Dacoit Review: This Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur And Anurag Kashyap Starrer Shocks You With Its Plots Within The Subplots, But...

Director: Shaneil Deo

Cast: Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur, Anurag Kashyap, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Atul Kulkarni, Zayn Marie Khan, Kamakshi Bhaskarla

Where: In theatres 

Rating: 2 stars

There have been many films made about lawless badlands orchestrating a symphony of chaos. This week’s release, Dacoit, also treads in a similar territory. Will it manage to grab and ‘steal’ your attention, or will Dacoit prove to be a ‘duck-out’ at the box office is what we will be finding out. 

The film starts at a time when the world was battling the deadly Covid pandemic. Amid this tension and chaos, a love story exists of Saraswati / Juliet (Mrunal Thakur) and Haridas / Hari (Adivi Sesh). One day, an incident takes place which triggers Hari to kill Juliet’s brother, which becomes the reason for the former being jailed. 

What was the reason for the trigger, and what stand does his Juliet/ Saraswati take at the police station are just two of the many intriguing questions that get revealed as the film progresses. 

Actors' Performance

Since it's an author-backed role, the film rides heavily on the shoulders of Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur (in that order), who try their level best to deliver. But, sadly, the film’s loose narrative envelopes their craft. 

Even though Adivi Shesh’s sincere approach towards his craft comes across in the film, there are places where his character simply falls flat. His on-screen chemistry with Mrunal seems a bit semi-baked in a few places. One just hopes that he chooses the right film whenever he decides to make his debut in Bollywood. 

As for Mrunal Thakur, there are places where she surprises with her performance. But, just like Adivi, she too can be seen struggling in emotional scenes. And the reason for the same is the convoluted screenplay, which keeps jumping at regular intervals! 

Anurag Kashyap surprises with a positive performance, which is endearing in a bunch of places. It's really sad to see veteran actors Prakash Raj and Atul Kulkarni being given half-baked characters and lesser screen time. Zayn Marie Khan and Kamakshi Bhaskarla just about manage to do justice to their respective roles. 

Direction, Music and Aesthetics

After being behind the camera in films like Kshanam, Goodachari, Nishabdam, and Wild Dog, Shaneil Deo steps into the world of direction with Dacoit. Sadly, though, he fails to pass the litmus test as a filmmaker. Besides directing, he has also partnered with Adivi Sesh in the film’s story and screenplay… the two main aspects which eventually become the reason for the film to become a drag-fest at many places. 

There are many aspects in the film which end up proving to be a challenge to the believability aspects. Scenes like the entire hospital premise, the film’s lead pair’s money heist, Adivi’s character being trigger happy as per his convenience and characters wearing masks as per their convenience … and that too at a time when Covid was at its peak… to name a few.  

On the positive front, Danush Bhaskar’s cinematography is decent. His balancing of the high-stakes tension with deep emotional resonance is worth mentioning. 

The film’s editing (Kodati Pavan Kalyan) proves to be another drawback of the film. In an attempt to balance action and romance, the film’s editing ends up playing the villain (mostly in the second half). 

The film’s music (Bheems Ceciroleo) is strictly passe and clearly shows the need for and lack of a hook track. Even an item number could not save the film. The reason for most of the aforementioned can be attributed to the lack of proper publicity of the film and its music. The film’s background score (Gyaani) is decent and is in sync with the film’s narrative.

FPJ Verdict 

As if the lack of film’s publicity was not enough of an uphill challenge to gather audiences, the film’s overall story with endless plots and subplots might make the film even more challenging to survive at the box office. 

Published on: Friday, April 10, 2026, 08:33 AM IST