BOTTOM LINE
Too Faithful But Engaging Remake
OUR RATING
3/5
CENSOR
‘U/A’ Certified, 165 mins.
What is the film about?
How a cop Dhruva (Ram Charan) unravels the mystery behind a big mastermind businessman cum scientist, Siddharth Abhimanyu (Aravind Swamy) who controls the state by staying behind in shadows.
How is Ram Charan‘s performance?
Ram Charan has been usually doing masala commercial fares. He changes his track a little bit and does a thriller within that commercial space. This difference is what makes him come across as good. Also, the effort put by him for the film is visible and works like a charm, overall. There is not much to appreciate in terms of dance. Performance wise there are a couple of scenes that are in the zone, otherwise, the rest falls in his intense mass image sphere with good scope for action and body showcase.
Direction By Surender Reddy?
This is the first time Surender Reddy has done a remake. As he said in the pre-release interviews, it is a difficult job in remaking a film. One can be either faithful or come up with a different sort of film keeping the original story arc and spirit in mind. The director has taken the first approach of being faithful. It means Dhruva could feel a bit boring to those who have already watched the original. For others, there would be a genuine thrill feeling.
Right from the beginning except for location changes, the scenes remain the same, the screenplay is the same. What differs is the actors who give a local vibe and visuals which are grandly mounted compared to the original. Since the original content is strong it keeps us hooked throughout. The second half is really good and the pre-climax and climax scenes take the movie to an exciting level.
The problem with the film is the length as the film runs as a thriller. The real story begins during the pre-interval. It is not that the scenes before are a waste but they add to the length and get boring before the main villain is introduced in the pre-interval episode. It is from then the film shifts gears and picks up pace. What follows is a riveting thriller till the end. Suri’s stylish and slick execution takes the film a notch higher and also makes for a good big screen viewing experience.
Rakul Preet Singh and Other Artists Performance?
Rakul Preet Singh doesn’t have a big role in terms of length but it nonetheless is important to the proceedings. She is alright when speaking about performance. She is good in songs. The real scene stealer of the film in conjunction with the hero is the villain of the film played by Aravind Swamy. No one else except him could have played the part which is why he has been brought again for the remake. He is fantastic and is responsible for the highs of Dhruva. His dubbing slightly ruins the effect, though. Posani Krishna Murali plays a subdued role in comparison to his regular outing. He is the sole person providing a little bit of comic relief. Navadeep is good as the friend of the hero. Others have very small roles but are perfect even for those small parts.
Music and other departments?
Music by Hiphop Tamizha is good. The background score is better, it is the lifeline of the film along with performances. The cinematography is fine. Gives a rich look. The songs and action scenes were really good to look at on the big screen. Editing is fine. Dialogues are okay. In general Dhruva is technically slick but there are issues with dubbing, the lip sync of many characters are missing and it feels too obvious on screen.
Highlights?
Story
Screenplay
Hero and villain characters
Second half
Drawbacks?
Little bit slow at times
Romance track
Alternative Take
The film sticks to the concept and is done really well. Not much to change or have an alternative take.
Did I enjoy it?
Yes
Will you recommend it?
Yes
Dhruva Review by Siddhartha Toleti
– Did Aravind Swamy dominate Dhruva like in the original? Is Dhruva better than Thani Oruvan? Those who watched Thani Oruvan can still watch Telugu version Dhruva? Watch out for our review.
– Show over.
– Posani – Nassar track could have been enhanced to bring native changes in Telugu version but the director chose to be very loyal to the original.
– Pleasure to watch Siddharth Abimanyu’s performance. But his mind games with hero could have been more thrilling, looks like Surender Reddy made very little efforts here.
– Ishika (Rakul) has limited screen presence still she does justice to her role.
– Posani as a dumb politician fits the bill. And of course he is the only actor in the film for comic relief in the film.
– Navdeep suited well for Dhruva’s friend role as Cop though there isn’t much to talk about him.
– Dance tonight song shot well with few nice dance moves.
– Most important/interesting scene of the film (bug detector) executed well.
– Siddharth Abimanyu Vs Dhruva begins in second half, time for mind games?
Interval: A loyal remake without adopting any native changes so far.
– Siddharth Abimanyu (Arvind Swamy) enters the show as Posani Krishna Murali’s son.
– First fight after Chain snatching scene, so far director Surender Reddy has been very loyal to the original, it’s a scene to scene loyal remake until now.
– Second song ‘Choosa Choosa’ so soon with Ishika (Rakul Preet).
– First song and Title song ‘Dhruva’ is over. Charan’s body put to great use to make it interesting.
– Ram Charan’s entry shot, good BGM by Hiphop Tamizha.
– Show started, Posani opens the first dialogue.
Dhruva Live Updates Begin at 4.30 AM IST.
Dhruva Movie Review will be up after Live Updates – Check out the Preview below:
Things have really changed over the last few years. Even the strong fan base of an actor cannot save a film from sinking if it does not have a strong content and entertaining narration.
The stars are finding things very hard and in order to give a hit, they are going all out and working very hard. Same is the case for every star son. His or her lineage is no longer helping them in getting a huge hit.
And the one man who knows it all is mega power star Ram Charan. The blue-eyed boy of the mega family has been going through a lean phase for quite some time now and needs a desperate hit in the form of Dhruva.
Ram Charan‘s last two films, Govindudu Andari Vadele and Bruce Lee did not impress the audience much and this has put the young hero in a lot of dilemma as to which film he should do next.
After a lot of deliberation, Charan finally set his eyes on a Tamil hit called Thani Oruvan which created a storm all over. He cleverly chose Surender Reddy as the director and started the film on a silent note. The makers of Dhruva also roped in Aravind Swamy by paying him some huge money.
Now that the film is complete, there is a huge buzz for the release. As Charan has chosen a safe and already hit formulae, things look slightly easy for him even here in Telugu.
The makers say that the director made the necessary changes for the Telugu audience which should help the film here. On the other hand, Charan has cleverly left to the US to attend the premiere as he also needs to prove a point as he has never got a one million dollar film in the overseas market.
Already, heroes like Allu Arjun and Nani have made their careers set and are looking to consolidate their positions. Ram Charan does not want to get left behind and is doing all possible things to make this film.
So for him, it is a do or die situation with Dhruva as he needs to prove many wrong by scoring a thumping hit and also silence his critics.
