Goosebumps Entertainment and B You Production’s The A.I. Dharma Story (Marathi; UA) is the story of a young man framed for a crime.
Arvind Dharmadhikari alias Dharma (Pushkar Surekha Jog) works in a technology company in Scotland. One day, he is accused of making deep fake videos of girls viral from his laptop. Several girls had committed suicide because of their deep fake videos, and one of them is Sayali (Bhumi Pradhan).
After a few months, Dharma’s daughter, Megha (Swarali Vaibhav Khomane), is kidnapped. Dharma is asked by the kidnapper to refrain from complaining to the police. Dharma confides in his wife, Shreya (Deepti Lele), who, in turn, asks her investigator-friend, Nikita (Smita Gondkar), to probe into the kidnap drama so that Megha could be saved.
How Dharma is able to reach the kidnapper and get his name cleared forms the crux of the story.
Pallavi Vaidya has written a story which appears rather convoluted. Her screenplay is quite weak. While Dharma, quite understandably, moves heaven and earth to save his daughter from the kidnapper, he doesn’t even try to decipher how his name has cropped up in the deep fake videos suicide scam.This is a weak link in the drama. The ending is not half as exciting as it should’ve been. Omkar Gokhale’s dialogues are okay but many of them are in English.
Pushkar Surekha Jog does well as Dharma. Deepti Lele is alright as his wife, Shreya. Swarali Vaibhav Khomane lends decent support as Megha. Smita Gondkar is average as investigation expert Nikita. Chinmay Mandlekar is alright as Sayali’s father, Vijay Narvekar. Bhargavi Chirmule does a fair job as Sayali’s mother, Priyanka. Gandhar Babre has his moments as Dharma’s colleague, Vasant. Bhumi Pradhan makes her mark as Sayali. Mark Barrett is okay as Dharma’s colleague, David. Vandana Waknis is okay in a tiny role as Dharma’s mother. Ratan Bhatia, Ajay Padhye, Radhika Ingle, Purushottam Shiralkar and Iona Mciennan lend routine support.
Pushkar Surekha Jog’s direction is limited by the weak script. Hitesh Modak’s music is so-so. Mandar Cholkar’s lyrics are alright. Rahul Shetye’s choreography is passable. Rohan-Rohan’s background music is fair. Cinematography (Yogesh Mahadev Koli, Jason Baxter and Nikhil Ranade) is nice. Mohd. Amin Khatib’s action and stunt scenes lack thrill. Yogesh Ingle’s art direction is routine. Sunil Dattatray Dahifale’s editing is quite sharp but could’ve been crisper.
On the whole, The A.I. Dharma Story is a dull fare.
Released on 25-10-’24 at Movie Time Goregaon (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru White Lion Entertainment. Publicity: so-so. Opening: poor.