Dasvi is a simple feel good film that has its heart in the right place. This movie doesn't have anything groundbreaking or exceptional in it, and that is why perhaps it had to settle for an OTT release.
The movie doesn't start off promisingly, with a random song that hits you out of nowhere and some poorly written dialogues, like the conversation between Yami Gautam and the mess incharge about the messy state of affairs. For a long period of time it's not quite clear as to what kind of direction the story wants to take, but ultimately what it settles for is quite satisfying. The writers and director of this film seem heavily inspired by Rajkumar Hirani's
Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra's
Rang De Basanti (2006), because the scenes of history that plant the seed of transformation inside Abhishek Bachchan's mind are very similar to what was shown in the two films. The writers, apart from putting a spotlight on the importance of education, perhaps wanted to show why is it necessary to make education interesting and the ways to achieve that goal, but couldn't translate that idea into the screenplay properly.
Abhishek Bachchan has done a pretty good job as Ganga Ram Chowdhary. Only someone from Haryana can tell how good his diction was but as a general viewer I liked it, as this was something very different from what Abhishek Bachchan has done so far. Abhishek is very convincing in the emotional scenes, just like he was in 'Ludo'. Yami Gautam has a very sweet and pleasant screen presence and this role suited her quite well. Manu Rishi is such a fantastic actor, it's a shame that no one is writing good roles for him. In this film as well, he was given a half-baked character that becomes irrelevant as the movie progresses. Also the conversations that he had with Jyoti Deswal were poorly written and didn't come across as suitable for an actor of his stature. Nimrat Kaur undergoes a massive transformation during the film as she steps into the world of politics and gets a taste of the power enjoyed by politicians, and performs brilliantly in both the roles. Her speech during the swearing-in ceremony was genuinely funny and she did a fabulous job performing that scene. It's a shocker that a performer of her caliber has done less than 10 films in her career. Why aren't directors and producers offering her roles ? Nimrat Kaur is an immensely talented and extremely beautiful actress and yet we never see on her screen, quite a mystery that is. Nimrat Kaur is one hundred percent believable as the cunning and manipulative politician who is enjoying every bit of the power that has fallen into her lap as a gift. I am really glad that the casting team decided to cast her in this role, because she has truly given a gem of a performance as Bimla Devi.
The songs of 'Dasvi' are just about alright, but 'Thaan Liya' definitely stands out. It's very similar to the 'Ek Zindagi' song composed by Sachin-Jigar for the films 'Hindi Medium' and 'English Medium', but it does lift your spirits and makes you happy. The background music, also by Sachin-Jigar, is quite good. The score during the scene in which Jyoti Deswal offers curd and sugar to Ganga Ram will remind you of A. R. Rahman's music. I have absolutely no doubt that Sachin-Jigar are fabulously talented and I really hope that more producers and directors notice their talent.
If I talk about some of the negatives of the film, the depiction of the jail seems very unreal. The prison seemed like a neat and clean school, where everyone lives happily. I am pretty sure that's not how prisons are. The equation between Jyoti Keswal and Ganga Ram follows a very predictable route, and the question does arise as to how the jailor managed to devote so much time to Ganga Ram. The editing of this film was definitely not up to the mark as plenty of scenes continued to play out for much longer than they should have. It's never quite addressed as to why Bimla Devi doesn't like her husband. Also, why and how the soft spoken, uneducated, shy girl suddenly became such a cold blooded politician, the movie never quite explains. The plot of Ganga Ram getting deeply involved in books definitely felt inspired from 'Munna Bhai Series', except that we never quite understand as how those history lessons transformed him. Also, for a comedy film, Dasvi doesn't have a lot of comedy in it. The emotional scenes land perfectly, and that's what ultimately saves the film, but I was really hoping for some more humour in the screenplay.
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