Dhahanam review: Isha Koppikar and Abhishek Duhan's revenge-thriller is nothing more than a disappointment

1.5/5

Story:

Backed by Ram Gopal Varma, the Agasthya Manju directorial follows the story of a Naxalite leader of a small village seeking revenge for his father's death.

Review:

Isha Koppikar starts the show by introducing this small town in the south of India and the multiple murders that have happened here, although, the actress' flat narration style begins Dhahanam on a very disappointing note. Koppikar was said to be one of the lead characters in the series but she appears only for a couple of minutes in the entire series of seven episodes.

The crime drama show talks about a father-son duo, who fight for the weaker section of society but with different ideologies. While Sri Ramulayya believes in non-violence, his son Hari (Abhishek Duhan) is a Naxalite and speaks guns and violence to fight for the less fortunate people.

Dhahanam becomes a revenge story when Ramulayya gets murdered by his own man and is accused of corruption. Hari, who used to fight for everyone in the village now, only aims to find the real culprit behind his father's death and kill him.

The show also has Ashwatkanth Sharma as Ravi, the youngest of Ramulayya, who seeks the motivation to build his career and live a peaceful life, while his father's death turns his life upside down. Naina Ganguly's Pavani is another key character, who is an important member of the group of Naxalites and Hari's love interest.

Duhan seems convincing as his ruthless Naxalite character, while Sharma struggles to deliver even a single dialogue with apt expression. Meanwhile, Ganguly has only been used as a prop in the show, who can only be seen holding guns in most of her scenes.

Dhahanam also features a few prominent actors in the industry including Pradeep Rawat, Sayaji Shinde and Zakir Hussain, who don't bring anything new to the table and even seem lacking to engage the audience with their expressionless acting.

Although the plot of the show is not completely poor, Agasthya Manju's direction comes as a disappointment with loosely executed sequences. The cheap dialogues and even bad delivery by the actors make the audience even more disheartened after watching the show that has been made by Ram Gopal Verma, who is known for creating some of the most gripping thriller movies in Hindi cinema.

Dhahanam ends by giving the hint of an upcoming season with Hari's death.

Verdict:

Ram Gopal's debut on OTT is nothing more than a disappointment. Dhahanam can be easily skipped.