Dange (film)

Dange /  Por   is a 2024 Indian action drama film directed by Bejoy Nambiar. The film was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil languages and stars Harshvardhan Rane and Ehan Bhat in lead roles in Hindi version, while Arjun Das and Kalidas Jayaram portray lead roles in Tamil version. Nikita Dutta, Sanchana Natarajan and TJ Bhanu appear in supporting roles.

Dange/Por was released on 1 March 2024 to mixed reviews from critics.

Premise
Yuvaraj "Yuva" joins St. Martin's university for studies and learns that his childhood friend-turned-foe Xavier "Zee"/Prabhu Selvan is the senior student in the college. Yuva, who shares bitter memories with Zee/Prabhu, locks horns with Zee/Prabu and sets out exact vengeance.

Hindi version

 * Nakul Roshan Sahdev
 * Vinit Mainkar as Hostel owner

Tamil version

 * Dev Ramnath as Arjun
 * Bala Suresh Babu as Bala
 * Vinod Sagar as Dean
 * Siddharth Menon as Akilan
 * Mervyn Rozario as Prabhu's friend
 * Thomas Mathew as Bald Senior
 * Vikkals Sibi as Student
 * Monish Elamaran as Young Xavier

Soundtrack
The musical score was composed by Modern Tape Scores (Sachidanand Sankaranarayanan and Harish Venkat) and Gaurav Godkhindi, while the songs were composed by Sanjith Hegde and Dhruv Visvanath.

Release
The film was released on 1 March 2024 in Hindi and Tamil languages.

Reception
Dange/Por received mixed reviews from critics with praise for its acting, cinematography, technical aspects, action sequences and music, but criticized the excess characters and sub-plots.

Dange
Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Much like Bejoy Nambiar’s previous works, Dange is marked with a distinct style, voice, colour and texture. Its biggest strength lies in its fresh appeal and treatment." Dhaval Roy of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Despite decent performances and atmosphere, Dange's plot meanders, often losing focus on the point of it all, which makes the direction seem overindulgent." Rohit Bhatnagar of The Free Press Journal gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Dange is enjoyable, but highly recommended for a one-time watch." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave 3/5 stars and wrote "There’s a raw energy to Dange. It’s another film celebrating hyper-masculinity, which seems to be the flavour of the season. Watch it for a glimpse of what happens beneath the facade of respectability associated with institutes catering to higher education." Rahul Desai of Film Companion wrote "The craft is so proudly visible in director Bejoy Nambiar’s film that it overwhelms everything else."

Por
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "There are a lot of characters and subplots in Por, and it's quite natural that the film isn't able to justify all of them." Narayani. M of The New Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "It’s a cinematic rollercoaster ride, and you would want to stand up and clap for its technical brilliance. Yet amidst the exhilarating ride, there’s a lingering sense of disappointment as the narrative fails to rise to the occasion." Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "‘Por’ features some fascinating ideas, decent performances and looks stylish, but the sub-plots don’t come together cohesively resulting in a predictable drama that’s all over the place." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Por is a film that goes down fighting to win over the audience with its youth story. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have the spunk of Arjun Das nor the fury of Kalidas Jayaram to keep us engaged and invested."