Dohchay Review

The 'Swamy Ra Ra' director-musician duo are back.  Sudheer Varma and Sunny MR try their best to make the proceedings look slick and snazzy.  As in their first outing together, the comedy works in bits and pieces.  While not doing his known self, Sudheer does a bit of Sreenu Vaitla when he introduces a Tempting Star (yes, the tempting star of all filmmakers, Brahmanandam).  Posani Krishna Murai delivers a dekko in his inimitable style; the happy difference this time is that he doesn't have to utter double meaning dialogues to make us laugh.  As the TFI with its penchant for hitting below the belt goes, this one is not a slim achievement on the part of the filmmaker.  However, the film is not a laughathon for you to expect such bright spots to be there all over.

Naga Chaitanya plays a con man who has a father with an old-style filmi flashback.  The sister has a dream and only her academic sentiment stops the gutsy brother from avenging his father's fate. The good but unlucky father is played by Rao Ramesh (he must have had difficult time playing such a dull character) and besides being a convict, he has a cardiac problem!  Our hero, however, has a cool girl friend (Kriti Sanon of '1: Nenokkadine' fame) and with Chai and Kriti, our director can think of having his heroine imagine herself and her BF in a Madhurima-powered item song.  This comes at a time when the film should have already started being intense.  Meanwhile, the only character we find seriously in tense mode is the good sister; even here there is a lapse: her expressions are the same whether it is crying in Gandhi Hospital or in the villain's place!

As for the villain, he is referred to as 'anna'.  As for teaching him a lesson, it is quite witty and nothing bloody.  But for Posani, the farce wouldn't have been so credible!  Doubtless, the one big masterstroke about Dochey is choosing Posani for the role of Manikyam, the baddie who is taken for a ride in a quirky way.

The first half of it is enjoyable although it becomes quite apparent some 30 minutes into the film that there is nothing much to expect in terms of the story.  There is at least an expectation that the production values will continue to be good and the same is not belied.  Well-sounding BGM and neat visuals are an asset.  For those of you who like to see the leads breaking into dance at the most unexpected moment, this one will work.

When 'Dochey' is in the rom-com mode, the pair takes the cake.  Kriti does a bit of that thing she did opposite Mahesh Babu and wins brownie points with her gorgeous looks, however monotonous the kind of role might seem.  Chai is yet again convincing in a role that demands of him to play two shades.  He shows he has the mettle but without any punch lines and action scenes involving the villain's side, heroism is not properly elevated.  He does his part well in the one action scene involving trivial characters but the conceptualization is old wine.  The building-jumping feat is well-choreographed but the situation fails it.

Ravi Babu plays a manipulative cop but he doesn't get an opportunity to be in his elements.  Comedian Sathya and Posani's sidekicks get it right.  Sapthagiri passes muster.

Brahmi as Bullet Babu, a film star on the verge of bankruptcy, delivers a few laughs.  One expects so much from him, having seen him redeem whole films with his parodies (though not as much as MS Narayana could), but here we get nothing more than his B-grade romantic side.

Verdict: Good visuals and slick BGM apart, this one has a few rib-tickling moments.  In the absence of a strong storyline and a tight screenplay, even Brahmi can't salvage it.

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