Godfather - Movie Review

After the colossal disaster of Acharya, Megastar Chiranjeevi is coming with Godfather , which is a remake of Malayalam blockbuster Lucifer. RB Chowdary, NV Prasad and Ram Charan producers. Director Mohan Raja who is well known for delivering blockbusters in Tamil with remakes of Telugu films like Jayam, Bommarillu, Amma Nanna O Tamilammai, etc is directing this film. His last direct Telugu film was Hanuman Junction. However, Mohan proved his mettle with an original script Thanioruvan which was a blockbuster then and it was remade in Telugu as Dhruva. 

Story :-  Chief minister of the state dies and political games start for the CM chair. Home minister Varma (Murli Sharma), CM's son in law Jaidev (Satya Dev) are the contenders for it. However, knowing of their cruel intentions and corrupt nature, party treasurer and CM's close aide Brahma (Chiranjeevi) creates obstacles for them. CM's daughter Sathya Priya (Nayanatara) doesn't want to see even Brahma's face and she also supports her husband Jaidev to become CM. Jaidev tries to grab power by all means and tries to win over Brahma, but with his political mastermind and his network, Brahma doesn't let it happen. Who wins this political game? Why Sathya Priya hates Brahma so much? These questions are answered in the story. 

Performances :-  All the actors did a terrific job in this political thriller. Murli Sharma, Nayanatara, Samuthrakani, Shafi, Sunil, Shayaji Shinde, Anasuya, Bharath Reddy, Divi, etc. Satyadev was stupendous, the variation in his expressions, dialogue delivery was superb. Chiranjeevi is flawless. This is infact a challenging role because this character doesn't have his usual comedy timing, masala dialogues, massy warning, no dances at all. However, Chiru managed very well with subtle expressions and smile. Infact his eyes did the major part of acting. Salman Khan's role is very limited and he was fine. Majority of his scenes had graphics and they were not upto the mark. Didn't connect much to Salman's entry or climax. Had it been done by Pawan Kalyan movie would have gone to next level. 

Technicians :-  Mohan Raja's screenplay is racy, crisp and on the spot. The movie doesn't feel bored or slow at any point of time except for last 5-10 mins. There is an elevation scene or dialogue for every 10-15 mins. Director succeeded in maintaining the high at regular intervals and he should be appreciated for that. Chiru's movie without any dance number or songs is itself a challenge, that too a serious & class role, narrating only story for 2 and half hours is herculean task, but Mohan Raja has passed it with distinction. Editing is very neat and made the movie jam packed. Fights were okay. Thaman's background score is terrific. The heroic elevation scenes were boosted with his score. Almost all the songs come as montage in the movie and they were apt to the situation, especially Naja bhaja jajara. Costumes were relatable to the political concept. Dialogues were simple but striking. 

Positives :-

Story and racy screenplay

Terrific cast and their performances

Elevation scenes

Negatives :-

Dragged Climax portion

Salman episode graphics

Summary :-  I haven't seen Lucifer since Chiru is doing it. Having said that I'm sure the changes done in Godfather would surely make it a better entertainer than Lucifer. The reason is, I felt the same after watching Bheemla Nayak and Ayyappanum Koshiyum one after another. Direct Malayalam movies are OTT watchable but not commercial films for our taste. So this story is new to me and I loved it. It has great premise, perfect goosebumps moments, elevation scenes powered by terrific acting and background score. It's a perfect commercial film. 

Rating :- 3.25/5. It's a classy mass film. Must watch it if you haven't seen Lucifer. 

Ponniyin Selvan (PS) - 1 : Movie Review

The genius Mani Ratnam has come up with his dream project after 4 years of his last release Nawab (Chekka Chivantha Vaanam in Tamil). Ponniyin Selvan has been his dream project and Mani Ratnam wanted to bring it to big screen since many years and finally it materialised. With an ensemble cast and crew, PS-1 released finally after multiple breaks  in shooting since 2020 due to the pandemic.

Story :- Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj), who is the king of Chola dynasty falls ill and it is time to announce the next king in Tanjavur. His eldest son Aditha Karikaludu (Vikram) is the heir to the throne. He doesn't want to come to Tanjavur and is waging war after war on multiple kingdoms with his army. Hearing that some coup is happening in the kingdom, Aditha sends his friend cum warrior Vanthiyadevudu (Karthi) to secretly knew what was happening and inform the same to his father and his sister Kundavai about the same. Vanthiyadevudu begins his journey and finds that, Pedda Paluvettarayudu (Sarath Kumar) who is the treasurer of Chola kingdom is planning a coup in the kingdom with the help of other Samantharayulu to announce Madhurantaka (Rahman) as the next king, since  Madhurantaka's father was king before Sundara Chola and he shifted to spiritual ways and gave kingdom to Sundara Chola as Madhurantaka was too young then. In this journey, Karthi also meets Paluvettarayudu's wife Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) who is planning the coup from behind as she has an hidden past to do so. Kundavai asks Vanthiyadevudu to inform about the coup to her younger brother Arunmozhi Varma (Jayam Ravi) who is fighting a war in Lanka and bring him back to Tanjavur. Also, Sundara Chola sends Kundavai to bring Aditha to Tanjavur. If both the brothers join together in Tanjavur it is tough to announce Madhurantaka as king. To stop the brothers from coming together, Paluvettarayudu and Nandini sketches a plan. Were they successful in doing so? Why Aditha doesn't want to come to Tanjavur? What is the relation between Aditha and Nandini? What is Nandini's past and why she is planning the coup? Who is Ponniyin Selvan and how did that name came? These form the rest of the story. 

Performances:- Karthi gets a meatier role compared to others and we see the story mostly through his version. He did a commendable job and he brings the lighter mood to an otherwise serious drama. Jayam Ravi only enters in 2nd half and he suits to the prince role. Trisha as the princess is gorgeous and she did a good job. Aishwarya Rai has the most toughest role and she nailed it with both beauty and performance. I personally felt Vikram is a misfit for the role. He looked old and overboard in some instances. The only reason to choose him could be to match Aishwarya's age and to bring back memories of their previous outing Villain. There is a huge cast and they all excelled in their space.

Technicians :- Ponniyin Selvan is a based on Kalki's novel which comprises of 5 books, which is based upon real life incidents during Chola dynasty and some fictional elements. To compress them into 2 part film is a tough task and Mani Ratnam did a good job in doing so. Being a periodic film, the tone and colour of the film are completely different when compared to Mani Ratnam's regular flavour of Grey, Blue, Black. There are too many characters and their names are also of tamilian style, which makes us tough to register and remember. Had they introduced us to the characters with names through posters before release of film like how Rajamouli did with Bahubali it would have been easier. Mani Ratnam didn't concentrate much on graphics or war scenes, thus they aren't not visual extravaganza. However, the climax fight sequence in the sea was well shot. AR Rahman background score elevates the movie well. After a long time, liked few songs of Rahman. Song placements are also good. Ravi Varman cinematography is superb. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is apt as they couldn't delete anything. 

Positives:-

Story & Drama

Leas cast and their performances

Karthi

Negatives:-

No goosebumps stuff

Not a visual extravaganza

Summary:-  PS-1 is a story driven novel based film with lot of drama. Mani Ratnam sticked to the same and didn't take any cinematic routes. People might tend to label it as slow, boring due to the same, but I liked the story and narration. For any 2 part film, the end of the 1st part should leave audience in a suspense so that they shall wait anxiously for the 2nd part and Mani Ratnam did exactly the same. The last shot makes people wait for 2nd part. 

Rating :- 3/5. Definitely watchable on big screen.

Being a periodic drama and war based movie, people compare every frame and war scene with Bahubali and feel this is a lame attempt which is not correct. Rajamouli is known for emotional & elevation scenes, hero centric films and graphical extravaganza, which is his core competency and he is a commercial blockbuster director like Shankar. Well, that's not the case with master storyteller Mani Ratnam. He is into realistic movies, subtle expression, simple stories and more of drama. He sticked to the same even in PS-1. Let's not compare Sachin with Virat.