After the average performances of his two back-to-back films, young Tollywood hero Jr. NTR is back with another mass masala flick Dammu, directed by Boyapati Srinu, well-known for his mass entertainers. Notably, the director has three back-to-back hits in his kitty and so, Jr. NTR is pinning high hopes on the film. As anticipated, the film has all mass elements to satisfy the Jr. NTR fans.

Seemingly based on Rajinikanth starrer Adutha Varisu (1983), the film begins with the conflict between two families led by Nasser and Suman (Vasi Reddy). They kill each other to get the authority of a village and in the conflict, all Vasi Reddy family members die, thereby making Nasser the uncontested rogue and villain. After twenty-five years, Veera Durgam (Kota) adopts an orphan Vijay (Jr. NTR) and introduces him as 'Vijaya Dwaja Simha', a successor to Vasi Reddy family. With this, the story takes a turn. How Vijya takes the responsibility of saving the villagers from the villain forms the rest of the film.

Jr. NTR once again proves that among the current generation of actors, there is none to match him in terms of dialogue delivery and performance. He is simply superb and his performance makes a lot of difference to an otherwise regular masala drama. Trisha and Karthika are the heroines and they don’t have much scope to perform. Trisha looks older and lacks chemistry with Jr. NTR. Karthika too has limited songs and scenes. Nasser is good in his villain role, while Kota is usual. Bhanupriya, Venu Tottampudi, Praveena and Abhinaya are impressive.

Coming to the technical part of the film, there are too many ups and downs in the narration especially during the second half and climax. The director could have written a better screenplay. However, Jr. NTR’s roaring performance transcends everything. Rathnam has written apt dialogues for Jr. NTR and they are sounded effective in the actor's voice. Music by M.M. Keeravani is in sync with the subject. The songs 'O Lilly' and 'Vasthu babgundi' are well picturized, but 'Ruler' disappoints. Cinematography by Arthur Wilson is worth mentioning.

All in all, Dammu has the centuries old formula of Tollywood action movies: from good dialogues to high voltage fight sequences and for Jr. NTR fans, the movie would be a treat. But for common audiences, it is another masala drama that offers nothing new.