Review: Dammu - a sure entertainer
Hyderabad: Director Boyapati Sreenu has proved his mettle with mass masala films like 'Thulasi' and 'Simha' and his latest offering 'Dammu' with NTR falls into the same category.
The protagonist fighting goons who are against the system and other elements like dances, high voltage action and emotional sequences form the crux of the movie.
Rama Chandra (NTR), an orphan, falls in love with Ashwini (Trisha) at first sight. After his trials, she reciprocates and in a moment of happiness, Rama lies to her that he belongs to a Zamindar family as he knows her dad's fixation for a rich son-in-law.
Meanwhile, a wealthy Zamindar's family is on the lookout for a guy to adopt a heir to their family and Rama seizes the opportunity.
He steps into a setting where a rival family in the adjacent village is hell bent on killing every male child (as they don't want anyone to take on them) besides waiting to kill Rama too.
Will he be able to resolve the problems of villagers? Will he fulfill his family wishes? Boyapati thrives on revenge dramas with powerful backdrops, action sequences and banks heavily on his lead star's charisma.
The story is no different this time. Ask Boyapati to film contemporary stories, he falters which is obvious in the way he handles major portions of the first half which take place in the city.
He should thank NTR for being the torch-bearer for him in these bits. The first hour of the film meanders a bit and brings Rama to the action spot, the village.
It crawls, creeps and inches slowly before striking with a bang - the actual story starts from here. But the director could have dropped his sequences which take you back to 'Simha', a scene similar to that where Kinnera says that a man will come to take on the bad in 'Simha' is repeated in here.
He also fails to establish emotional bonding between Sri Simha (Rama turns Sri Simha) and his family. Song placement of 'Ruler' is questionable.
The director could have opted for a different ending as he makes his antagonist (Nassar) turn in favour of the protagonist although he kill his son.
Simple logic - When you present a dreaded villain, he is not supposed to shower praise on the hero and even if he does it, it needs to be justified which is absent here.
From approaching the collector of the area to solve the problems of the villagers before taking on his own, you can see NTR walking like a lion with his hands held near to his spine, mouthing dialogues that only he can, executing steps matching to choreographer's vision - NTR is the soul of the film. His emotions are at full stake in violent scenes.
Trisha and Karthika (with a sleazy role) are mere props in the film. Venu is the surprise package of the film whereas veterans Bhanupriya and Suman deliver goods. Nassar takes villainy to the peak level.
Dialogues by Rathnam are an asset to the film and NTR with his dialogue rendition capability packs a punch with dialogues like Pattukuuna Katthilo undadhura dammu raktham lo untundhi.
There are dialogues which hint his political career and slam the government's policies of kilo rice for Rs 2. Arthur Wilson elevates heroism with his angles while Keeravani scores with his background score. 'Dammu' is a commercial pot boiler that will connect to the masses.
Boyapati has done his bit to tell that NTR one or the other day will follow the footsteps of his late legendary grandfather NTR in entering fulltime politics. Sample this by Nassar to NTR in the film - Ilanti Nayakudi janda mana intimundhu kadhura janam andhari inti mundhu undali.
News Posted: 28 April, 2012
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