DNA (2025), had heart but lost direction

DNA (2025), starring Atharvaa and Nimisha Sajayan, is a film that deals with an emotional subject—newborn theft and how it devastates the lives of the parents. The core plot is simple but touching. A few scenes do succeed in striking the right emotional chords. But unfortunately, the overall impact is weakened by a stretched preamble and a screenplay that meanders far too much. I genuinely wanted to like this film more, but it falls short, and for that, Mangoidiots gives it a Raw rating.

Atharvaa plays Anand, a young man grappling with addiction after a painful breakup. Nimisha Sajayan as Divya is someone coping with a form of borderline personality disorder. The two get married, settle into a happy routine, and soon have a baby boy. What happens next—when their baby is switched—is the heart of the film.

The scenes where an unsuspecting older woman abducts the infant were some of the best in the film—well executed by the director and acted with precision. Nelson Venkatesan, whose earlier films Oru Naal Koothu (2016) and Monster (2019) I had liked, gets this part right. Unlike the usual hero-alone-saves-the-day formula, the core investigation here is led by a police officer, played convincingly by Director Balaji Sakthivel. His character’s logical deductions brought a small sense of realism to an otherwise cinematic plot.

While there wasn’t much chemistry between the lead pair, both Atharvaa and Nimisha have done their best. Atharvaa shines, especially in the action scenes, as he usually does. And Nimisha was truly excellent in the emotionally charged scene where she gives away the baby—what a performance. Balaji Sakthivel too delivers his role with conviction. Riythvika, Ramesh Thilak, Viji Chandrasekhar, and Chetan all do justice to their brief appearances. Karunakaran and Bose Venkat appear almost as guests.

The issue lies in how long the film takes to get to the actual story. The hero’s de-addiction phase, the villain’s backstory—all these could have been trimmed. Instead of focusing tightly on the kidnapping, the narrative wanders and becomes tiring. What also left me puzzled was the ending—why are only the hired hands arrested? Why do the real perpetrators who paid for the crime walk away without consequences?

In summary, DNA had the potential to be a gripping emotional drama, but loses its edge with a lack of focus.