Dia (film)

Dia
Directed by	K. S. Ashoka
Written by	K. S. Ashoka
Produced by	D Krishna Chaitanya
Starring	Kushee Ravi Pruthvi Ambaar Dheekshith Shetty
Cinematography	Vishal Vittal Sourabh Waghmare
Edited by	Naveen Raj
Music by	B. Ajaneesh Loknath
Production company	Sri Swarnalatha Productions
Distributed by	KRG Studios
Release date	7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)
Running time	136 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Kannada

Dia is a 2020 Indian

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

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 auto 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

Background and production

Dia is K. S. Ashoka's second feature film. It was released seven years after his successful debut, the horror film 6-5=2 (2013).^[6] The film features Dheekshith Shetty, who starred in Naagini, in his Kannada cinema debut.^[7][8] The film also features Kushee Ravi, who starred in The Great Story of Sodabuddi (2016),^[9] and Tulu actor Pruthvi Ambaar, who had previously starred in Karvva (2016), Rajaru (2017), and DK Boss (2019).^[10] A few scenes of the film were shot at Padukere Beach.^[11]

Soundtrack

B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed Dia's score. The film was originally supposed to feature two songs,^[12] but 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".^[14]

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".^[6]

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.^[15] Asianet News, on the other hand, praised Kushee, as well as the screenplay, but noted that the beginning was slow.^[16] 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".^[14] 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".^[17]

A critic from 123telugu rated the film three-and-a-half out of five and wrote that "Overall, Dia is one of the most well-made romantic dramas in the last few years in south cinema. The elegant romance, solid performances, heartbreak, and heavy emotions will surely impress you big time".^[18] A critic from Behindwoods rated the film three-and-a-quarter out of five stars and wrote that "Overall, the film takes you on a bitter sweet ride for more than two hours, and leaves you wanting more".^[19]

Box office

This film was one of the few commercially successful Kannada films in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[20]

"Dia has given me an identity, and today, film industries across languages are aware that a certain K S Ashoka exists. Moreover, it's a pleasure to know that the entire world watched the film and talked about its artistic aspects."

—  Ashoka on the film's box office success, 2020^[21]

Accolades

Release and remakes

After Dia's success, it was re-released on 14 February 2021.^[11] 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.^[27] It was also released on Amazon Prime.^[28] It was remade in Telugu as Dear Megha (2021),^[29] 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.^[30][31]

References

External links

• Dia at
  IMDb