Daggaraga Dooranga Review

The idea of love blossoming in the foreground of a terror plot is a romantic notion, but is a concept fraught with more risks than a less-than-seasoned story-teller can handle. Ravi Kumar Chavali, the director of Daggaraga Dooranga, tries to grapple with just such a theme, not succeeding entirely.

DD is the kind of movie that you can tell was made with hard work and care. Indeed, it is actually a decent film - well above the league of a couple of Sumanth's recent projects, Raaj included. What's more, it is pretty wholesome, with absolutely no skin show, and has very nominal violence. You sure can take your family to watch it.

Unless you and your family all have better things to do, that is.

It is a tragedy, doubly so, to watch a could-have-been. Ravi Kumar Chavali can make a nice, pleasant film, but lacks vision. He gets his characters' romance right, and is nearly there in terms of the thrills from his terrorism track, but forces the 2 to gel. And trying hard to blend chalk and cheese into an exotic-tasting dish, Chavali merely succeeds in creating something that is about palatable.

Gowtham (Sumanth) is the creative head at an ad agency, who has just created an image of a beautiful model using features of several real models. The face bags his agency a blockbuster contract, and is also being sought by several other companies. What Gowtham doesn't know is that there is actually a woman called Meenakshi (Vedika) somewhere who looks just like the photoshopped model.

A parallel plot shows Meenakshi's best friend Zarina (Sindhu Tolani), an investigative journalist, trying to uncover a terror plan being masterminded in the city. Certain mistakes prove fatal for some characters in the story, and soon, Gowtham and Meenakshi are on the run, handcuffed together.

If you're going in expecting a breezy love story, you're likely to be disappointed. Contrary to expectations, Gowtham and Meenakshi don't bond well initially, and when they finally do, their romance is really only a matter of 2 scenes and 2 songs.

One of the strengths of the film is its comedy. Raghu Babu, Krishna Bhagawan and Satyam Rajesh have some scenes that are pretty well-done, and more of them could have done the movie some good. The track with Brahmanandam lacks laughs, though.

The terror angle that leaves a lot to be desired. This sub-plot has sequences that range from the mildly plausible to the highly-unrealistic. For example, how Gowtham attempts to nab the terrorists in the end is extremely implausible, simply because it puts the lives of thousands of innocents in danger. It may have seemed a noble and idealistic idea on paper, but in reality it is quite stupid.

Sumanth lends his brand of soft-spoken suaveness to the movie, which works well. Vedika is pretty and talented. Sindhu Tolani does a good job as well. The comedians have some balanced humour to deliver, and they do.

A tuneful title number and a couple of okay songs make up the soundtrack. The visuals are pleasing and slickly done, although the action sequences have a faux, Film City feel to them.

You can watch Daggaraga Dooranga with family, if you're the kind that has been waiting for just such a laid-back movie. The rest can skip this with no serious consequences.