Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage review: Ambitious attempt that feels too convoluted, labourous

Sridhar Shikaripura's debut film uses Bengaluru as its milieu for a multi-narrative crime thriller

Stills from Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage

Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage

Story:

A series of coincidences brings a group of strangers to a focal point at which all hope resides. While aspiring boxer Aadi looks for the love of his life Shreya who has been kidnapped, car mechanic Shivu finds himself accused of a crime he never committed. In the same vein, newbie criminal Parachute finds himself in the clutches of the law after a playful LSD trip goes awry, while Seena, the heart-broken lover, goes about town in search of death - all this and many other sub-narratives form the crux of Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage. Do each of these stories find a deserving happy ending? Or does tragedy beckon them all?

Review:

Coincidence is the driving force of Sridhar Shikaripura's Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage, a film nestled in the ethos of a bustling metropolitan like Bengaluru. Over the course of 2 hours and 30 minutes, the debutant writer-director unravels the city's many glaring facets - everyday hustles, live-in relationships, crime syndicates, etc. and interweaves them to create an expansive story about cause and effect. The entire narrative, barring a few select sequences, unfolds over one night as individuals from different walks of life come together under unlikely circumstances, in search of something they have lost or are yet to find. 

As far as multi-narrative films go, Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage is rather dense and lengthy because it takes on way more than it is capable of and, as a result, it ends up a bit of a convoluted mess that fails to hit the mark. While Sridhar Shikaripura tries his best to tell us an overarching story about love, hope, and destiny, his writing doesn't have the required subtlety or skill to navigate the complex narrative, and his direction, in the same vein, lacks the unique punch one looks for. 

Kannada Cinema of the recent past seems to have been particularly smitten by plots featuring multiple storylines - this year alone has delivered Critical Keerthanegalu, Thoothu Madhike, Yellow Gangs, and a few more. Although this narrative technique is steadily growing obsolete, one still expects new filmmakers to imbue their stories with freshness and imagination - Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage, unfortunately, falls short here because neither the writing nor the technical aspects of the film like cinematography and production design manage to impress.

That said, the film is still quite far from being a complete dud. There are many little moments and sequences to savour - like the fragile relationship between Naveen Shankar and Aishani Shetty's character, or the more comical portion of the film featuring actors Prakash Thumminad (of Kantara fame) and Nitesh Mahan. You realize that Sridhar Shikaripura is after something interesting here. He wants to communicate through these isolated stories that everything is connected, that there is a force that lures all destinies to one common point, and that both serendipities and misfortunes are the two sides of the same coincidence. But the problem arises when he begins to stuff the narrative with too many rigid, logicless contrivances and in exchange lets the emotional core remain shallow. At the end of it all, you are left not wanting to root for any particular character and for a film that boasts a plentitude of characters, this becomes one of its major undoings.

As far as performances are concerned, Naveen Shankar as the hardboiled boxer and Aishani Shetty as the volatile Shreya, stand out while Yash Shetty, who steers away from his slightly overused angry- young-man demeanour in the film, is impressive as the endearing car mechanic Shivu. The rest of the ensemble, also comprising actors Balarajwadi, Siddu Moolimani, Omkar, and others, too puts on a good show.

Verdict:

Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage is certainly an intriguing attempt that explores causality in a few novel ways but the film is let down by unimaginative writing. The plot meanders a lot, unwilling to be cohesive or gripping, and in an attempt to main relentless energy throughout, writer-director Sridhar Shikaripura foregoes nuance and logic. The film is still engaging in many parts and although it is a tad too long in terms of runtime, one could give it a shot just to find out what the new breed of artists in Kannada Cinema has to offer.

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Cast and Crew

Yash Shetty

Omkar

Aishani Roy

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