Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Baby Sarah,
Banner: Usha Kiran Movies, First Frame Entertainment
Editor: Dharmendra Kakarala
Cinematography: V.N.Gnanasekhar
Music: E.S.Murthy
Producer: Ramoji Rao, Krish (Presents)
Director: R. K. Malineni
Tagline: Almost Feel Good!
Avg. User Rating: 2.75/5
Plot:
There existed a serene village for which a Raju garu (Rajendra Prasad) is the head. He has a joint family and Raju garu is quite fond of his granddaughter Bangaram (Sarah Arjun). Bangaram likes Nani (Kodipunju) a lot. The basic plot begins with the bonding between these three characters. All the family members of Raju garu including his daughters, grand daughters, daughter in laws and so on arrive at the village to visit the Poleramma Jathara. All these family members want to enjoy the festival without any tensions but each of them has their own trouble. One son has difficulties in business and the other is childless. Meanwhile, another son of Raju garu has relationship problems. One day , lot of disturbances and problems occur when the family plans to visit the Poleramma temple. When the real reason in enquired, it is said to be Nani. The family prays to the goddess saying they will sacrifice Poleramma once upon a time and because they left for respective jobs, it didn’t happen till then. Everybody comes to the conclusion that unless Nani is sacrificed for the goddess, their troubles will not come to an end. Just when the big moment of sacrifice comes, Nani goes missing. As a result, everybody in the family start searching for it and consult various Babas and wizards. Lot of ruckus happens and the rest of the film deals about whether Nani’s whereabouts are eventually found and what was the real reason behind the missing hen.
Performances:
Rajendra Prasad: He is picture perfect for the role of Raju garu. His histrionics suited well for the role of grandfather and exuded confidence. The scenes where he appears along with granddaughter were well made. However, when compared to Nazzar’s performance for the same role in the film’s original – something does look missing. The old style makeup was over done for his role. He should have taken little more care in subtle emotions.
Baby Sarah: This little girl is the life and soul of the film. Sarah remains to be a special attraction for Daagudumootha Dandakor. The audience would love her presence in every scene and her character. Despite being tenderly young, she acted equally opposite a senior actor like Rajendra Prasad. But, her character could have been elevated a little more. There is no strong reason shown about why she loves Nani very much.
Ravi Prakash, Prabhu: They are seen in a lengthy role for first time and they do full justice to it.
Sri Harsha, Sandhya: The young actors are seen in a teenage love story for an offbeat film of this sort. Sri Harsha looked quite handsome and Sandhya has resemblances with Colors Swathi. Both these actors did very good job.
Others: The child actor Vijay deserves special mention for his portrayal of Sannasi Raju Uraf Sunny. Satyam Rajesh has limited scope as he has only one scene.
Direction:
This film is a remake of Tamil hit film Saivam which bagged many awards and accolades. The story revolves around a sensitive topic of family emotions and beautiful moments. How can a family search single handedly for a hen? Why should a village discuss anxiously about the hen? How can a hen be responsible for the solution of family problems? How did staunch non vegetarians turn to vegetarians as a result? This is indeed a great concept and was immensely liked by Tamil audience. Perhaps this was why the film was remade into Telugu. Director Radhakrishna took enough care to adapt the film for Telugu viewers. He executed the relationship and bonding between grandfather and granddaughter. He took good care in showing the beauty and warmth of village. However, the key scene for the film is the hen going missing and the family searching for it. This particular sequence wasn’t executed as per expectations. Every sequence goes in steady pace but doesn’t catch the viewer’s attention. The director couldn’t make the best use of sentimental sequences which had great scope. If at all that happened, the film would have been in the list of “Feel Good Films”. The scene where the family members take a pledge of becoming vegetarians was greatly shown in the original. But Daagudumootha Dandakor conveniently ignores such wonderful sequence. The climax which is supposed to have emotional highs is also hurried up. Despite having great chance for good lines and thoughtful scenes, the director happens to lose it.
Merits:
Flawless village atmosphere
Scenes involving Rajendra Prasad- Sarah
Song Lyrics
Demerits:
Lack of scenes which speak of depth
Unnecessary dragging
Music:
The film’s original Saivam didn’t have songs. But Daagudumootha Dandakor has few. Every song tells the story in style and it is interesting to see Sirivennela Sitaramasastry sing a song. Background music is impressive.
Others:
The film is decent technically. But the night shots are misty without clarity. The dialogues could have been much better for such emotionally compelling film.
Verdict:
Daagudumootha Dandakor is like a whiff of fresh air in the midst of commercial films. People who want to look for the beauty of villages can watch it. But if Saivam already raised your expectations on this flick, you would end up disappointed!