Dandupalya (film)

The story revolves around a girl, Lakshmi (Pooja Gandhi), leader of the gang, who spots houses where women are alone. She goes to the house asking for water. When the women go inside, the entire gang led by Krishna (Makarand Deshpande) and followed by Hanuma (Ravi Kale), Thimma (Jaidev), Muniya (Karisubbu) and others enter the house and kill the women.

Krishna takes a thrill in slitting the throats as he is fond of the noise that comes out from the throat when blood oozes out. Then they loot the house and escape. They are all shabbily dressed, rough and tough. Inspector Chalapathi (P. Ravishankar) takes up the challenge of arresting them. Thimma was carrying stolen Temple ornaments. He was rejected by the jeweller, while getting back trapped by Ravi Shankar and all of them would be arrested by police and taken to court.

• Pooja Gandhi as Lakshmi
• Raghu Mukherjee
• Priyanka Kothari as Susheela, Raghu's Wife
• P. Ravi Shankar as Inspector Chalapathi
• Makarand Deshpande as Krishna
• Ravi Kale as Hanuma
• Jayadev Mohan as Koti Thimma
• Karisubbu as Chikk muniya
• Muniraju as Munikrishna
• Yathiraj as Gang Member
• Danny Kuttappa as Gang Member
• Petrol Prasanna as Gang Member
• Sudharani as wife of Inspector Chalapathi
• Bhavya as Bhavya, Raghu's Sister
• Doddanna as an Advocate Bhat
• Ramesh Bhat as Susheela's father
• Chitra Shenoy as Susheela's mother
• Srinivasa Murthy as Lawyer
• Harish Rai as Inspector Prathap
• Prathik
• Bullet Prakash as Muniya mestry
• Pradeep Gadhadhar
• Edakallu Gudda Chandrashekhar as Judge
• Sanketh Kashi

Pooja Gandhi was asked to do the female lead in this film as Lakshmi, is a leader of an infamous notorious gang. Reluctantly she agreed to do the role, because of potential negative talk in Kannada film industry resulting in loss of her image portraying such characters.[15][16][17] The film was the witness for Pooja Gandhi's mega comeback and which was critically and commercially a big success and brought back Pooja Gandhi into stardom through it. Gandhi received an immense critical appraisal by both critics and the audience, and she has received several awards for her performance as Lakshmi.[18][19]

The film was criticised by social group Bahujan Samaj Horata Samiti, who claimed that its content was offensive. They objected specifically to the film's portrayal of women. Further controversy followed when it was revealed that actress Pooja Gandhi would appear topless in the film.[6][20]

After the release of the movie, Ambedkar Kranthi Sena activists demonstrated in Bengaluru against the film's "glorification of anti-social activities".[21]

"According to the dictionary, nudity means that you are not covered with a single item of clothing from head to toe. But in this scene, I have worn a sari and I am trying to cover my body, except for my back". says Gandhi about her controversial scene in the film[22]

The film was certified an "A" by the Central Board of Film Certification. It was released across Karnataka on 29 June 2012 with the title name as Dandupalya.[23] However, the Telugu and Tamil versions were released one year later, on 25 Jan 2013 and 24 May 2014 respectively.[24][25][26]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Times of India
Bangalore Mirror
One India
Deccan Herald
Chitraloka
Indian Express
Deccan Chronicle
Vijaya Karnataka
International Business Times
The Hindu

The film opened to mostly positive reviews from the critics and audience.[27]

DNA praising the performance of Gandhi said viewers should not "miss out on Pooja’s performance or... find out how this notorious gang was caught by the daring police inspector, Chalapathi. And if you already have watched it, well you now have the sequel to look forward to."[28][29]

Rediff.com rated the film 3/5 and said that Pooja Gandhi "walks away with acting honours. She is a stunner with her vain looks sans makeup throughout the movie and she has lived her role exceptionally well... Ravishankar as the cop is effective... Makrand Deshpande as one of the kingpins of the gang is superb."[30]

The Times of India awarded the film 3/5, praising the performances, "Pooja Gandhi walks away with full honours... Makarand Deshapande is amazing. Ravi Kale is brilliant. Ravishankar gives life to his role of police inspector."[31]

Chitraloka wrote, "Gandhi makes a strong come back like Vidya Balan in Bollywood. The 'Male girl' took risk like the subdued and simplistic Vidya Balan to take a stunning turn in her choice of roles... Pooja took a calculated risk in accepting a role in Dandupalya that is tailor made for Vamps. But the risk seems to be paying off handsomely as her performance in the film is being appreciated and her stature as a dependable actress in the Box office has also risen."[32]

Filmibeat stated, "The actors in the film amazingly perform in their roles. Firstly, Pooja Gandhi is the lifesaver of the film. For all those, who criticised her for not being a good actress, do watch the film to see the other side of Pooja. The way she smokes beedis, sitting and mouthing the dialogues have to be praised. Her entire body language is amazingly excellent and her costume compliment [sic] each other. Last but not least, her skin show is a treat for masses."[33]

Business Standard stated that the film "is powered by some stellar performances. Pooja Gandhi as the leader of the gang is brilliant and extremely confident in her role. While some may typecast her performance as cheap and unwelcoming, I believe it takes guts for a regular heroine to shed her image and agree to play such a gritty part. She definitely deserves special mention for proving cliches wrong. Let's not forget some equally amazing contribution from Makarand Deshpande and Ravi Kale. Ravi Shankar gives life to his role of police inspector, while others in their respective parts outshine each other."[34]

The film, along with its dubbed versions collected over ₹40 crore[3] domestically against a production budget of ₹3 crore,[5] and went on to cross over 100-days in multiple centres.[9]

A sequel to the film was announced in July 2014. Part Dandupalya 2 began production on 24 March 2016, and it was released on July 14, 2017. Srinivas Raju directed the film, which again stars Pooja Gandhi. Arjun Janya was the music director and the cinematography was performed by Venkat Prasad.[45][46][10]

The film Dandupalya 3 was shot simultaneously during the Part 2 filming,[47] while the second schedule of shooting was held from April 2017. Initially planned to release within a week after the Part 2 release, the film however, was pushed to release on 2 March 2018.[48]

The film brought instant fame to Makarand Deshpande in Kannada film industry, and also he was nominated for 2nd South Indian International Movie Award and Bangalore Times Film Award for best actor in a negative role for his performance in the film as Krishna.[49]

• Dandupalya 2
• Dandupalya 3

• Dandupalya at IMDb