Dagudumootha Dandakor Review

If the trailers suggested that ‘Dagudumootha Dandakor’ is yet another melodrama involving a human’s (a little girl’s, to be precise) affection for a hen, the film turns out to be more than that.  It could have been jaded and prohibitively preachy.  But it is not.

Bangaram (Baby Sara Arjun)is the little girl of Raju’s (Rajendra Prasad) family.  She shares a special bond with a rooster, calls it Nani and can take in English on someone who scares Nani through crackers.  Much as she is the youngest one, she has to pay the price if she does any mistake in front of the eldest Raju.  That is the status of everyone in the family.

Raju’s sons, daughters-in-law and their children have returned from different places and not all is well with their careers/personal lives.  One couple is childless, another has been facing hurdles in business, yet another has been framed in a crime he has never done.  At this moment, one of the family members remembers a forgotten promise made to the local deity.  What is it and how does it affect the family?  How do they deal with the situation?  That forms a major part of the story.

AL Vijay’s story (the film is a remake of the Tamil film Saivam), as the credits say, is a simple one and could have easily been banal and boringly melodramatic.  However, the proceedings are sans clichés (barring a few) and old-fashioned dialogues (barring, again, a few).  Fun and light-veined banter takes precedence.  Quirks are presented in an entertaining way.  In their curiosity to find the missing Nani, the family members inadvertently or deliberately cause avoidable scuffles.  Such scenes bring out the quirks and immaturities of our people quite well.

Clichés include the urban-minded grandson scoffing at his un-cool name (Sanyasi Raju) and calling himself Sunny and the ‘bava-mardalu’ element, among others. For how long will out films show the family head feeling sorry that his sons are not tilling the soil?  Why should someone speaking in English be shot back at by some idea village character speaking in grammatically correct English? Had the l ittle girl been made to speak in broken English, that would only have made it all the more slice-of-life.  If pulling one another’s legs is expected in such get-together screenplays, better ideas would have enlivened the film.

Co-existing with such elements are some refreshing ideas and creatively visualized songs. It is good that the family is not shown to be evoking fear and reverence from everyone else in the village.  For example, the girl fears the teacher’s reprimand when Nani finds her way into classroom.  The family members are not treated as special by villagers.

If Sara Arjun's acting is subtle and measured, Rajendra Prasad, reprising Nassar's role, is at his comfortable self.  Others do their parts well.

VS Jnanasekhar's cinematography stands out.  At a length of 124 minutes, the film is aptly timed.

Verdict: A drama with light-duty moments and an unstated message, 'DMDK' is well-made.

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