If there is a category of awards for how to deceive the audience with the wildest twists, Ravi Teja’s Dhamaka would be a strong contender. Dhamaka, directed by Thrinadha Rao Nakkina, tries to achieve what Ravi Teja’s film Khiladi, which again heavily relied on a shocking twist, could not pull off. Dhamaka is a film that is tailor-made for Ravi Teja, and the actor does not disappoint. Apart from Ravi Teja, actors Rao Ramesh and Hyper Aadi hold the film from collapsing with their comedy. Sadly, actor Jayaram, who recently impressed with his acting in PS-I, looks like a caricature of a stereotyped villain.
Overall, Dhamaka has to be among the most contrived stories Telugu cinema has ever produced. Bheems Ceciroleo’s music tries to keep the film alive and overlook its flaws, but music cannot compensate for a film full of plot holes. There is no room for logic in the world of Dhamaka, and coherently viewing the film would be purely your problem. But scene after scene, the story prods one’s already numb senses, even after having submitted to this logic-defying world, to think right.
Let me share an instance without any spoilers. In the trailer, Dhamaka was promised to be a double-action entertainer, with Ravi Teja playing two roles. He plays Swamy, a middle-class man struggling to make ends meet, and Anand Chakravarthy, a businessman. The female lead Sreeleela (Pranavi) is friends with Swamy’s sister and is aware of their family background. She accidentally meets Anand, who looks exactly like Swamy, and she believes it to be him. Now, to clear the confusion, she should ideally call her friend and inform her that there is another man who looks like her brother. But since logic does not exist in this world created by Thrinadha Rao, nothing of that sort happens. (Else how else can he take forward the story). There are many such instances in the film which would hurt your head if you try to process the story.
This however is not the only problem of Dhamaka. The plot is largely insipid, relying on Ravi Teja’s performance to overlook the flaws. The trajectory of the story is also uneven, and the film itself is unsure of whether to be serious or be a comedy-entertainer. The result: a weird concoction of Ravi Tejaisms for nearly two hours. The first half of Dhamaka concludes with a major twist and promises an exciting story ahead, but this hope dies soon. The story does not move forward because the director runs out of ideas. To fill these gaps, he uses comedy and songs as fillers to extend the duration. Without a strong villain, even the ‘mass’ film formula does not work out.
The genre of Dhamaka is fluid. It keeps jumping from one genre to another and finally ends up being a different variant of Trivikram’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. It is gutsy of the director to attempt a satire of Trivikram, making fun of his dialogue writing, and then stealing his film’s theme. Actor Sreeleela who plays Pranavi shows potential, but this is strictly a hyper-masculine film and she does not have any role except dancing, which she does exceptionally well.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.