A muted blast

Dynamite is a tale of one-upmanship between evil forces wanting to prevent exposure of their nefarious deeds and the determined do-gooder making them bite dust at the end. For this action thriller to pan out, director Deva Katta bases the entire 142-minute film in a continuous chase of one group trying to catch up with the other through car chases, scooting across crowded parts of cities and playing hide-n-seek in spooky and deserted buildings.

Then there is the techno tussle between the desperate villain (J D Chakravarty) and the one-step ahead hero (Vishnu Manchu) who always has the brainwave to befuddle the aggressive intentions of the former, despite having the police machinery under his thumb.

All is well at the climax, of course, as the frenetic cops are made face-to-face with the startling truth about their politically ambitious boss, who perishes on his own! On the surface, true to form as in Telugu cinema, despite a humble background, the hero is totally in sync with the modern and youthful lifestyle, even matching standards with the high and the mighty.

He even is a self-employed, digital marketing professional. The heroine, given ‘responsible freedom’ by her father stays all by herself, in an ultra-modern flat, replete with a well-stocked bar. Of course, she has her own checks and balances to find out whether her date is worth it or not! A remake of the Tamil film ‘Arima Nambi’, released last year, ‘Dynamite’ is a sincere attempt.

Vishnu does everything – dances, smashes the stuntmen to pulp in tune with the modern action trends of Telugu cinema and also ‘steps’ in and out of the junior artiste crowd, matching his moves with the heroine. All well, but something is missing.

The overwhelming feeling that one is left with is that the second half tries to speeden up the laggard pace of the first and the varied efforts of the avaricious neta to capture the lead pair and get his work done is exhaustingly spread over a long period of time, involving control room scenes, high-pitched shouting of commands and orders flying back and forth and the expected result of the hero, always ready with a counterattack.

If the endeavour of the director is to show the aggressive battle between the two, none inferior to the other, it seems overstated. The climax peters out to a routine confrontation, despite the techno twist and no prizes for guessing, the hero walking away, victoriously into the sunset.

Pranitha Subhash is seen in a more glamorous version than her earlier Telugu films and stays content in the slot usually reserved for the heroines – shaking a hip during duet sequences and almost screwing up the well-laid plans of her lover to get her out of trouble. Along with JD, who is too impassive to make a real, menacing impact, Pranitha too ends up almost making the valiant efforts of Vishnu, a damp squib. An average entertainer this!

Movie Name : Dynamite

Cast : Manchu Vishnu, Pranitha Subhash and JD Chakravarthy

Direction : Deva Katta

Genre : Thriller

Likes : A Hollywood style attempt of an edge-of-the-seat thriller

Dislikes : Routine climax

Rating : **

By K Naresh Kumar