Dongala Bandi Review

`Dongala Bandi' starring `Allari' Naresh, Tanya as hero and heroines has been directed by writer-turned-director Vegesna Sathish. GSK Naidu produced the movie on GSK Network banner. Based on a treasure hunt, the movie is scripted as a wholesome comedy entertainer. The movie got released on 12th December and is being screened in theatres now. A review on the movie is being presented that criticizes the pros and cons.

Story

Nizam (Melkote) consents to unite the Nizam domain into independent India and he orders his General of Army (Senapathi) (Ashok kumar) to shift their treasures by placing them in an iron box. During the transportation, three thieves (MS, Venu Madhav and Ali) get to know about the treasure and steal the treasure box. They hide it under a lake situated between rocks with a plan to retrieve it later. The gang plans to share the treasure amongst them selves after the merging of Nizam's domain with India. They draw a map to mark the location of the treasure and tear it into three pieces. Each piece is held by one of them until they unite to retrieve it.

Later in the long run, two of them gets lost and disappears. The only one left behind was Okka Magadu (MS Narayana) who keeps trying to contact the other two but in vain. Krishna (Naresh) is his grandson, who is an expert in burglary. In the same village, there resides the family of a lady burglar Aishwarya. This family is a relation of another thief who is one of the three burglars from the Nizam treasures stealers. In close quarters, Krishna meets Aishwarya, and their acquaintance develops into love.

During this time, Okka Magadu informs Krishna that the second bit of map is with Aishwarya's grandfather. They both start searching for the third bit of the map, and accidentally meets Venu Madhav. After knowing the third bit's availability, the three thieves go on a treasure hunt. A twist in the story takes place when the General of Army (Ashok kumar) recovers from coma and gets the news about these three guys and tags behind them to get his treasure back.

Who succeeds among the three groups in the treasure hunt? What are the twists in the hunt? The answers have to be watched on screen.

Performance of Artists

Naresh who was going well with his ease in performance and successfully reaping laughs from audience, is seen in a bit of underplay in this movie. Except for his dialogues deliveries imitating top heroes, he failed miserable to focus on the subject.

Thanya might garner some attention cause of her glamour but not for her performance for sure. Other artists MS, Ali, Kovai Sarala, Venu Madhav, Rao Ramesh, Jeeva, Jaiprakash Reddy, Shakeela, Geetha Singh, Malishka, Pooja Bharathi, 'Chitram' Seenu, Venu, Kondavalasa, Suman Shetty, are all enclosed in a cubicle which restrains scope for their acting skills. The characterization is quite artificial which provokes boredom.

Technical aspects

A definite lag in the script has a considerable impact over the technical values. Even if the technicians might have tried to bring in quality, it would be futile. But actually their contribution is quite less in this movie. Valluri Rajasekhar's music is quite good but the negligence in lyrics has drained his efforts. Songs fail to hit the mark and doesn't appeal due to improper words. S. Arun Kumar's cinematography is not fascinating and has no attractive visual treat.

Editing work by Nandamuri Hari is average and doesn't speed up the movie's pace.

Director's Portrayal

The director who was an erstwhile writer contributed stories and dialogues for many popular movies. But he has failed to bring freshness in the story and screenplay for his movie. While the movie runs many were seen asking for pillows as the director had tested their patience to the core.

Since the movie began shooting, the director was seen boasting about the movie as a visual comedy. But alas! We can't find the humor even in words after repetitive trails to rig it using a lens for magnification. The movie stands clear evidence for Vegesna Satish's failure as a director in his first attempt.

Criticism

Taking a looped story which doesn't have a clear beginning or ending, as a subject the makers tried to churn out a comedy. They were unable to properly utilize the talent of top comedy heroes, and artists. In an attempt to tickle the audience funny bone, they have in fact confused the spectators. Consequently, 'Dongala Bandi' which was supposed to reach the destination of success safely, had ended up plunging into a pothole. Surely, the one who is going to be at loss is the producer. Hope, the debutant director succeeds in making us laugh with his next attempt at least or he better get back to being a writer.

Released on: December 15, 2008