DC, the Telugu-dubbed Kollywood movie, is currently playing in theatres. Let's find out what the action drama is about.
Plot:
Devadas (Lokesh Kanagaraj), a violent thug who served jail time after avenging his mother's murder, belongs to a gang that ambushes police vehicles to steal discarded weapons. After their actions lead to the death of a corrupt investigating officer who had targeted a poor family, Devadas and his crew go on the run from a relentless cop. While fleeing, Devadas forms a brief, tragic connection with Parvathi (Sanjana Krishnamoorthy), a bar singer. He later meets Chandra (Wamiqa Gabbi), a sex worker trapped in exploitation for 18 years. Moved by her plight, Devadas rescues her, and she joins him as their paths become intertwined.
Post-Mortem:
DC has two unique features going for it: Anirudh Ravichander's curated ambient score that keeps saving scene after scene despite its evidently rehashed nature, and the acclaimed commercial director Lokesh Kanagaraj's acting debut. Director Arun Matheswaran names the primary trio as Devadas, Parvathi, and Chandra consciously: they are character callbacks to the iconic Bengali novel, Devadas. The filmmaker banks on the hyper-stylized action (the stunts are by PC stunts), the moody cinematography (handled by Mukesh G), and Anirudh's quintessential overpowering score.
DC is essentially a love story with a violent and visceral cat-and-mouse chase at its centre. The problem is that the violence feels tiresome in the second half, and the chase is replete with a lack of tension.
While the making is not lazy by any unforgiving standard, the staging feels almost attention-grabbing at times. A shootout becomes a mess only because the cops start their operation like noobs who are incapable of strategy. The kind of design-forward action is so forced after a point that even Anirudh's celebratory score feels random and unearned. The bonding between Devadas' gang members is half-baked. Why does he get angry at a gang member for merely suggesting that he can't put them in trouble for Chandra? Does he expect them to orbit around his love life?
Lokesh's character is nonchalant. His minimalism doesn't bore in the first half. In the second hour, it is never enough. The existence of Wamiqa Gabbi's Chandra is purely a function of emotional gimmickry and happy coincidences. She is there to add sass to Das' colourless existence even as some men around her can only look at her as a sex object. In one of the overly stylized scenes involving her, the score assumes a certain affected tone. Her profession as a sex worker is a narrative convenience: bad men desire her, morally ambiguous men desire her, corrupt cops desire her.
It's as if Anirudh wants us to see poetry or angst everywhere. Before one of the action scenes, the score is so buoyant that a song from Taal (the Hindi film) could play out next. The hero and his gang act on the go. They don't seem to have a thoughtful plan of action. Their impromptu actions and reactions would have made for a delicious foundation for excellent drama had there been a story with less swag and more drama.
Closing Remarks:
While the first half of DC holds attention with its moody atmosphere and emotional beats, the second half is weighed down by repetitive violence, a tension-free chase, and underdeveloped character arcs.
