The Shaitan & David director Bejoy Nambiar’s ‘Dange’ is a dark students’ saga set in Goa. The narrative is a cross between college students conflicts within and outside. Dange begins with a promising scene when a sloshed Zeel (Harshvardhan Rane) rushes to present his paper the 4th time, with great help from his friends but fails to make it even after standing in front of the professors due to his imbalanced mental condition.
Dange is primarily about Zeel and Yuva (Ehan Bhat) who were best (childhood) friends but one incidence sours their friendship; Yuva faces molestation and humiliation for which he blames Zeel, now his senior in the college. Yuva is deeply affected by the incident. There is also Gayatri (T J Bhanu) seeking justice for a young Dalit student who was raped and impregnated. Yuva and Zeel, driven by their own conflicts, eventually realize a greater threat when they overhear plans to harm Gayatri. They unite to protect her, displaying their medical training skills in the process.
Together, Yuva and Zeel lead a frenzied battle against political thugs, inspiring other students to join them in defending Gayatri. Through their joint efforts, they succeed in driving out the adversaries and protecting Gayatri. This experience brings Yuva and Zeel closer, breaking the silence between them and leading to a deeper understanding of each other. ‘Dange’ concludes with the protagonists having grown from their experiences, having overcome their personal conflicts to unite against a common enemy, and forging a stronger bond in the process.
The title of the film is based on the event that happens in the fag end of the narrative. Most of the narrative is disjointed resulting in a not so great student saga. The writer has picked up bits and pieces of imagination to cook up a plot which seems directionless and one wonders where we are headed. On one side there is junior-senior clash, while on the other is a clash between two childhood friends separated by a sinister episode and a misunderstanding.
If this was not all, the story also pulls in a hint of college politics with real politicians. Dange resembles 1990 film Shiva in parts but the plot in the Ram Gopal Varma directorial connected well with the target audience resulting in a blockbuster. Bejoy oversteps making it difficult to sail through leading to the conflict in the climax. The other problem with the screenplay lie in exploring the nuances of Goa. However in a bid to show Goa, Nambiar ends up showing party scenes with liberal use and reference of contraband substance.
The dialogues don’t evoke any significant attraction to keep the audience connected with the characters.
Harshvardhan Rane looks natural and slips into Zeel with ease. The director could have extracted better performance from him.
As for Ehan Bhat, he looks cool but concious of playing a lead. He tries hard to play the part in serious and tensed scenes. Most of the times the expressions look similar making it tough for the audience to connect with the character.
DOP Jimshi Khalid & Presley Oscar D’Souza have done a great work. They engage the audience with their longer duration shots traveling along with the characters. The entire climax sequence is captured skilfully.
The background score suits the theme of the film. In fact it is one element that helps connect with the goings-on on the screen. Though loud at times, but works.
All in all, Bejoy Nambiar misses an opportunity of creating a convincing student drama campus thriller.
Movie: Dange
Directed by: Bejoy Nambiar
Cast: Harshvardhan Rane, Ehan Bhat, T J Bhanu, Nikita Dutta, Taniya Kalra, Zoa Morani, Sahhdev Nakul, K C Shankar