Reliance Entertainment, Cult Digital and 5th Dimension’s Dhondi Champya (Marathi; UA) is the story of two villagers and their children.
Umaji (Bharat Jadhav) and Ankush (Vaibhav Mangale) live in a village. Both own buffaloes. While Champa is the name of Umaji’s buffalo, Dhondi is the name of Ankush’s buffalo. One day, Champa is impregnated by Dhondi. The new-born buffalo is a male and so, it starts living with Ankush as per the decision of the Panchayat. Umaji and Ankush drift apart because of this.
As luck would have it, Umaji’s son, Aditya (Nikhil Chavan), and Ankush’s daughter, Ovi (Sayali Patil), who are working in Bangalore, fall in love with one another. When they come to the village, their relationship faces opposition from their dads. How the two lovers finally get their fathers to grant them permission to marry is what the film is all about.
Dnyanesh Bhalekar and Sagar Kesarkar have written a story which is quite silly. Except for comedy, their screenplay offers precious little to the audience. No doubt, the comedy is entertaining but it loses steam after a point of time. The last few reels are very boring. The duo’s comedy dialogues are good.
Bharat Jadhav acts ably as Umaji. Vaibhav Mangale does a fine job as Ankush. Nikhil Chavan is okay as Umaji’s son, Aditya. Sayali Patil is alright in the role of Ankush’s daughter, Ovi. Shalaka Pawar (as Umaji’s wife) and Sneha Raikar (as Ankush’s wife) deliver average performances. Prabhakar More (as the sarpanch), Kamlakar Satpute (as Ashok), Samir Choughule (as the veterinarian) and Prashant Vichare provide routine support.
Dnyanesh Bhalekar’s direction is ordinary. Music (by Saurabh Shetye and Durgesh Khot) is fair. Lyrics (by Guru Thakur, Mandar Cholkar and Ganesh Nigade) are okay. Song picturisations (by Sujit Kumar and Siddhesh Chavan) are functional. Amar Mohile’s background music is quite nice. Rajesh Nadone’s cinematography is appealing. Rajesh Maruti Sapte’s art direction is average. Ashish Arjun Gaikar’s editing becomes loose in the latter part of the second half.
On the whole, Dhondi Champya is a flop show in spite of some entertaining comedy.
Released on 16-12-’22 at Gem (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Reliance Entertainment. Publicity: okay. Opening: poor.