'Das Ka Dhamki' hit the screens today (March 22). In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.

Story:

Krishna Das (Vishwak Sen), an orphan working in a blue-collar job in a star hotel, finds himself in a lavish world when he is invited by the uncle of a CEO to impersonate the CEO. The CEO in question is Sanjay Rudra (Vishwak Sen, again), who looks exactly like Krishna Das.

Why does the uncle want the waiter to morph into a pseudo-billionaire? Is it because he wants to save the skin of Sanjay Rudra from the cruel Dhanunjay (Ajay), who loaned the CEO Rs 10,000 crore? Answers to these and more questions are found as the film progresses.

Analysis:

Opulence and deceit are themes that Telugu cinema has toyed with for long. The film under review borrows its premise from a few familiar movies, mainly from a Chiranjeevi-starrer from the early 1990s. In the run-up to the release of Vishwak Sen's movie, it was presumed that the film is a close cousin of Ravi Teja's recent 'Dhamaka'. To be sure, the plot of 'Das Ka Dhamki' attains a life of its own and steers clear of comparisons with the 2022 movie.

Writer-director Vishwak Sen reserves the substantial twists for the second half. While the teeming plot turns might make many want to complain that the film is bloated, it really is not. Rather, it is simplistic.

To the director's credit, the twists don't intimidate the viewer the way the twists in Ravi Teja's 'Khiladi' did. 'Das Ka Dhamki' is not done with new plot offerings till the end. The last one does a 'dhamki' on the audience by bombarding us with a lead to a sequel. Whenever it comes, the writer is best advised to steer clear of ordinary action at the very least.

The fights in 'Das Ka Dhamki' cry for style and swag. They may not be primitive, but they surely lack grandeur. The dialogues preceding the fights and the build-up to the action segments could have been way better.

Nivetha Pethuraj's character gets the kind of arc reserved for performers. She does a decent enough job. Hyper Aadhi's repartees and humour are the real deal in some scenes in the first half. While the film could have done away with classist jokes where Krishna Das indulges in self-deprecating humor about his socio-economic status, the first half is largely watchable.

Rao Ramesh's character and behaviour are tailored unintelligently. Ajay's character is a crashing bore and drags down the film's impact. Rohini Molleti, Prudhviraj and others don't add much.

Leon James' music is generic. Vishwak Sen's able performance stands out. As a director, he needs to show more imagination in his next attempt. If 'Das Ka Dhamki 2' gets made, it needs to avoid over-smart twists.

Verdict:

This film revels in its plot-heavy nature in the second half. Even dark and moody scenes play out like it is a commercial entertainer. Passable entertainment in the first half is the real deal.