Punchline:
A Promising Crime Comedy That Gets Lost in Crude Jokes and Loud Narration
Storyline:
After the success of Little Hearts, Mouli Tanuj Prasanth returns with DNK, a crime comedy directed by debutant Sreenu Kambala. The story follows Eswar (Mouli), an engineering dropout who dreams of making quick money through cricket betting and online gaming. He falls in love with Deepu (Sushmitha Shetty), but his life takes a complicated turn when he loses nearly ₹10 lakh borrowed from her. With Deepu’s father demanding repayment, Eswar desperately searches for a way to arrange the money. His journey unexpectedly connects him to a gold shop robbery, leading to confusion, twists and unexpected consequences. Whether Eswar is involved in the robbery and how he escapes the situation form the rest of the story.
Positives:
Mouli Tanuj Prasanth delivers an energetic performance and attempts to entertain audiences with his natural comedy timing. The film’s basic crime-comedy concept has potential, while a few unexpected twists manage to generate curiosity. The Laughing Buddha sequence, introduced at the beginning and cleverly connected to the climax, stands out as one of the better elements. Veteran actors Ali and Raghubabu provide occasional comic relief, and a handful of situational comedy scenes work reasonably well.
Negatives:
The biggest drawback of DNK is its weak writing and excessive reliance on crude humour. Instead of offering fresh comedy, the director depends on double-meaning dialogues, outdated jokes and references to popular Telugu films. The comedy track involving a gay character feels unnecessary and stereotypical. Mouli’s forced mass elevations, slow-motion shots and punch dialogues appear artificial and fail to suit his natural screen presence. Sushmitha Shetty’s character lacks depth, while several supporting performances feel exaggerated. The second half struggles to maintain momentum, and the rushed climax further weakens the overall impact.
Technicalities:
Director Sreenu Kambala comes up with a promising crime-comedy concept but fails to develop it into an engaging screenplay. Sinjith Yerramilli’s background score is excessively loud, while the songs leave little impression. Suriya Balaji’s cinematography is adequate, and Sreedhar Sonpally’s editing works reasonably well in the first half but loses sharpness as the film progresses. Despite the backing of Mythri Movie Makers, the film lacks freshness in its presentation and execution.
Rating:
2.75/5
Final Verdict:
DNK is a disappointing crime comedy that fails to make the most of its interesting premise. Despite Mouli Tanuj Prasanth’s sincere efforts and a few engaging twists, the film suffers from weak storytelling, forced comedy, excessive movie references and unnecessarily loud presentation. The natural charm that made Little Hearts successful is largely missing here. With better writing and a more balanced approach, DNK could have been an entertaining crime comedy, but it ultimately turns into a tiresome experience.
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