Release date: 23 Nov 2012
		123telugu.com Rating : 3/5
		Director : Srinivas Reddy
		Producer :Dr.Venkat
		Music Director : Devi Sri Prasad
		Starring : Nagarjuna, Anushka, Prakash Raj

‘King’ Akkineni Nagarjuna’s socio fantasy entertainer ‘Dhamarukam’ has finally released today after some delays and the expectations on this project are huge since it happens to be the costliest production in Nagarjuna’s career. The movie has been produced by R.R.Movie Makers banner and Srinivasa Reddy is the director. Let us see how Dhamarukam is

Story :

The central plot of Dhamarukam has some similarities to ‘Govinda Govinda’ and ‘Bhairava Dweepam’. An evil guy wants to offer a woman, born in a certain Nakshatram, in sacrifice to attain dominion over the world. Going into the details, ‘Dhamarukam’ starts off with the mighty war between the Devas and the Asuras. All the Asuras are vanquished in the battle except for one, Andhakasura (Ravi Shankar). To avenge his race, Andhakasura goes into hiding to wait for the right opportunity to strike.

The opportunity presents itself in the form of Maheshwari (Anushka), who is a born during a rare astronomical phenomenon known as panchagraha kootami. Andhakasura realises that offering Maheshwari in sacrifice during a complete solar eclipse has the potential to give him control over heaven and earth.

The only person who can thwart his plans is Mallikharjuna (Nagarjuna) and Andhakasura tries his best to finish him off. Malli however, has the formidable power of Lord Shiva (Prakash Raj) on his side.

The rest of the story is about the battle between good and evil and whether Malli succeeds in saving Maheswari from the evil Andhakasura.

Plus Points :

Nagarjuna has delivered a nice performance in the movie. He looks dashing and handsome as always and Nag has attempted a mass dialogue delivery style, that is slightly similar to the one he used in ‘Hello Brother’. Anushka looks good opposite him and they share good screen chemistry.

Ravi Shankar is highly effective as the evil Andhakasura and his performance is a major asset to the movie. The animated depiction of the war between the Devas and Asuras is nice.

Some sequences have been shot well – especially the villain’s introduction scene, the interval bang involving thousands of aghoras and some scenes in the climax block.

Brahmanandam, Raghu Babu and Krishna Bhagawan bring a few laughs.

‘Reppala Pai’, ‘Sakku Bai’ and ‘Nesthama Nesthama’ songs have been shot well. Charmi sizzled in the item song ‘Sakku Bai’

Minus Points :

A few CGI shots are good but the overall quality of visual effects is not upto the mark. The biggest problem with the film is that the story never really achieves any emotional peaks. The villain’s characterization does not make you hate him to the core and when you can’t achieve that, viewers won’t root for the hero’s victory. In fact, none of the characters will draw you into the movie.

There is no linear flow in the proceedings and director Srinivasa Reddy is to be blamed for this. He loses grip over screenplay and narration at a number of places and only a strong performance from Nagarjuna and Ravi Shankar saves the film to a certain extent.

Prakash Raj’s performance is good but his look and attire as Sambayya is not divine enough. His look is modeled after that of Paramahamsa Yogananda, but the desired effect is not there. There are a lot of holes in the plot and the director just could not succeed in delivering a convincing explanation for some sequences.

Technical Aspects :

Production values of the film are not very rich. Chota K Naidu’s cinematography is just average. Editing is jerky and should have been a lot better. Dialogues are just about ok. Devi Sri’s music and background score work well for the movie.

Srinivasa Reddy’s direction leaves a lot to be desired. One gets the feeling that he just couldn’t handle the scale of the movie.

Verdict :

Despite the huge budget, Dhamarukam’s visual effects are not really up to the mark. There are a few good scenes and Nagarjuna looks handsome as always, but the less than satisfactory direction and narration spoil the experience somewhat. Overall, Dhamarukam ends up being a decent entertainer that could have easily been so much better.

123telugu.com Rating – 3/5

Reviewed by Mahesh S Koneru

Click Here For ‘Dhamarukam’ Telugu Review

Legend:

5 – Flawless
4 – Must Watch
3 – One Time Watch
2 – Wait for the DVD
1 – Stay Away