Starring:

Mahesh Babu
Lisa Ray
Bipasha Basu
Rahul Dev
Tanikella Bharani
Ashok Kumar
Surya
Raju
Ravi Chalapati

Producer - Director: Jayanth C Paranji
Co-producers: PC Vasanth - PS Sumanth
Writer: Satyanand
Music: Mani Sharma

Video
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Letterboxed at slightly less than 2.35:1, Takkari Donga is plagued with digital artifacting and DNR. The artifacting takes the form of the weird effect where things that are supposed to be still are floating. That's the best I can describe it. The resolution is definitely not up to the limits NTSC DVD can offer. It is very soft and there is little detail.

Audio
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Fake Dolby Digital 5.1 mono encoded at 448kbps. The high end is distorted, there is little bass, and overall it is muffled. The film had a DTS track theatrically, but this soundtrack is a mess.

Overall
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What I'm sure was an impressive film theatrically looks like garbage on this DVD. With soft, muddled video and audio of the same variety, pass on this DVD. In fact, pass on all KAD DVDs altogether. They're worse than Eros and Video Sound.

I may post a film review later.



Edited By DragunR2 on July 12 2002 at 21:13

Never heard of this film; could you post some more details here or give your opinion on the film?
Bipasha Basu and Lisa Ray in one film should be worth a watch in itself.

First off, I should probably mention that this is a Telugu film. This is an Indian western. Shot in Utah, Mahesh Babu plays Raj, who is one of those heroes who never gets hit by bullets. It is set in the Old West, and all the sets and clothes are western.

Rahul Dev is looking for the map to a diamond mine and he's willing to do anything to get it.

Here's my opinion on the film:

This is an entertaining, yet ultimately unnecessary film. It is probably a fresh film to Telugu audiences, but if you have seen a few spaghetti westerns, there is nothing new here. All the sets and costumes are old western, so basically it is a bunch of Indians running around saloons and western towns in cowboy hats and boots. The fight scenes are excitingly done and the cinematography is good.

But one quibble I had with it is in the songs. In the first song, for example, Mahesh Babu is dancing with a group of blondes dressed in modern black dresses. Too anachronistic. There are two other songs similar to this, where Bipasha or Lisa are in obviously modern dress, but Mahesh is in western-themed dress. Backup dancers are once again present here, and one of the songs is even shot in a studio. They just didn't fit into the film. But within these songs the music and choreography are really good. Rahul Dev is very menacing as the villain in the film.

During the end credits, bloopers from the film were shown, which I have not seen in an Indian film. They weren't extremely funny, but they are somewhat amusing.

Final verdict: This is a fun popcorn film to watch if you want to turn your brain off. It is a fun action thriller with a look and setting that hasn't been seen before in Indian films, though it is a ditto copy of American westerns. It wasn't hard for me, someone who doesn't know Telugu, to follow the plot without subtitles.

more reviews:

http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/ ... donga.html

http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/ ... donga.html

http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/ ... donga.html

official site http://www.takkaridonga.com





Edited By DragunR2 on July 13 2002 at 02:44