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Dora (2017 film)

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Dora
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDoss Ramasamy
Produced byA. Sarkunam
Hitesh Jhabak
StarringNayanthara
CinematographyDinesh B. Krishnan
Edited byGopi Krishna
Music byVivek–Mervin
Production
companies
Distributed byAuraa Cinemas
Release date
  • 31 March 2017 (2017-03-31)
Running time
137 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Dora is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language supernatural horror thriller film directed by Doss Ramasamy and produced by A. Sarkunam. The film stars Nayanthara, alongside Thambi Ramaiah, Harish Uthaman and Sulile Kumar. It revolves around a woman who purchases a used car which turns out to be possessed and vengeful.

The film was announced in December 2015. Filming took place between March 2016 and November 2016. The film was released in theatres on 31 March 2017.

Plot

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The film opens with Pavalakkodi in the hospital and her father Vairakannu weeping for her misfortune. Later, the scene cuts to their futures.

Vairakkannu and Pavalakkodi live in a small house. Vairakannu is a single hardworking father who brought his only daughter Pavalakkodi up, and she takes care of him in his old age and does not wish to marry. They lead a happy life. Nearby in an apartment, three thieves enter a house and rob all the jewels from the lady, rape and kill her. To investigate this case, ACP Harish arrives at the site. He finds no clue about the men but does find a Rajasthani blanket in the house. Upon asking, the house owner and maids say nothing; therefore, the case leads to nothing.

The story moves to Vairakannu, who wishes to go to their family deity's temple in their town, for which they ask Pavalakkodi's aunt for a car to go there. Her aunt refuses to give them a car, and her husband tries to hit Vairakannu, for which Pavalakkodi speaks up. She challenges them that one day she too will open her startup call taxi and reach great heights. Back home, Vairakannu and Pavalakkodi gather money that they have saved and go buy a used Austin Cambridge.

The night after buying the car, Pavalakkodi wakes up hearing strange noises and goes to have a look at the car, where she sees nothing but a stray cat. In the morning, Vairakannu is fooled by a customer and is kept waiting. In the early night, he is taken to a graveyard and is left alone there, where the car stops at once. Vairakannu returns home and worries for his daughter. She then says that she would agree to marry a man who would stay at their house and take care of her father. Suddenly, the phone rings, and it is revealed that Pavalakkodi has received a marriage proposal from Harish. His parents like the girl, but Harish refuses to marry her. Pavalakkodi, in rage, challenges him that she would remain a virgin if he gets a girl who is more beautiful than her.

Later, Pavalakkodi gets an order for a Tirupati trip for 20 days. This time, she hires a driver who replaces the father and goes with the family to the trip. It is revealed that the man who sold some bedsheets nearby on the day of the incident is the real culprit, and Harish tries to catch him. It is shown that in the trip where the call taxi is going, the culprit also goes. Suddenly, the driver loses control of the car, and the car itself moves towards the criminal. The driver and the family get worried about the car's supernatural ability and ring up Pavalakkodi. She reaches the site and takes her car back. On her way, she too encounters the car's supernatural ability, and the car kills the victim and showcases the shadow of a dog. She then flees from the accident spot, but the car follows her. To her surprise, the car parks itself in her backyard and cleans the blood marks by itself with the wipers on. Upon asking a sorceress, she understands that the car is possessed by a dog's ghost which tries to communicate with Pavalakkodi.

Upon asking, the car takes her to the real owner, an old man in a villa. He narrates to her how his granddaughter (Aarthi) was connected to a dog called Dora. Aarthi was an orphan who adopted a street dog and named it Dora. She loved Dora a lot. When she was out with her grandfather, the same three men attacked them and snatched away all their gold. They raped and killed Aarthi and also hit Pavalakkodi, who tried to save them, which resulted in a blood clot in Pavalakkodi's heart. It is revealed that Aarthi was the one who donated her heart to Pavalakkodi and then died. But Dora after death possessed the car and believes that Aarthi lives on as Pavalakkodi and punishes the criminals in front of her. Pavalakkodi too takes revenge for the girl, but she rifts with Harish in the case. She finally manages to kill two others with the help of Dora and saves her father from Mukesh Yadav, who was the main culprit behind the girl's murder. Pavalakkodi and Dora drive to Mukesh's hideout. Mukesh and Pavalakkodi fight. Though she was initially losing, Dora manages to kill Mukesh and save Pavalakkodi from being raped by Mukesh. Pavalakkodi and Dora drive back home with all three criminals killed and finally avenged the girl's murder.

Cast

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Production

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In December 2015, A. Sarkunam was announced to be producing a film starring Nayanthara, which would be directed by his former assistant Dass Ramasamy.[1] In the same month, Thambi Ramaiah was signed to play Nayanthara's father.[2] The film began production in March 2016, with scenes involving Nayanthara and Harish Uthaman being shot across Chennai.[3]

The film began production untitled and briefly developed under the title of Tik Tik Tik,[4] before being titled Dora in July 2016.[5][6] Filming wrapped in November.[7] The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) gave the film an A certificate, an adults-only rating restriction, based on the horror content and violence. The filmmakers made cuts to attempted to have the film recertified, but the board did not change the rating.[8]

In early March 2017, Sridhar, a television screenwriter, accused Doss Ramasamy of plagiarising his script Alibabavum Arputha Carum, and threatened to take legal action against the makers of Dora.[9] Doss subsequently filed a complaint at the South Indian Film Writers Association. After reading both the scripts, the association declared that Dora was an original script and not a plagiarised one.[10]

Soundtrack

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Dora
Soundtrack album by
Vivek–Mervin
Released8 February 2017 (2017-02-08)
GenreFilm soundtrack
LabelSony Music
ProducerVivek–Mervin
Vivek–Mervin chronology
Pugazh
(2016) 		Dora
(2017) 		Gulaebaghavali
(2018)

The music was composed by duo Vivek–Mervin. The song "Vaazhavidu" was inspired by a phrase popularised by actor Ajith Kumar.[11] The soundtrack was released on 8 February 2017 through Sony Music.[12][13]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Enga Pora Dora"Mohan RajanMervin Solomon4:29
2."Vaazhavudu"Vignesh ShivanMervin Solomon4:39
3."Ra Ra Ra"Ku. KarthikAnirudh Ravichander3:36
4."Break Loose" (Instrumental)–– 
5."Run Baby Run Theme"Mc Akram, Mc RudeMc Akram, Mc Rude 
6."The Evil Within" (Instrumental)–– 
7."Search For The Truth" (Instrumental)–– 
8."This Is It" (Instrumental)–– 

Release

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Dora was released in theatres on 31 March 2017. Auraa Cinemas distributed the film in Tamil Nadu.[14] It had its television premiere on 17 September the same year on Zee Tamil.[15]

Critical reception

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Thinkal Menon from The Times of India gave it a 2.5/5 saying that it was "let down by the predictable screenplay and weak scenes that have enough loopholes".[16] Anupama Subramanian from Deccan Chronicle gave it a 2.5/5 and said that while "Nayanthara's terrific screen presence rules the film", "there are very little spooky moments".[17] Srivastan from India Today gave it 2/5 and said that it had "no memorable moment to ponder on after a tedious watch".[18] Karthik Kumar from Hindustan Times said that "this Nayanthara film drowns in its own mediocrity" and rated it 1/5.[19] In contrast, Baradwaj Rangan rated it 3.5/5, calling it "a surprisingly well-written (and emotionally solid) horror film whose heroine kicks real ass".[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Nayanthara to Act in Director Sargunam's Next Production". The New Indian Express. 2 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Thambi Ramaiah plays Nayanthara's dad in her next". The Times of India. 24 December 2015. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  3. ^ Jyothsna (7 March 2016). "MASS SCENES FOR NAYANTHARA". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  4. ^ Subramanian, Anupama (20 April 2016). "Nayanthara's film has a Kamal title!". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 20 February 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Nayanthara's next is 'Dora'". Sify. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Nayanthara is Dora now". Deccan Chronicle. 6 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ^ "நயன்தாராவின் 'டோரா' படப்பிடிப்பு நிறைவு" [Nayanthara's Dora wraps shooting]. Samayam (in Tamil). 11 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Nayanthara's Dora gets an 'A'". Deccan Chronicle. 23 March 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  9. ^ Karthik, Janani (9 March 2017). "Whose story is Dora?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Nayanthara's Dora cleared of plagiarism charges, to release on March 31". The Indian Express. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Ajith provides the inspiration for Dora's next single". The Times of India. 4 January 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Dora (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  13. ^ Karthik (12 February 2017). "Dora (Music review), Tamil – Vivek-Mervin". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Nayanthara's Dora script faces plagiarism charges". The News Minute. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  15. ^ "ஜீ தமிழில் நயன்தாராவின் டோரா" [Nayanthara's Dora on Zee Tamil]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 5 September 2017. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  16. ^ Menon, Thinkal (31 March 2017). "Dora Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  17. ^ Subramanian, Anupama (April 2017). "Dora movie review: Nayanthara's terrific screen presence rules the film". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  18. ^ Srivatsan (1 April 2017). "Dora movie review: When Nayanthara wanted to be a superstar". India Today. Archived from the original on 27 May 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  19. ^ Kumar, Karthik (31 March 2017). "Dora movie review: This Nayanthara film drowns in its own mediocrity". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  20. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (31 March 2017). "Dora Movie Review". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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