One of the most awaited Kannada films, especially after the spat between lead actress Ramya and producer Ganesh, Dandam Dasahgunam has hit theatres. It is for the audience to decide if the controversy was worth it.
The movie is a remake of Gowtham Vasudev Menon's Tamil hit Kakka Kakha, and tells the story of tough cop Surya (Chiranjeevi Sarja).
Surya is among the 'untouchable' crime branch officers, who have pledged their lives to making their city crime free. His team does manage to maintain peace and order in the city but that's only until Shiva (Ravishankar) enters the scene.
The dreaded gangster to avenge the death of his criminal brother Manja, starts harming the families of the officers. The plot thickens when Maya (Ramya) Surya's wife and Swati, the wife of Srikanth (Tilak), another officer are targeted. Will the tough cops get lucky this time too?
While the Kannada version remains more or less loyal to the original, there is a major change in the climax. While most would prefer this ending, what would actually have taken the film forward were the performances.
Leading man Chiranjeevi Sarja falls short of bringing out the mannerisms of a strict, fearless officer. This role had all the ingredients to catapult Chiru into the big league but the actor seems to have made less use of the opportunity. He is less convincing in his romantic act too. Also, he has not dubbed for his character.
Tilak, who is still searching for a strong foothold in the industry, could have done better.
Actor Ravishankar shines. In fact the film gets some life following his entry. This was to be his debut Kannada film and he has done a better job here than in Kempegowda and Kote, which released before this film. The mass audience will surely enjoy his dialogues. In fact Ravi's dialogues are more powerful than that of the hero's.
Ramya fills life to her first ever teacher role.
The other supporting cast members are not worth a mention.
Music by Harikrishna seems out of touch this time. These songs don't linger on and are too many. The Kannada version of uyriren uyiren, a hugely popular Tamil number has been cut from the film.
Dandam Dashagunam gives up on a few scenes that the original had, but this cop story still fails to match up to the original. Even director Madesh who has had a success rate with remakes fails this time. This film is no match to Kaakha Kaakha.
Rediff Rating:
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