Dacoit - Time pass

Dacoit

is a Telugu action, romance film. The cast includes Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur, Sunil, Prakash Raj, Atul Kulkarni, Anurag Kashyap and Zayn Khan. Just look at that casting lineup, really impressive. Let’s see how the movie feels overall.

According to the story, the hero Hari is a prison inmate who escapes from jail. Since the story happens during the COVID period, people casually wear masks everywhere, making it easier for him to move around unnoticed. After escaping, Hari wants revenge on his Juliet. The reason? She is the one responsible for him going to prison. But why did he go to jail? Because he beat and killed Juliet’s brother. And why did he kill him? Because the brother had raped Hari’s house owner. Why did that happen? Because Hari was in love with the man’s younger sister, and the brother didn’t accept it. How did the brother find out about their relationship? Because Saraswathi’s husband saw them and exposed them. And yes, Saraswathi is Juliet. “Juliet” is just the pet name Hari calls her.

But here’s the twist: Hari escapes from prison not to kill Saraswathi, but to make her suffer the same pain he suffered in prison. However, Saraswathi is now married and ironically, she is married to the same friend of her brother who once exposed Hari. They even have a cute little daughter now. But the husband is currently hospitalized with serious health issues and is waiting for a heart transplant. Saraswathi herself is also struggling with asthma throughout the film, constantly fighting for breath.

One important thing about Adivi Sesh is that he usually writes the scripts for his own films. The only major exception is Baahubali. That is exactly why his films always carry a certain level of expectation. Movies like Evaru, Kshanam and Goodachari helped build that reputation.

Apart from him, the actors who made me think Wow, even they are here? were Atul Kulkarni, Prakash Raj and Anurag Kashyap. Among them, Prakash Raj appears only briefly. Atul Kulkarni gets a decent amount of screen time. But Anurag Kashyap completely steals attention. Throughout the film, he appears as a police officer wearing a Sabarimala mala, refusing to wear a uniform, refusing to touch guns, avoiding bad words, and constantly saying “Swami Saranam.” Purely as cinema, the character writing is entertaining. But if you compare it with realism or logic, it feels more like a funny comedy police character.

As far as I remember, I had never properly watched a film of Mrunal Thakur before this. Then after checking online, I realized I had already seen her in Sita Ramam. Honestly, my memory has become so bad that I need Google level confirmation nowadays. Throughout the film, Mrunal’s face always looks like she is about to faint any second. It almost feels like someone just applied anesthesia near her nose, and she is constantly about to sneeze. Not sure why that expression continues through most scenes.

The love scenes, action moments, and chase sequences all keep the audience engaged with stylish dialogues and suspense about what happens next. But once the film ends completely, it becomes clear that compared to Adivi Sesh’s previous films, this one feels somewhat unnecessary.

I watched it in Telugu itself. I had no interest in the Tamil dubbed version. Watching films in their original language may feel uncomfortable at first, but staying only inside our comfort zone is exactly why we struggle to learn other languages when needed. Watching films in different languages may not make us fluent, but at least it helps us slowly understand and learn parts of the language. That’s how I gradually picked up Malayalam and especially English. Right now I still depend on subtitles, but I believe that over time I’ll be able to watch without them.

I’m not saying everyone must do the same. Watch however you feel comfortable. Your comfort matters. But if you’re looking for a decent time pass film, this movie can be watched. That’s all.

See ya!