GodFather Movie review: Perfectly made for fans go high in theatres
‘GodFather’ is Megastar Chiranjeevi and Mohan Raja’s Telugu remake version of the Malayalam blockbuster Lucifer. Chiranjeevi adds his mega mark to this political action film with the star presence of the other cast, including Salman Khan, Nayanthara, and Satya Dev. The film impressed everyone with its trailer and the other promos. The Telugu audience has been waiting for days to see the megastar in a powerful role that is perfectly suited to him in ‘GodFather’. Today, the Telugu audience, particularly the mega fans, are celebrating this Dussehra in the name of ‘GodFather’ with the release of the film in theatres. Let’s see how the film fares at box-office.
Story
After the death of the state’s CM, the politics in the state changes internally, and the names of Satya Priya (Nayanthara), the CM’s daughter, and Jayadev (Satya Dev), the CM’s son-in-law, are in consideration for the next CM candidate. Then, Brahma (Chiranjeevi) enters the scenario to keep all the political drama under control and takes charge of everything. Brahma and Jaya Dev go against each other, playing all sorts of mind games in politics. How Brahma becomes the true successor to the late CM and the state is the rest of the narrative of the political drama ‘GodFather’.
Analysis
Jayam Mohanraja made his directorial debut with a Malayalam remake in Telugu, ‘Hanuman Junction’. Two decades later, Mohanraja repeats history with his latest outing. First things first, changes have been made from the original Malayalam version to the Telugu remake. It is reflected from the start itself, where we have a quick hero introduction. However, the core point remains the same, and Godfather’s narrative builds on them.
The political setting movies are not new to Telugu cinema, but the presence of Megastar Chiranjeevi lends it a different flavour. The fact that one doesn’t miss a heroine or the song and dance routine featuring Chiranjeevi is a telling sign of the engaging backdrop and the narrative.
The confrontations between various characters and the drama surrounding them run the show in the first half. The fresh casting helps the cause and also holds the attention. One is engaged as the story keeps moving on. Though, the opportunities are plenty, but the director chooses to keep things grounded, not go overboard.
Post intermission, Salman Khan presence makes audience go high. Everything seems fine until we reach the final half an hour. The block is like an extended climax with only a single thread left, i.e. finishing off the villain. Here Salman Khan is reintroduced. His arrival derails the narrative as there is a serious change in tone. Suddenly, the proceedings turn into a b-grade masala fare with an item song and guns exploding. The visuals, too, lack the finesse with poor VFX to boot. The whole thing leaves a wrong aftertaste kind of feeling after all the neat work done before. It also feels rushed, mainly if one looks at the big end reveal related to Brahma’s character. Overall, ‘Godfather’ is a drama-driven mass fare with Chiranjeevi and good primary casting involving Satya Dev and Nayanthara. They hold things together until the end, when the narrative collapses into mundaneness. It is a decent one-time watch and offers something to cheer for Mega fans after the star’s last debacle.
Performances
Chiranjeevi as Brahma is just terrific. With all his experience and age, Chiranjeevi makes the portrayal of Brahma on screen look like a simple cakewalk. Brahma suits the stardom and stature of Chiranjeevi perfectly, and the megastar just nails the character with his intense and authorised performance. The introduction and the climax scenes, the jail episode and Chiranjeevi’s scenes with Salman Khan are the special treats in ‘GodFather’ to the mega fans.
Salman Khan, with his star presence, just lights up the screen. It is a mega moment for the audience to watch these two megastars together on screen. The intermission episode gets better with the arrival of the Bhai.
Satya Dev as Jayadev is very brilliant as an antagonist. It is so tough to compete with Chiranjeevi in the opposite role at such a young age, but Satya Dev took that all as a challenge and pulled it off with ease. The jail episode between Satya Dev and Chiranjeevi is one of the best overall. Nayanthara as Satya Priya is the perfect choice for the role. As we all know from the original, the character does not have much intensity, but it all plays with emotions. The same gets repeated in the remake too. There are not many changes for this role, and Nayanthara justifies everything in her space. Puri Jagannadh, as an investigative journalist, takes the responsibility of starting and narrating the political drama around him in the film. He is very comfortable on screen.
Technicalities
Mohan Raja, along with the other writer, Satyanand, made sure that the stardom and mass image of Chiranjeevi got satisfied with the right episodes. All the mind-game scenes of the lead character in the first half are perfectly written to construct and elevate the lead character, while making the first half of the film a subtle political drama, sticking to the original story. At the same level as the first half, the second half of the film too is engaging and intense, with major changes in the screenplay. Introducing Salman Khan in the interval block itself is another star-packed episode and it is a brilliant move when compared to the original. The dialogues by Lakshmi Bhupala greatly assisted the character’s evolution and elevation.
Thaman S is in the top gear from the very beginning of the film. Right from Chiru’s introduction scene, Thaman keeps his spirits in the background on a high note, and there is never a look back till the climax. The title BGM of ‘GodFather’ is the best among all the soundtracks. Thaman also gave some timely elevation scores to Chiranjeevi. Among songs, the Thaar Maar Thakkar Maar mass beat is a celebration in theatres. Najabajajajara will also be loved by everyone since it adds a lot of power to an intense action scene.
The rest of the technical departments are all good. A special mention goes to the costume and makeup departments for bringing the stylish looks to Chiranjeevi while still showing him as an aged character in the film.
Highlights
Artists Performances
Casting
Screenplay
First Half
Drawbacks
Weak Ending
Final half-an-hour