There is a drug to cure cancer. There is another drug that controls human minds. Obsessed with nameless drugs and their extraordinary capabilities, Das Ka Dhamki is set in a world where peer review of any scientific study or research is unheard of. The film stars Vishwaksen, who has also written the screenplay and handled the direction. The cast also includes Nivetha Pethuraj, Rao Ramesh, Rohini, Tharun Bhascker, Akshara Gowda, Hyper Aadhi, Mahesh, and others.
Vishwaksen plays dual roles in the film. He appears as Krishna Das, a waiter, and also as Sanjay Rudra, a pharmaceutical company’s CEO. Nivetha Pethuraj plays the role of Krishna’s girlfriend Keerthy, who hides many mysteries behind her smile.
Prasanna Kumar Bezawada has written the film along with Vishwaksen. After watching Prasanna Kumar’s previous film Dhamaka, it felt prudent to lower expectations of his next project. Prasanna Kumar, who is known to write thrillers by subverting the templates of popular films, does not fail on that front. The writers insert too many – way too many – twists. However, the problem is not with the abundance of twists, but with the renunciation of logic.
Krishna Das, a waiter at a five-star hotel, grows up as an orphan. He is constantly reminded about his poverty in dehumanising ways. As a result, he makes it his sole aim in life to become rich at any cost. Krishna commits a series of fraudulent activities to cheat Keerthy, whom he regularly meets at the hotel where he works. He even enters a relationship with her, without finding out any information about her. He simply doesn’t seem to have any curiosity to get to know her better.
Offering respite in this boring romantic pursuit enters Sanjay Rudra, the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company. Under Sanjay, the company has made the major breakthrough of inventing a drug that completely cures cancer. However, there is a catch, which forces Sanjay’s doppelganger Krishna to take over as the CEO, and save the company from bankruptcy.
There is no peer review of this supposedly groundbreaking discovery of a cure for cancer. That is simply not how the world of Das Ka Dhamki works. The film doesn’t even try to sound convincing by listing some chemical names of drugs, or a few types of cancer. A random announcement about a miracle drug that can cure any disease can bring in investments worth Rs 10,000 crore, no questions asked.
The story gets even more bizarre with the invention of another drug which purportedly controls people’s minds. But how does a briefcase full of such powerful drugs make its way into a heavily guarded prison? What are the chemicals used in these drugs? How is food laced with such substances? It’s futile to even try to reason at this point.
Das Ka Dhamki is poorly written, with extremely lazy exposition. You can see the writers struggle to unveil mysteries to the audience organically. Instead, the writers make Rao Ramesh’s character and Keerthy compete with each to reveal their sinister plan, for no clear reason!
If the antagonists’ plan was to trap Krishna and let the police catch him, they could have simply kept it a secret. But with the writers running out of ideas to reach closure, the characters appear absolutely ridiculous, abruptly blurting out their elaborate, well-thought-out plans.
Vishwaksen has donned three roles for the film – screenplay writer, director, and actor. However, he fails dreadfully on all three fronts. It is always a challenging task to play dual roles and convince the audience that they are two different individuals, and Vishwaksen struggles with this task. His acting as CEO Sanjay is truly terrible. On the contrary, Nivetha pulls off a compelling performance. Rao Ramesh, Hyper Aadhi and Mahesh also perform well and provide some respite with comedy.
The invention of arbitrary drugs in the film makes one wonder if they also had one to cure the throbbing headache induced by Das Ka Dhamki. One can only hope that it is invented in the sequel, which is announced before the end credits roll.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with the producers or any other members of its cast or crew.