‘DANKA HARI NAMACHA…!’ (MARATHI) REVIEW | 19 July, 2024

Rudra Entertainment Studios and Ganraj Studios’ Danka Hari Namacha…! (Marathi; UA) is the story of a stolen idol of Lord Vitthal and how it is brought back to the temple to where it belongs.

The idol of Lord Vitthal in a temple of Haripur village has been stolen. The temple priest’s son, Jana (Aniket Vishwasrao), tries to investigate who is the thief. In the same village live Sunny (Kiran Gaikwad) and Bobby (Priyadarshan Jadhav) who are sworn enemies. But when it comes to the preservation of the temple, Sunny and Bobby join hands with Jana to trace the idol. How an antique dealer, Pedro (Kiran Bhalerao), helps Jana, Sunny and Bobby to lay their hands on the idol in Goa forms the latter part of the drama.

Shreyash Jadhav has written the story but it is hardly engaging. Businessman Jaysingh Raoraje’s (Sayaji Shinde) challenge to the villagers is kiddish. Also, it is not clear how and why the stolen idol reached Russia and was brought back to India. In other words, the screenplay, written jointly by Shreyash Jadhav, Anshuman Joshi and Sanket Hegana, is contrived. Rather than a smooth-flowing drama, what’s on offer is one with unappealing and improbable twists and turns. The trio’s dialogues are ordinary.

Aniket Vishwasrao is okay as Jana. Priyadarshan Jadhav is alright as Bobby. Kiran Gaikwad is average in the role of Sunny. Sayaji Shinde does well in a brief role as Jaysingh Raoraje. Rasika Suneel lends nice support as Jhasha. Kabir Duhan Singh makes his mark as don Dan Armani. Nikhil Chavan is okay as police inspector Vakil Singh. Kiran Bhalerao has his moments as Pedro. Akshaya Gurav is so-so as Sunny’s girlfriend, Pammi. Avinash Narkar lends ordinary support as temple priest Mauli. Mahesh Jadhav (as Bebya) and the others are adequate.

Shreyash Jadhav’s direction is nothing to shout about. Abhinay Jagtap’s music and background score are routine. Lyrics (Sameer Asha Patil and Abhinay Jagtap) are functional. Sujit Kumar’s choreography is average. Pradeep Khanvilkar’s camerawork is nice. Paramjeet Singh Dhillon’s action and stunt scenes are routine. Sandeep Inamke’s art direction is okay. Ashish Mhatre’s editing is fairly sharp.

On the whole, Danka Hari Namacha…! is a flop film.

Released on 19-7-’24 at Jai Hind Mukta A2 (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Filmastra Studios. Publicity: below the mark. Opening: poor.