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Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Writers: Neil Julian Balthazar, Mithila Hegde, Bejoy Nambiar
Divided into multiple chapters, the 2024 Bollywood movie “Dange” starts off a fun story about struggling medical student Zee (Harshvardhan Rane) failing in his final thesis presentation for the fifth time, and then evolves into a chaotic rivalry between him and fresher Yuva (Ehan Bhat) against the backdrop of their college festival. Another significant subplot involves the political rivalry between Gayatri (TJ Bhanu), who challenges the aspiring political leader Siddhi (Zoa Morani), for the position of general secretary by introducing another candidate to run against her.
Set in Goa, “Dange” also explores another intriguing theme – the use of psychedelic drugs to treat depression, which is also the focus of Zee’s final thesis. His close friend Rishika (Nikita Dutta) conducts experiments with drugs to prove their positive effects, while simultaneously gaining a reputation as the college’s top ‘dealer’. Essentially, “Dange” tackles too many themes and becomes a messy hotpot within the first half-hour of the film. From caste-based discrimination, college politics, bullying, blackmail, suicide, drugs, romance, senior-junior conflicts, and more, the creators cram one issue after another into this film. While some of its subplots are interesting, they are treated in a formulaic manner, with emotional clichés slowing down the pace and making it challenging to watch.
All the actors in “Dange” deliver convincing performances, even though half of them do not quite pass for college students. The cinematography effectively captures the energetic, vibrant essence of campus life, particularly in the latter half, during a major student festival on campus – its packed with that are brimming with colorful celebrations. The soundtrack doesn’t feature any stand-out song numbers, but they are passable.
The climax is absolute pandemonium, quite literally, featuring a lot of student violence and mayhem, which is somewhat expected from a movie titled “Dange”. If there’s one thing Bejoy Nambiar and his team manage to do well in this film, it’s keeping things dynamic right up to the end. It’s half-predictable, half-surprising, and fully chaotic. If you’re in the mood for a madcap campus-themed film to watch on the weekend, you might want to give it a go.
You can stream “Dange” on Netflix.
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