DD Next Level review: Few gags aside, Santhanam's film is mostly torture

India Today

16-05-2025

If anyone who follows movies says that horror comedies are a thing of the past, show them the Tamil film slate. Almost every two weeks, a horror comedy takes over the screens. Whether it lives up to the horror or comedy genre is debatable. This week, we have Santhanam's 'DD Next Level', the fourth film in the 'Dhilluku Dhuddu' franchise. Is it a great addition to the franchise? Let's find out!advertisement'DD Next Level's premise is fascinating, especially because it includes a film critic. Krishna aka Kissa 47 (Santhanam) is a film critic on YouTube, who uses rap to share his views. He gets called to a special screening along with his family. When he reaches the venue, he feels that something is off and returns. Upon returning, he finds out that his family, including his mother, father and sister, are already seated inside a theatre.The haunted theatre, occupied by the ghost named Hitchock Irudhayaraj (Selvaraghavan), poses a challenge to Santhanam, who, along with his family, gets sucked into the film running inside the theatre. But, the only change is that his family members now play outlandish characters who don't recognise Kissa. The film critic now has to fight with the mystery killers and ghosts in the film to save his family and girlfriend Aasini (Geethika Tiwary). advertisementDirector Prem Anand and Santhanam's team deserve applause for the concept they tried to incorporate in 'DD Next Level'. It has so many layers. It's a horror comedy. It's a meta movie. It's a funny critique of film critics. So much potential, isn't it? But, it's not milked entirely. This great concoction gives way to a hilarious stretch (approximately 25 minutes) in the first half.Santhanam is in his prime form during this episode. From making fun of film reviewers to sharp digs at YouTubers-cum-journalists who double up as gossip-mongers, the film touches upon all things funny that rings closer to home in media circles. In a funny line, Santhanam goes, 'don't crack a male chauvinist joke'.Director Gautham Vasudev Menon plays police officer Ragavan (Kamal Haasan's character from his film 'Vettaiyadu Vilayaadu'). GVM makes a spoof of his own creations, 'Kaakha Kaakha', among others, which are some genuinely funny moments in 'DD Next Level'.Just when you settle in and think that you are in for a fun ride, the film nosedives into a deep pit that we, as audiences, have no way to crawl out of.What follows after the interval is a stack of gags about farts and poop, making it all look redundant. Though the film is a little over two hours long, the second half makes you feel like you are trapped inside the film for six hours. It also undoes the fun the first half brings in. That is also the moment where you feel like the makers decided to go for the lowest hanging fruits to just get to the climax.Santhanam's 'DD Next Level' is a film that showed promise, but dropped the ball after the initial high it gave.2 out of 5 for 'DD Next Level'.