A superabundance of plots and subplots

Satish Sundaresan

Many films have been made about lawless badlands orchestrating a symphony of chaos. This week’s release, Dacoit, also treads in similar territory. Will it manage to grab and ‘steal’ your attention or will Dacoit prove to be a ‘duck-out’ at the box office is what we will be finding out. 

The film starts at the time when the world was battling the deadly Covid pandemic. Amid this tension and chaos exists a love story between Saraswati / Juliet (Mrunal Thakur) and Haridas / Hari (Adivi Sesh). One day, an incident triggers Hari to kill Juliet’s brother, which results in the former being jailed. What was the reason for the trigger, the stand Juliet takes at the police station and answers to many intriguing questions are revealed as the film progresses. 

Actors’ performance

The film rides on the shoulders of Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur, who try their best to deliver what is expected of them. 

As for Adivi Sesh, while his sincerity towards his craft comes across in the film, there are places where his character simply falls flat. His on screen chemistry with Mrunal seems a bit semi-baked at many places. One just hopes that he chooses the right film to break into Bollywood. 

As for Mrunal Thakur, there are places where she really surprises everyone with her performance. Just like Adivi, she too can be seen struggling in emotional scenes. And the reason for the same is the convoluted screenplay, which keeps on jumping at regular intervals! Anurag Kashyap surprises with a positive performance, which is endearing at many places. It’s really sad to see veteran actors Prakash Raj and Atul Kulkarni being given half baked characters and lesser screen time. Zayn Marie Khan and Kamakshi Bhaskarla just about manage to do justice to their respective roles. 

Music 

After trying his hand behind the camera in films like Kshanam, Goodachari, Nishabdam, and Wild Dog, Shaneil Deo steps into the world of direction with Dacoit. Sadly, he fails the litmus test as a filmmaker. Besides directing, he also partnered with Adivi Sesh on the film’s story and screenplay—the two main aspects that eventually make the film a drag in many places.  There are many unexplained aspects in the film, which one keeops on uncerovering and unravlleing iwth as the film progeresses.

Danush Bhaskar’s cinematography is decent. The manner in which he balances high-stakes tension with deep emotional resonance is worth mentioning. 

The film’s editing (Kodati Pavan Kalyan) is another drawback. In an attempt to balance action and romance, the film’s editing suffers significantly (mostly in the second half). The film’s music (Bheems Ceciroleo) is strictly passe and clearly lacks a hook track. Even an item number could not save the film. And the reason is the lack of publicity for the film and its music. The film’s background score (Gyaani) is decent and is in sync with the film’s narrative.

FPJ verdict 

As if the lack of film’s publicity was not enough of an uphill  challenge to gather audiences, the film’s overall story with endless plots and subplots, might make it even more challenging to survive at the box office.

film REVIEW

Title: Dacoit 

Director: Shaneil Deo

Cast: Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur, Anurag Kashyap, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Atul Kulkarni, Zayn Marie Khan, Kamakshi Bhaskarla

Where: In theatres near you

Rating: HH