Dhootha Web Series Review - Telugu (2023)

Webseries- Dhootha (2023)

Director- Vikram K Kumar

Production- Sharrath Marar

Cast- Naga Chaitanya, Prachi Desai, Parvathy, Sathyapriya & Others

Music & Score- Ishaan Chabbra

Cinematography- Mikolaj Sygula

Streaming Platform- Amazon Prime Video

Release Date- 01/12/2023

Language- Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam & Kannada

Rating- A (Adult Content, Foul Language & Violence)

4/5

Truly Gripping & Intriguing

01. Dhootha in & all.

The 'Naga Chaitanya' starring OTT debut series directed by the talented Vikram K Kumar is really a super eye feast to all those thriller or eerie genre lovers. It's a very uniquely & neatly executed supernatural or paranormal webseries with ample nail biting scenes.

Dhootha is all about a journalist cum chief editor officer Sagar Avadhoori(Naga Chaitanya) of a well branded editorial - Samaachaar. And everything turns upside down with the entry of a suspicious supernatural power who keeps giving him all the cautions before hand that happens in his life. The news gets to him in a unique way through an old newspaper piece that has news related absolutely to him & his family.

Sagar goes through various troubles & pains to know how & why he's getting those strange pieces of newspaper cuts that have information related to him & only to him. The story gets interesting & interesting with entry of each & every other character in the series. To unlock the experience or suspense watch the series. 

02. The supernatural element & the director's brilliance. 

The series has many similarities to the popular film 13B, but no where it's a plagiarism. The content is rich & varied in it's own. Vikram K Kumar brings in a eerie movement without actually showing any ghost or any such paranormal activity which has to be applauded whole heartedly. I dunno how brave he is to get in such content, but gets in all the ducks in a row.

At a juncture when the suspense is unlocked on why so & so things have happened, one might feel it is a routine or a silly concept, but those who have such a thought should quickly make their minds & understand why such & such things are repeatedly said! The director wants to make a noise, a strong announcement about his theme & message, but has choosen this typical way of telling his story to the audience in his manner & according to me , he has successfully delivered his content with very few or negligible flaws. Hats off to his directional skills & thankyou for such a nice concept. 

03. About the Intriguing things, plus points & performances. 

Right at the very beginning itself, the story is on point. It keeps only talking about content in every frame & no deviations at all. The very first three episodes are just seat edge thrillers, the sinister scenes in the ending of every episode is breathtaking. Few death scenes have been shot with excellence. Am sure, if once your into the plot & story, it is too difficult to come out, the series flow appears too good. 

The rich cinematography is rock solid,every frame enhanced the flavour of the genre. BGM score by Ishaan too is praiseworthy. 

Coming to performances, Naga Chaitanya & Parvathy get meaty roles & also give their best. Naga Chaitanya being a star hero, trying these out of box actions should be lauded. Felt a little more effort should be needed from his end for this character but still it was not at all bad, I mean he just got fit into the puzzle. 

04. The theme & message that this series presents to us. 

It is always a known thing that one must have ethical standards & principles in their professional services which ought to build a stronger nation & it becomes an edict in some professions like Politics, Journalism, Army, Govt Services etc. But, when people take it for granted & then use them for their personal growth or any other quests or wants, it is a tough time for the people of such nation to progress further. So, being in such a profession, it should remind you of the responsibility, accountability & fame that it automatically comes with the chair but it should not stimulate the person in authority to misuse his power for unworthy wants & needs. Hence, the director tries to bring in this message along with the consequences that one has to face if not followed accordingly. 

We absolutely know that it is a fantasy film that is concentrating on things that never happen despite such high professional disobedience in the society, but still it's like a wake up call to all those malicious people to change atleast now. According to me, it's a great series with best writings ever. 

05. Flaws

Definitely every film has it's own flaws & this too has it's own. Through the mid way almost in 4,5 episodes the pace drastically falls down by simply exaggerating things. Editing could have been a little more better. The runtime was intended to be lengthy otherwise doesn't need such a long duration to tell what the content was ought to. 

The director is not only intelligent but also smart. He has set of nodes & interlinking points in the entire series the he keeps on connecting only them, it is not any out of box idea or twists. At a point where whole suspense is unlocked we will get a doubt if the world is too round & small that the story for generations happens between only these families or what?! Every character in present has a link to the family in past, this is where logic is barely alive. But, let's appreciate that the director has talent to atleast make the audience believe that it happened in such a way & that should not trouble you much. 

06. Finally!?

I just loved it. If you are not a serious fan of all these mystery or supernatural genres like me, but still trust me you'll love this. Many felt the flashback to be a big blow to the film, but in my opinion that's the heart of the series. It just explains why so & so things are happening in all the character's lives, it shows why professional ethics & standards are way important. 

So, just experience the magic that unfolds while you watch it.