Dost Review

This is a season of remakes in Telugu. Almost every second movie is one. Muppalaneni Siva's Dost is a dutiful take-off on Malayalam hit Nammal. But where Dost fails is it does not have the original's verve and zing. Dost lose out mainly because of the lead performers' lack of understanding of nuance roles. 

Shyam (Kartik) and Siva (Siva Balaji) are happy-go-lucky youngsters who see the world as their oyster. The two college-goers are the most popular in their campus. They are up to every trick in the book. But unbeknown to anyone, the two work in the night so that they can be happy in the morning. In the college, they carry out their fun and games on a newcomer Aparna (Neha). Aparna, however, happens to know the new principal Snehalatha (Suhasini) very well. And when she broaches the issue with the principal, the latter calls over the impish duo and punishes them. But she also realizes there is a true side to them, and hence meets their guardian (Vishwanath). The meeting ends up as an eye-opener for her. It throws up a major secret of her own life. What is that, and what happens after that form the rest of the story.

There is a tender side to the story but is lost in the forced rambunctious of the college campus. On the other hand, the fun associated with students also fails to impress you as newcomers Kartik and Siva Balaji come across as confirmed novices. Their acting is still in the drawing board stage itself. Neha, on the other hand, is composed. But that is not enough. Suhasini is as usual graceful and she infuses her role with rare acceptability. 

The rest in the cast have nothing much to do. So is the case with the director, as he has sedulously struck to the Malayalam original.

The music, by Koti, too banks largely on the Malayalam.

Everything in this film has taken off from the original.

Alas, it looks like, not its success