Dia (film)

Last updated

Dia
Dia (2020 Kannada film) film poster.jpeg
Directed by K. S. Ashoka
Written byK. S. Ashoka
Produced byD Krishna Chaitanya
Starring Kushee Ravi
Pruthvi Ambaar
Dheekshith Shetty
CinematographyVishal Vittal
Sourabh Waghmare
Edited byNaveen Raj
Music by B. Ajaneesh Loknath
Production
company
Sri Swarnalatha Productions
Distributed byKRG Studios
Release date
  • 7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)
Running time
136 minutes [1]
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

Dia is a 2020 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. S. Ashoka, and produced by D Krishna Chaitanya under Sri Swarnalatha Productions. It stars Kushee Ravi, Pruthvi Ambaar and Dheekshith Shetty, with a score by B. Ajaneesh Loknath. It was released on 7 February 2020 and was a box office success. It was re-released in 2021.

Contents

The plot follows the titular character who falls for her crush Rohit. When they get into an accident and Rohit dies, Dia tries to move on with another man named Adi only to find out that Rohit is still alive.

Dia was released on 7 February 2020 and was a success. The film was remade in Telugu as Dear Megha (2021), in Hindi as Dear Dia (2022) and in Marathi as Sari (2023).

Plot

Dia Swaroop, an introverted biotechnology college student who lives in Bengaluru, has a crush on Rohit. She does not express her feelings for him before he moves out of the country. Three years later, Dia encounters Rohit in Mumbai, where she has moved and is now working. The two gradually begin to develop a bond, and Rohit proposes his love for her. One night, as they are returning home from a movie, they get into an accident after a car hits them. When Dia wakes up in the hospital and asks for Rohit, her father's friend tells her that Rohit has died. Unable to accept Rohit's death, Dia becomes severely depressed and leaves to Bengaluru, where she decides to kill herself at a railway crossing. Facing an oncoming train, she is interrupted by a phone call from Adi, who has retrieved Dia's bag from a thief. Annoyed, she tells him to keep it and not to call her again. Dia and Adi then run into one another several times, and Dia reveals her past to him. Adi charms Dia out of her depression; they become friends and eventually fall in love.

Dia returns to Mumbai, where she is shocked to find Rohit waiting for her. Rohit explains that he was declared brain dead, and that it was uncertain that he would regain consciousness, causing her father to tell his friend to lie to her with the hope that she would move on. Dia calls Adi and tells him that Rohit is alive. Adi, heartbroken, tells Dia that she should be happy with Rohit. Despite his mother forbidding him to see Dia, Adi goes to see her one last time. He finds Dia disheartened and Rohit happy, wishes them well and returns home. While away, Adi's mother has died from a heart attack, and he learns that she could have been saved had someone been there. Meanwhile, Dia confesses her college love, how she thought he died and how she met Adi to Rohit. A distressed Rohit tells her to return to Adi so that she will be happy. Elated, Dia goes to Adi's home and finds an auto driver who tells her that he is missing. She and the driver search for him until another auto driver reveals that Adi has gone to the railroad crossing where she attempted to kill herself. Adi has decided to kill himself at the railway crossing because he feels immense guilt over his mother's death and believes that he will be unable to live without his mother and Dia. He prays to God one last time for Dia's happiness and waits for the train. Dia reaches him and calls out; Adi turns to her, surprised, and is hit by a train as a startled Dia watches.

Cast

Production

K. S. Ashoka's initially worked on this film's script before making his directorial debut with the low budget horror film 6-5=2 (2013) but left the film due to budget constraints. [6] Production for the film officially started in 2016. [7] The film featured then newcomers Kushee Ravi, Pruthvi Ambaar, and Dheekshith Shetty, who went on to star in various other works prior to the film's release. [6] [8] [9]

Ashoka broke up every dialogue of the film into svaras. [10] The film was shot at various places in Karnataka including Bangalore, Karwar, Mangalore, and Udupi District (Kapu and Padukere Beach) apart from Hyderabad and Mumbai. [11] [12]

Soundtrack

Dia
Soundtrack album by
Released2020
Recorded2020
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length3:35
B. Ajaneesh Loknath chronology
Avane Srimannarayana
(2019)
Dia
(2020)
Gentlemen
(2020)

B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed Dia's score. Ashoka decided to use an instrumental score with no songs, similar to European romance films. [13] The film was promoted with a song, "Soul of Dia" due to the producer's demand although Ashoka was against using songs since he wanted to break the stereotype that every Indian romantic film has to have songs. [14] [6]

Track list
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Soul of Dia"Dhananjay Ranjan Chinmayi, Sanjith Hegde 3:35

Critical reception

Reviewing Dia for The Times of India , Sunayana Suresh gave the film four out of five stars, praising the realism of the story, the three main performances, the cinematography, and the score. Suresh noted that the story centers on the external and internal experiences and dialogues of the eponymous female protagonist. Suresh said that "the film is for those who want to experience cinema in a brave new style sans the commercial staples". [1] In a review for The Hindu , S. Shiva Kumar praised the direction, acting, writing and score, but criticised the conclusion as abrupt. Kumar said: "The acting is first-rate particularly Kushee and Pruvthvi. Pavithra Lokesh is all grace and poise in a beautifully written role". [15]

In the Deccan Herald , Vivek M V praised the direction, score, and Shetty and Ambar's acting, while criticising the plot as predictable, as well as Kushee's performance. [16] Asianet News , on the other hand, praised Kushee, as well as the screenplay, but noted that the beginning was slow. [17] For The New Indian Express , A. Sharadhaa rated the film four out of five stars, praising the screenplay, direction, performances, music and cinematography. Sharadhaa said: "With a skillfully told love story - one that is not generic - the director creates a unique kind of euphoria with heartbreaks". [18] Manoj Kumar R., also writing for The New Indian Express, said that although the film's title is "dia" (transl.lamp), the film is "dark, gloomy and a tragedy of errors". [19]

A critic from 123telugu rated the film three-and-a-half out of five and wrote that called Dia "one of the most well-made romantic dramas in the last few years in south [Indian] cinema" and praised the performances, emotions and romance in the film. [20] A critic from Behindwoods rated the film three-and-a-quarter out of five stars and wrote that the film's journey was a "bitter sweet ride". [21]

Box office

This film was one of the few commercially successful Kannada films in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. [22] Ashoka expressed joy of the film's reach across different audiences through OTT platforms. [23]

Accolades

Award [lower-alpha 1] Date of ceremony [lower-alpha 2] CategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Chandanavana Film Critics Academy Awards21 February 2021Best FilmD. Krishna ChaitanyaWon [24]
[25]
[26]
Best Director K. S. Ashoka Nominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
Best DialogueWon
Best Actor Pruthvi Ambaar Nominated
Best Actress Kushee Ravi Won
Best Supporting Actor Dheekshith Shetty Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Pavithra Lokesh Nominated
Best Music Director B. Ajaneesh Loknath Nominated
Best Background Music [lower-alpha 3] Won
Best LyricistsDhananjay Ranjan – (for "Soul of Dia")Nominated
Best Female Singer Chinmayi – (for "Soul of Dia")Won
Best VFXNominated
Best EditingNaveen RajNominated
South Indian International Movie Awards 19 September 2021 Best Film – Kannada Sri Swarnalatha ProductionsNominated [27]
Best Director – Kannada K. S. Ashoka Nominated
Best Actress – Kannada Kushee Ravi Nominated
Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Dheekshith Shetty Nominated
Best Male Debut – Kannada Pruthvi Ambaar Won
Best Music Director – Kannada B. Ajaneesh Loknath Won
Best Lyricist – Kannada Dhananjay Ranjan – (for "Soul of Dia")Won
Best Female Playback Singer – Kannada Chinmayi – (for "Soul of Dia")Nominated
Best Cinematographer – Kannada Vishal Vittal, Sourabh WaghmareWon
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Critics Choice) – Kannada Kushee Ravi Won
Filmfare Awards South 9 October 2022 Best Film D Krishna ChaitanyaNominated [28]
Best Actress Kushee Ravi Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Chinmayi Sripaada for "Soul of Dia"Nominated
  1. Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
  2. Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
  3. also for Gentleman .

Rerelease and remakes

After Dia's success, it was re-released on 14 February 2021. [12] It was initially supposed to re-release on 23 October 2020 with the new version reported to include the song "Soul of Dia" and have a different climax. [29] It was also released on Amazon Prime. [30] It was remade in Telugu as Dear Megha (2021), [31] in Hindi as Dear Dia (2022) and in Marathi as Sari (2023). Both the Hindi and Marathi remakes were directed by Ashoka and featured Ambaar reprising his role of Adi. [32] [33]

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