Dandupalya

My review : Dandupalya


Based on real life incidents that rocked the city of Bangalore in the late 90,s & early 2000's , "Dandupalya" is a riveting movie. The raw & ruthless manner in which the movie is been shot might be too much for weak hearted people. One does need courage & gumption to withstand the goriness & the brutality of the happenings on the screen. More so when one think of it that these things actually happened & people based on whom this movie is made are still alive.

"Dandupalya" is directed by Srinivas Raju , starring Pooja Gandhi, Raghu Mukherjee , Makarand Deshpande , Ravi Kale , Priyanka Kothari, Bhavya & Sudharani. Movie moves at a brisk pace with no slack moments in between except for the small detour it takes following the romance of one of the victims. Though there seems to be umpteen censor cuts still the movie manages to have continuity .

At the end of the movie the director succeeds in sending down shivers in the spine of the viewers. Also the movie takes a neutral viewpoint without taking sides yet it comes out powerful , therein lies the success of the director.

Technically the movie is mixed. Most of the movie following the gang & its activities have been well shot. The amateurishness comes in the court sequences as well the Priyanka Kothari side plot. Cinematographer Ram Prasad has shot the movie nicely with good quality. Arjun Janya's background scores amply supports the gory happenings on screen. However his songs letdown but these kind of movies songs doesn't play that important a role.

Coming on to the performance of the actors almost all of them have done brilliant job. Makarand Deshpande walks away with the honours not by that bigger margin from the rest. His menacing eyes & perfect lipsinc makes it a pleasure watching him emote on screen. Raghu Mukherjee is also brilliant while Pooja Gandhi is a revelation in her role of Laksmi. Ravi Kale is dependable as ever while Bhavya & Sudharani use their experience to a great deal. All the others who form the Dandupalya gang have all done a very good job. Only usual suspect Priyanka Kothari once again fails to act on screen even after all these years trying to do the same.

On the whole, "Dandupalya" is a hard-hitting movie which makes a huge impact on the viewer.

Bottomline : Not for the weak hearted

3.5/5