Abhishek Bachchan, Yami Gautam and Nimrat Kaur starrer Dasvi rests on an interesting story and impressive performances

Dasvi Review {2.5/5} & Review Rating

DASVI is the story of an illiterate chief minister. Ganga Ram Chaudhary (Abhishek A Bachchan) is the chief minister of Harit Pradesh. He’s sent to jail for indulging in a teacher’s scam. Immediately, Ganga Ram tells his docile wife Bimla (Nimrat Kaur) to become the chief minister in his absence. At first, the police in charge, Satnam Tomar (Manu Rishi Chadha) gives him his own quarters inside the jail to reside. He’s allowed to eat food cooked from outside and moreover, he is not given any work to do, unlike other prisoners. All this changes once Jyoti Deswal (Yami Gautam Dhar) is made the superintendent of the prison. She is a taskmaster who believes in doing her duty religiously. She compels Ganga Ram to shift to a prison cell and consume jail food. She also orders him to take up the work of making chairs. His picture of making a chair goes viral and he becomes the butt of all jokes. An enraged Ganga Ram orders Bimla to pass transfer orders of Jyoti immediately. However, Bimla has tasted blood after assuming power. She knows that her powers will be snatched away once Ganga Ram is released. Hence, she reminds Ganga Ram that it was he who had transferred Jyoti to the prison after she had beaten up his party workers. Hence, shifting her again would go against him. One day, Ganga Ram finds out that a few prisoners are students and are preparing for upcoming exams. He is also told that those who study are exempted from working. This and his childhood dream of getting a degree prompts Ganga Ram to announce that he’ll sit for the Class 10 exams. In a fit of rage, he also bets with Jyoti that if he fails in the 10th boards, he’ll never become a chief minister again in his life. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Ram Bajpai’s story is promising. Ritesh Shah, Suresh Nair and Sandeep Leyzell’s screenplay, however, is poor. The film is intended to be a comic caper. However, there are hardly any funny moments in the film that’ll make viewers laugh out loud. There are also several loopholes in the script. Ritesh Shah, Suresh Nair and Sandeep Leyzell’s dialogues are sharp, but only at a few places. A film of this kind should have had witty and hilarious dialogues throughout the narrative.

Tushar Jalota’s direction is average though the message on the importance of education comes across well. He has also handled some moments nicely. This is especially in the latter part of the film. The scene where Ganga Ram’s results are called out is one such sequence that shows that the director has potential. Another track that works is Jyoti and Ganga Ram’s bond and how it evolves as the story progresses. The transformation of Bimla is also quite badass. However, Tushar Jalota should have properly focused on how a shy and soft-spoken Bimla suddenly turned into such a heartless and manipulative person. The change in her personality is too sudden. Moreover, if the makers had shown that Ganga Ram used to mistreat her constantly, then it would have made sense to see Bimla getting even with Ganga Ram after assuming power. But Ganga Ram didn’t seem to be rude to her. The lone scene at the beginning between Ganga Ram and Bimla showed the former actually insisting that the latter should develop an attitude as she’s the CM’s wife. Hence, it’s unconvincing why Bimla is being so unkind to her husband. The whole scam track also didn’t impress as it’s not neatly explained. Probably, the makers wanted to keep the narrative shorter and while they succeeded in doing so, these crucial details were not given due importance which diminishes the impact.

ROFL – When Abhishek Bachchan topped the class | Teaser | Dasvi | Nimrat Kaur

Abhishek A Bachchan gives a sincere performance. He tries his best to make his act entertaining and succeeds. Nimrat Kaur is a surprise. She gets to play a great role and she enhances it with her performance. The scenes where she takes the CM’s oath and where she blasts a staffperson are too good. Yami Gautam Dhar too does fine and is convincing in the role of a strict police officer. Manu Rishi Chadha is decent. Chittaranjan Tripathy (Tandon; IAS officer) is fine. Arun Kushwaha (Ghanti) does well. Danish Husain (Rae Bareli; librarian) and the actors playing Prem Qaidi and Inaamdar are okay. Dhanveer Singh (Ganga Ram’s brother) is wasted.

Sachin-Jigar’s music won’t have a long shelf life. ‘Macha Macha Re’ is like the theme song of the film and is well woven into the narrative. ‘Nakhralo’ is forgettable. ‘Thaan Liya’ gives the déjà vu of ‘Ek Jindari’. ‘Ghani Trip’ is missing from the film. Sachin-Jigar’s background score keeps the mood light-hearted and funny.

Kabir Tejpal’s cinematography is neat. Mayur Barate’s production design is realistic. Sheetal Iqbal Sharma’s costumes are not glamorous but look appealing. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is good.

On the whole, DASVI rests on an interesting story and message and the impressive performances by the three leading actors. However, due to the flawed script, it turns out to be an average fare.