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Versatile actor JD Chakravarthy has now made his OTT debut with the Telugu series Dayaa directed by Pavan Sadineni. Ramya Nambessan, Eesha Rebba, Josh Ravi, Vishnu Priyaa, and Babloo Prithiveeraj played other vital roles. The show is currently streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. Let’s see how it is.

Story:

Dayaa, a.k.a Dayakar (JD Chakravarthy), works as a freezer van driver to make ends meet. He has a pregnant wife, Alivelu (Eesha Rebba), for whom he toils hard. One day Dayaa finds a dead body inside his van. Dayaa gets shaken by this and takes his assistant Prabha’s (Josh Ravi) help to deal with the situation. They both find out that it is renowned journalist Kavitha’s (Ramya Nambessan) corpse. How did the incident change Dayaa’s life? What did he do next? Who killed Kavitha? How did her body land in the van that Dayaa drives? This forms part of the crux of the story.

Plus Points:

Dayaa is one of the rarest Telugu shows that has got many solid characters. The writing is terrific, as each character has their own goal, and this makes the show interesting. The way all these characters cross paths is superbly shown. Writer-director Pavan Sadineni has etched each character pretty well and created a good drama.

The latter half of the series is highly engaging and moves at a quick pace. This is where most of the drama and action takes place. We get to see solid transformations of key characters and some whistle-worthy moments. Shravan Bharadwaj’s background score is splendid and lifts the impact considerably in many scenes.

Every actor gave their best and competed with each other, but it is JD Chakravarthy who stands out. The versatile actor has hit it out of the park with his outstanding performance. His character has got different shades, and JD Chakravarthy aced it to perfection. The actor’s body language and dialogue delivery are fantastic such that one can’t stop raving about him. To sum up, JD Chakravarthy makes a solid OTT debut.

Ramya Nambessan’s role is well-designed, and the actress gave a superlative performance. As a journalist who wants to fight for the truth no matter what, Ramya performed it to the tee. Vishnu Priyaa and Josh Ravi have got significant roles, and they did a fair job. Eesha Rebba did well, but we will get to see more of her in the second season.

Babloo Prithiveeraj is fine as a politician. Nanda Gopal, who was recently seen in New Sense, will blow away the minds with his masterful performance. One more best thing about the show is its climax. It has many cliffhangers that will eagerly make one wait for the second season. It doesn’t seem like the show was extended just to have another season, but the story really demands it.

Minus Points:

The world of Dayaa is shown well initially, but the problems start after the main point is established. The pacing is very slow in a few episodes, and the editing team could have trimmed a few sequences to make things even more interesting and create tension among the viewers.

It is only from the fifth episode things start falling into place. The team opted for a non-linear screenplay in the first few episodes, and this aspect could have been shown in an even better manner. This particular style chosen by the team to present the story is problematic initially, and it grows on us over the end.

Technical Aspects:

Shravan Bharadwaj’s background score is superb and is one of the biggest assets of the series. Special mention to the sound design for not missing out on even the minute details. The cinematography by Vivek Kalepu adds solid value to the show. The editing is good in the last few episodes. The production values are superb.

Coming to the director, Pavan Sadineni, he did a good job with the series. He created a gripping drama from the mid portions. The way all the characters intertwine is well shown, and the series also has some wonderful dialogues. Pavan Sadineni extracted the best out of his artists, and the ending is impressive. But on the flip side, the pacing could have been faster.

Verdict:

On the whole, Dayaa is a gripping crime drama that has got layered characters and solid performances from the whole cast. Director Pavan created a good drama around the characters and infused clap-worthy moments in the last few episodes. The background score enhances the viewing experience, and the series has many cliffhangers. But on the other hand, a few episodes are slow-paced, and things become slightly underwhelming here. Nonetheless, Dayaa is a good watch this weekend.

123telugu.com Rating: 3.25/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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