well, while Rahul Dev and Kelly are adequate as villains.
The comedy by Brahmanandam-Ali did not meet expectations.
Director Ajay Bhuyan failed to recreate the magic of Shiva, Ram Gopal Varma’s landmark film, though Nagarjuna had promised something similar.
The script is weak, the screenplay mediocre and poor editing also marred the film. Devi Sri Prasad’s music is average and the cinematography is ordinary.
The action sequences, which ought to have been the focus, looked as if they had been force-fitted into the film.