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Yedumati Lakshmi brahmaiah 1 143 days ago

Master piece, super movie, wonderfull movie

vijayduniya 561 days ago

User santhosh 648 days ago, jay smoorthy 789 days ago.

Waste of time. The ONLY message is 'Don't follow Principles, drink alcohol. Only the goon wins. A family of IPS officers or Armyman fails.' Alcoholic entrepreneurship is best for youngsters to come up in LIFE. Do we need this kind of film ??

Hasvini 848 days ago

good movie but same style of how they take. good bgm. Great act from Dhruv vikram. We can just watch for those kings and the movie is quite interesting

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‘Mahaan’ movie review: Vikram shines in this ambitious but overstuffed gangster epic

Karthik subbaraj attempts a meditation on morality and ideology within a crime saga that struggles to bear its own weight.

Updated - February 10, 2022 01:38 pm IST

Published - February 10, 2022 11:47 am IST

Vikram and Dhruv Vikram in Mahaan

By now, there are a few things we have come to expect in a Karthik Subbaraj film – sorry, ‘A Karthik Subbaraj padam’. A fairly popular old song that kind of fits the film’s narrative; a smattering of Rajinikanth movie references; a character named Michael; a cameo by Subbaraj’s father, Gajaraj… what else? Oh, yes, of course: the famous Karthik Subbaraj Twist™. These tropes and motifs can be viewed as signatures of an auteur or as repetitions that get a bit tiresome.

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In Mahaan , you have mixed feelings about it. In fact, you have mixed feelings about the whole film as well.

It is by no means an ordinary film, because Subbaraj has attempted an epic. We have a sprawling drama, spanning decades. We notice the lives of three key characters crisscrossing each other; their fates, inevitably intertwined. We witness history repeating itself. If all this is not enough evidence of an epic, then there is Santhosh Narayanan’s trumpet-heavy background score that accentuates the drama.

The film opens with this Mohandas Gandhi quote: “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” What follows is the story of someone named Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram), who ends up making mistakes with a capital M.

• Director: Karthik Subbaraj
• Cast: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simha, Vettai Muthukumar, Simran and more
• Storyline: A man is constrained by the ideology of an icon who is known for his struggle for freedom
• Runtime: 160 minutes

Gandhi’s grandfather and father are followers of, well, Gandhi. His father is so devoted to his ideology that he changes his son’s birthday from August 16 to August 15 on his birth certificate. Later, Gandhi marries Naachi (Simran), who is also a staunch Gandhian. She teaches her little son to shut his eyes if he sees a Hollywood movie poster because she believes these films contain violence and sex. Gandhi is not merely surrounded by Gandhians, he is stifled by them. Their expectation to emulate a man who is revered as a Mahatma burdens him. For, Gandhi’s inclination is to travel the path of pleasures -- even if they are considered sinful.

Because of his father and wife, Gandhi, till he turns 40, lives -- rather, forces himself to live -- according to the Gandhian ways. But life takes a dramatic turn at 40 when he runs into his boyhood buddy Sathyavan (Simha), who has taken over his father’s alcohol business. Committing one sin after another, Gandhi becomes anti- Gandhi , and soon, he has a big life choice to make.

Vikram is fantastic as Gandhi Mahaan. He transitions effortlessly from a timid school teacher to a gun-wielding alcohol baron. His eyes convey the delightful menace when he finds out for the first time that he is capable of violence. They are equally effective in showing his helplessness as a man who has to make a tough choice.

The rest of the main cast do a fine job as well (Dhruv’s performance is, however, a little overpitched). Simha, especially, is impressive as Sathyavan. Subbaraj is in no hurry while fleshing out these characters. And, that is fine because you do not expect a gangster drama to travel at a breakneck pace.

One of the problems with Mahaan is that it does not quite hit you as it should. For instance, there is a point where Gandhi tells Sathyavan, “Oru vaazhkai, varalara vazhanum” [roughly translates to ‘We got one life, make history’]. It is an epic, hair-raising line on paper. But your hair does not rise when it is uttered on screen.

Another issue is the inconsistency in Gandhi’s emotional graph. There is a point where he is crestfallen, burdened by his own deeds. He looks like he has lost the will to live. But there is an abrupt liberation after which he returns to his audacious self.

In its last hour or so, you find the film trying to do too many things. We follow a father-son rivalry, a story of a man paying for his sins, a battle of two ideologies… and, of course, amidst all this, we get a twist as well (because this is a Karthik Subbaraj padam). It is admirable that Mahaan attempts to juggle all this. But after a point, it gets a bit excessive. And you wonder if the film should have listened to a line from its protagonist. “Everything in moderation. That’s the right way to be.”

Mahaan is currently streaming on Amazon Prime

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Mahaan review: Vikram, Dhruv deliver a spicy action drama

Mahaan review: the vikram and dhruv-starrer is a spicy action-family drama that captures the moral and spiritual struggle of our time. it could have been more if karthik had slowed the pace a little and dug deep into the period and atmosphere..

Director Karthik Subbaraj’s new movie Mahaan tackles an important question: What does it mean to be a Gandhian in today’s day and age? In a post-truth world where self-centeredness, vanity, intolerance, hunger for fame, and political distortion are the order of the day, how does one follow the teachings of the Mahatma?

Our protagonist is named Gandhi Mahaan, played by an in form Vikram , and there is nothing remotely Gandhian about him when we meet him first. He is seen drinking, gambling and even killing in his fantasies. Karthik uses a classic Freudian method to demonstrate the protagonist’s repressed wishes and desires. Gandhi is forced to lock away his true personality and identity to live up to the moral codes imposed on him by society. He didn’t choose to live a Gandhian lifestyle, but it is thrust upon him by his family who believes in following the apostle of peace’s teachings.

In a scene, an adolescent Dadabhai Naoroji, that is the name of Gandhi Mahan’s son in the movie, is taught never to lie by his Gandhian grandfather. And when Dada asks why shouldn’t one lie? His grandfather, instead of explaining why, simply says, “You just can’t. That’s all.” But, the same man, when on his deathbed, makes a young Dada promise that he will take revenge against Gandhi on his behalf. That makes it clear that the grandfather himself didn’t fully understand the Gandhian ways. For him, drinking is the greatest sin but seeking vengeance is not. The blind and unquestioned following of any ideology is toxic, both to society and the soul.

In his own way, Gandhi finds out how to live like a “Mahaan” (Mahatma). He eventually discovers great moral strength with him, to do what’s right even when it feels he’s beyond the point of redemption. Before that awakening, however, Gandhi leaves a trail of dead bodies, plundered wealth, broken laws and hundreds, if not thousands, of empty alcohol bottles.

The majority of the story is set in the late 1990s. Gandhi is in his forties, and is living in a small house in railway staff quarters allotted to his wife Nachi (played by Simran). His son Dada is still young and attached to his father. It is his birthday and his wife asks him to wear a new shirt. He goes to his wardrobe and swaps his old khadi white shirt for a new khadi white shirt. Like his dress, his life is also colourless and bland.

He is close to his breaking point, and is terrified that he’s not living his life to its full potential in the fear of violating his family code. His life feels like a trap. So on his 40th birthday, when his wife and son take a pilgrimage trip, he decides to go wild. He breaks his bank and spends money on drinking, gambling and eating meat. In the process, he discovers his instantiable urge for what is considered a sin by his family. He always wants more. More drinks, more gambling, more violence, more money and more power. When he reconnects with his childhood friend, Sathyan (Bobby Simha) and his son Rocky (Sananth Reddy), Gandhi finds his key to the life he so desires.

And all hell breaks loose when Gandhi’s son Dada returns to his life. He is not there to inherit his father’s liquor empire, but to destroy from within. Dada is a cop assigned to wipe out Gandhi’s gang. Things get complicated when Gandhi is forced to choose between his real family and people who are like family.

Vikram feels natural and effortless in his role. He brings a unique style to his character Gandhi, which adds to the film’s overall appeal. His performance is well complemented by Bobby Simha, whose character undergoes a spiritual epiphany that is very similar to Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules in Pulp Fiction after a near-death experience. Vettai Muthukumar fits the role of cunning and amoral politician with great ease.

And then there is Dhruv as Dada. He has these bursts of powerful performances. He knows how to get angry and fly into a rage for the camera. He channels the unapologetic meanness and guilt-free desire for revenge.

Composer Santhosh Narayanan’s background score, cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna’s camera enriches the mood and atmosphere of Karthik’s vision. If Karthik had slowed the pace a little and dug deep into the period and atmosphere of his characters, Mahaan could have been his own version of “Once Upon a Time in America.” But, that doesn’t take away the fact that it is a spicy action-family-drama that in a way captures the moral and spiritual struggle of our time.

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Mahaan review: Vikram, Dhruv’s intense drama pits father and son against each other in battle for revenge

Mahaan review: the film extracts a very uninhibited performance from vikram, who is refreshing in a character that spans over five decades..

Karthik Subbaraj has always been an exciting filmmaker among the new crop of directors who are redefining Tamil cinema. With mostly novel attempts to his credit, including the heavily panned Jagame Thandhiram with Dhanush, Karthik has emerged as one of those directors whose work you want to closely follow. With Mahaan , which features father-son duo Vikram and Dhruv Vikram for the first time together on screen, Karthik weaves a very interesting relationship drama that takes two popular Gandhian ideologies – non-violence and prohibition of alcohol – to spin an interesting story around faith and freedom.

Mahaan is centred on Gandhi (Vikram), who is born in a Tamil family that idolises Mahatma Gandhi and his beliefs. The protagonist named Gandhi’s grandfather and father have played a vital role in India’s independence. From a very young age, Gandhi was strictly raised with Gandhian ideologies, eventually taking away his basic freedom to live life the way he wants. Cut to 30 years later, on his 40th birthday, Gandhi decides to spend the day doing everything he always wished for when his wife and son are away on a trip to Tirupati. Gandhi meets a former student, Rocky, who now owns a chain of bars with his father.

Rocky decides to celebrate Gandhi’s 40th birthday in a big way and in the process, gets him drunk. All hell breaks loose when Gandhi goes home the next day and his wife decides to leave him. Gandhi goes back to join Rocky and his father Sathyavan (Bobby Simhaa) in their liquor business and soon transforms into the most successful liquor baron. 20 years later, when Gandhi crosses paths with his son Dadabhai Naoroji aka Dada, the drama that ensues forms the crux of the story.

Mahaan raises a very important question about taking someone’s ideology and imposing it on others, expecting them to embrace it wholeheartedly. Vikram’s character is the perfect example of that kind of person who has been forced to live a certain way because of an ideology that was imposed upon him by his family. It is that same ideology that turns him into an extremist. Karthik takes this idea about ideological beliefs turning into extremism and pits a father and son in a battle for revenge which makes Mahaan a terrific relationship drama.

Also read: Veeramae Vaagai Soodum review: Vishal’s film is a quintessential vigilante drama with decent action

Mahaan extracts a very uninhibited performance from Vikram, who is refreshing in a character that spans over five decades. This is a very mature performance, and he embraces the character’s flaws and vulnerability so convincingly. Dhruv Vikram looks even more comfortable in his second outing as an actor. After leaving a strong impact with his debut film, a remake of Arjun Reddy, he delivers a slightly exaggerated performance which suits the character. Bobby Simhaa gets a meaty part and even though you find him in almost every Karthik Subbaraj film, he manages to surprise each time.

Film: Mahaan

Director: Karthik Subbaraj

Cast: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Bobby Simhaa and Simran

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Mahaan (2022)

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'Mahaan' review: Vikram shines in a stylish yet predictable film

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Mahaan Tamil (Amazon Prime Video) Director: Karthik Subbaraj Cast: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simran Rating: 3/5

Tamil film heroes are changing. We saw Vijay play a professor with alcohol addiction in 'Master' (2021). Sivakarthikeyan was excellent as this straight-faced, boring yet highly practical and intelligent doctor in 'Doctor' (2021).

Vikram joins the list with his portrayal of liquor baron and a gambling king in Karthik Subbaraj's Mahaan . With Vikram, you expect an experimental role in every outing but despite the impeccable transformations, his characters were typical 'hero materials' whom we rooted for.

Mahaan is different as its hero is a man with shades of grey and you will find it difficult to fully love him. That's what makes the film's premise interesting.

Vikram plays Gandhi Mahaan, who is born into a family of freedom fighters. As his name suggests, he is raised as a strict follower of Gandhism. His family puts the onus on him to spearhead the liquor ban movement in Tamil Nadu and become a 'mahaan' (great) like Gandhi.

Mahaan questions whether morals and principles lead to a satisfying life. Or is it important to ditch perfection and live a life that makes us happy? Gandhi Mahaan chooses the latter.

Fed up of a monotonous life, he decides to break rules and enjoy his life. How does he do that? By joining hands with his school friend Sathyavan (Bobby Simha) to become the king of Tamil Nadu's liquor empire. This comes at the cost of separating from his wife (Simran) and son.

This transformation feels hurried as Karthik doesn't allow the scenes to breathe. As a result, we remain emotionally disconnected with the film. The uncontrolled pace seemed inevitable as the film aims to be a cracking father-son duel and not just the story of the central character.

So Mahaan is induced with fresh energy with a gripping interval block typical of Karthik. Dhruv is introduced as Dadabhai Naoroji a.k.a Dada in a small stretch that oozes with slickness.

Dhruv oversells some scenes but his ruthless act of a cop is fascinating to watch because he brings the fear in our minds about 'what could unfold next'. Dada is on a mission to eliminate his father and his business. Revenge is the only solution for what his father did to his family, he believes. The dangerous unpredictable quality of the character is exactly what the painfully predictable film needed.

Mahaan is a visually stunning film. The costumes, colour tones, and the looks, especially of Vikram, are marked with swag. Cinematographer Shreyass Krishna has responded to the director's maverick love for flamboyance. The film's vibrant look and Santosh Narayan's 'massy' background score would have had a greater impact on the big screen.

It comes out the best in two excellent fight sequences. The first one is when a soft Gandhi Mahaan sheds his non-violent attitude and learns to back his punchlines with few punches. It's a wonderfully choreographed scene and what matches it is the long action stretch between Vikram and Dhruv.

Karthik loves to blend style with substance. He does this with little success in Mahaan . He organically weaved in his stance on the respective subjects of 'Jigarthanda' and 'Iraivi' but in 'Jagame Thandhiram' (2021) and now in 'Mahaan', he clearly seems to have lost control in this approach.

The writing completely lacks freshness and except for a long yet engrossing argument between Gandhi Mahaan and his wife, the rest of the characters talk about the film's intentions and philosophies in long and boring soap-opera like dialogues. What we also miss is the trademark dark and unexpected humour and intense scenes that Karthik is famous for.

Vikram might not be a great box office bet but when it comes to performance, he is one of the most dependable actors in the industry. It's a meditative experience to watch the versatile actor carry a generic film on his shoulders.

Despite its length (160 minutes) and the other issues, Mahaan is a welcome return to form for Karthik, whose golden run ended with the underwhelming Jagame Thandhiram last year. It appears as if the director is becoming too simplistic with his writing. The pace at which he is finishing projects with big stars might have sucked out his energy to successfully convert his interesting ideas on paper into equally interesting films.

Mahaan begins with a quote from Gandhi that says, 'Freedom is not worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes'. Karthik's mistakes while attempting unique stories can perhaps be forgiven. But the truth remains that since Petta (2019), the director's craft has seen a decline.

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Home » Review » Mahaan movie review: A riveting gangster saga in which Vikram and Dhruv hit it out of the park »

Mahaan movie review: A riveting gangster saga in which Vikram and Dhruv hit it out of the park

Vikram's towering screen presence is one of the prime positives of the film. Karthik has succeeded in providing him the required elements needed to bring out the acting monster in him

A still from the film

• Thinkal Menon

Last Updated: 12.43 AM, Feb 10, 2022

Story: A teetotaler, who is born to a Gandhian, decides to live life on his own terms on his 40th birthday when his family is away for a day. The decision changes his life forever - his wife and son leaves him and he goes on to become the ruler of liquor empire in Tamil Nadu - but he seldom regrets his decision. Years later, he meets his son at an unusual setting. They lock horns over a few indifferences which leads to the death of a few people. The irked father warns his son not to interfere unnecessarily in his business and asks him to stop targeting his friends. Will the father-son duo be able to make a pact?

Review: Many filmmakers in the past have failed in delivering a performance-oriented taut script for a powerhouse talent like Vikram. All eyes were on Karthik Subbaraj when he announced Mahaan with Vikram and Dhruv Vikram. Fans were eagerly waiting to know whether the movie would be a roller-coaster ride like the director's last successful project Petta or his previous outing, the underwhelming Jagame Thandhiram.

Mahaan is that film which fans of Vikram would have had lots of fun with, had it been released in theatres. The crime thriller, something which Karthik is good at, is the much-awaited comeback of the phenomenal actor.

The film's story begins in 1968 when Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram)'s father is actively involved in anti-liquor movements. The latter, a staunch Gandhian, wants his son to follow Gandhian principles, and hence named his son after the father of nation. Years later, Mahaan goes on to become a school teacher and leads a seemingly satisfactorily life with his wife Aatchi (Simran) and son Dadabhai Naoroji aka Dada.

Little did he know that a casual conversation with a poor man on the eve of his 40th birthday would change his life forever. He decides to celebrate his birthday like never before when he learns that his wife and son would be away for a day's time. 

Mahaan meets his erstwhile student Rocky aka Rakesh (Sananth) at a bar and befriends him. Soon the former realizes that the latter's father Sathyavan (Simha) and himself were childhood friends. After a day of massive celebration, indulging in several things he wanted to try, Mahaan returns home only to get rejected by his wife and son. 

A peeved Mahaan starts liquor business with Sathayavan and becomes successful in a short span of time. Two decades later, Mahaan, who is more powerful and does illegal activities unapologetically, meets Dada (Dhruv), his son. But Mahaan's happiness turns out to be short-lived as Dada has come to take revenge against the former and his business partners. The plot gets thicker with the involvement of Gnanam (Muthukumar), a minister and a childhood friend of Mahaan and Sathyavan.

The effective screenplay wastes no time in setting up the plot. The story spans several decades, and Karthik ensures that the change in appearance of characters over the years is quite convincing. The characters of Vikram, Simha and Sananth undergo several changes as story progresses and the character arc is beautifully created.

Mahaan becoming more ambitious, Sathyavan choosing the spiritual path and Rocky's body language and thinking becoming matured, all these happens over a certain period of time. Karthik is in no hurry, he takes adequate time in exploring the different facets of characters with compelling sequences.

The performances of the three artists complement the gripping narration. Dhruv, who makes an entry in the pre-interval sequence, too, comes up with a crackling performance. Some of his scenes with Vikram are a delight to watch. Dada's aggressive nature and Gnanam's shrewd behaviour are captivating, to say the least. Simran, too, makes her presence felt. 

Shreyaas Krishna's cinematography and Santhosh Narayanan's background score elevate the emotion in many sequences. The impressive twists and turns, including the one in the pre-climax portion, are icing on the cake. It's always a pleasure to watch Vikram having fun with his character in films which have well-written screenplays.

Vikram does it this time, too, with utmost dedication and conviction. His towering screen presence is one of the prime positives of the film, and Karthik has succeeded in providing him the required elements needed to bring out the acting monster in him. Mahaan is Vikram's best outing in several years. 

It's an engaging crime thriller with a smart screenplay and riveting performances from artists made in typical Karthik Subbaraj style. The experience would have been more enjoyable on the big screen.

Verdict: Vikram is back with a bang, thanks to his fantastic screen presence and effortless portrayal of a complex character which undergoes several emotions.

Mahaan is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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‘Mahaan’ review: A spirited attack on righteousness

Tamil director karthik subbaraj’s movie stars vikram, dhruv vikram, bobby simha and sananth..

Of all the sideways tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, this one has to be the most spirited.

In Tamil director Karthik Subbaraj’s Mahaan , a character named after the symbol of non-violence and teetotalism struggles to live up his ideals. Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram) doesn’t as much cross over as he paddles furiously to the other side, where lie the joys of criminal behaviour, immense wealth and endless rivulets of liquor.

Gandhi has had the misfortune of being born into a staunchly Gandhian family. His wife Nachi (Simran) is a devotee of self-abnegation too. So when Gandhi turns up one day after having broken the no-liquor rule, Nachi, their son Dadabai Naoroji (Dada for short) and the rest of the family walk out in disgust.

Gandhi has little time to mourn their departure. This commerce professor breaks bad in a big way. Teaming up with Sathyavan (Bobby Simha) and Satyhavan’s son Rocky (Sananth), Gandhi becomes the gangster version of Vijay Mallya.

The trio, with the help of politician Gnanam (Muthu Kumar), bilk the system and milk the ensuing profits. Payback comes in the form of Dada (Dhruv Vikram), an aggressive police officer who has sworn to raze Gandhi’s kingdom to the ground.

It’s a formulaic plot, told over a bottom-warming 142 minutes through a parade of flashbacks and raucous songs (by Santhosh Narayanan). Subbaraj brings to the movie his usual snarky humour, visual flair for staging scenes and immersion in the worlds of men. The one significant female character, Nachi, is barely visible and eminently forgettable.

Mahaan has been released with English subtitles on Amazon Prime Video. There’s more to the mission to cleanse Tamil Nadu of alcohol, the meandering movie will have us know. Rather than taking down Mahatma Gandhi a few pegs (he is an easy target anyway these days), Mahaan appears to be firing over the shoulder of the apostle of peace at the false gods who lurk in our midst.

Dada is a zealot who has been raised in a religious cult after being separated from his father. As much a moral policeman as an actual policeman, Dada represents everything that Gandhi – and the movie – abhors: an impossible standard of rectitude, a killjoy attitude towards pleasure, and disgust for people who live beyond the pale of society’s prescribed rules.

Gandhi draws an equivalence between his anarchic amorality and Dada’s trigger-happy righteousness by telling the young man, I may not be a good man, but you are no better than me.

Somewhere in this seemingly endless movie, might there be an allegory about the hypocritical times in which we are living? Perhaps it’s the alcohol talking.

At any rate, the gangsters are certainly having more fun in the movie than anybody else. Their camaraderie, loyalty and personal moral code bring to mind not one of the aphorisms attributed to Mahatma Gandhi but the line from Bob Dylan’s song Absolutely Sweet Marie : “But to live outside the law, you must be honest.”

Vikram delivers a Patiala peg of a performance, simmering with pathos and bathos as well as self-deprecation. Dhruv Vikram (the actor’s son in real life) is simply no match for the magnetic pater familias. Bobby Simha, the star of Subbaraj’s Jigarthanda (2014) is on fire too. The brotherhood between Gandhi and Sathayavan and Subbaraj’s subversive glee just about rescue Mahaan from unforgiveable bloat.

Corrections and clarifications: The review erroneously identified the film’s music composer as Anirudh Ravichander. It is actually Santhosh Narayanan.

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• Karthik Subbaraj

Lensmen Reviews

Mahaan, the new Karthik Subbaraj movie starring Vikram in the title role, has a turbulent phase in the middle portions. But towards the end, Karthik manages to somehow place the drama in an exciting scenario making the landing a smooth one. Compared to Karthik’s last debacle Jagame Thanthiram, Mahaan is a far superior product. But the vastness of the canvas isn’t captured entirely in an absorbing way.

The film is about Gandhi Mahaan. He was the son of an ardent Gandhi follower, and thus he was made to promise that he would live a life that would obey Gandhian principles. Till the age of 40, Gandhi Mahaan didn’t touch alcohol, and he had to secretly watch movies. But the advice he got on his 40th birthday made him try something new. It disrupted his mundane life and resulted in a new lifestyle. The movie’s primary focus is on this new life of Gandhi Mahaan and what all happens in that new life.

It is that commercial movie that wants to put the hero in a difficult emotional space. A large part of the movie’s drama is based on the dilemma through which Mahaan is going through. He doesn’t know which side to take. The movie’s first half is that hurried coming-of-age drama where we see Mahaan as a kid rise to become this 50-year-old liquor mafia kingpin. In the second half, the movie is in a stable space after the arrival of the antagonist. The tone shift in that area is pretty jarring, and that’s the part where you would feel the movie losing its grip.

Karthik Subbaraj gives a lighter and peppy treatment to the first half, where we see the growth of the title character. The slowing down that happens in the second half would have worked immensely if the audience got the depth of the friendship and affection he has towards Sathya and Rocky. At the very end of the film, we see this emphasis on the friendship between Sathya and Mahaan. But I don’t think the movie could communicate the energy of that affection effectively. The Mahaan versus Dada aspect of the story adds juice to the content and eventually helps the film get a catchy shape.

The cinematography by Shreyaas Krishna uses various color palettes to mark the era. The dilemma through which Mahaan was going through was shown in almost all static frames featuring him. The single-shot fight sequences didn’t really create much of an impact. Vivek Harshan uses a lot of match cuts in the first half to keep the narrative on a speedier track. When it comes to the second half, he brings down the pace considerably to match with the mindset of Mahaan. As always, Santhosh Narayanan comes up with a quirky soundtrack.

For Vikram, even though the multiple getup factor is there in the film, Mahaan offers him a space to be a less eccentric version. Gandhi Mahaan’s frustrations and confusions are more in a humane space. The shift in attitude is also pretty smooth, which I liked a lot, especially in the climax. Dhruv Vikram as Dadabhai Naoroji plays this unempathetic character. His performance was fine as this guy who was obsessed with restoring the family name. But the things that molded Dada into a Gandhian beast sounded a little silly. Bobby Simha as Sathya was excellent. Sananth as Rocky also performed really well.

Mahaan is roughly 160 minutes long, and it covers almost the entire life of a gangster. It is not a consistent film. The engaging feel is lost occasionally due to how the drama is placed in the story. But in totality, the need for that drama is justified, and like I already said, Karthik Subbaraj manages to land the movie safely with some interesting Jigarthanda style mind games.

Compared to Karthik's last debacle Jagame Thanthiram, Mahaan is a far superior product. But the vastness of the canvas isn't captured entirely in an absorbing way.

Green: Recommended Content

Orange: The In-Between Ones

Red: Not Recommended

By Aswin Bharadwaj

Founder and editor of Lensmen Reviews.

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Mahaan Review: Vikram's Star Turn Has Support From Real-Life Son Dhruv Vikram

Mahaan review: it makes its share of mistakes and lives to tell the tale because vikram injects just enough variety into it with a performance that tempers some of the film's excesses..

Mahaan : A still from the film. (courtesy: Imdb )

Cast: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simran, Bobby Simha, and Vani Bhojan with Sananth, Vettai Muthukumar, Deepak Paramesh and Aadukalam Naren

Director: Karthik Subbaraj

Rating: Two and a half stars (Out of 5)

Karthik Subbaraj's overlong Tamil crime drama Mahaan , streaming on Amazon Prime Video, alternates between the massy and the trashy but it does so with unapologetic flair. That is not to suggest that the film's erratic trajectory deflects lead actor Vikram from his path in any way. He holds firm and carries the film on his shoulders.

Vikram's oft-proven histrionic range is on full display as he transforms himself first from being an orthodox, middle-aged family man to an ageing rebel with a questionable cause and then from a king of the liquor mafia to a father torn between his paternal instincts and his loyalty to a boyhood friend.

But does the impressive star turn have the power to salvage a patchy film that struggles to find an emotional core for its story about the limits of freedom, the perils of militant conservatism and an all-out clash between a father and a son? The two men stand on opposite sides of a moral divide and face off in a fight that endangers many lives.

Unfortunately, neither the ethical questions that arise nor the emotional complications that are triggered by the father-son confrontation assume proportions that can elevate Mahaan to the heights that could do justice to the title. The film's gloss is strictly surface level.

The general quality of the acting is of a high order. Vikram has support from his real-life son, Dhruv Vikram, cast as his estranged screen son. The cast of the film includes Simran, Bobby Simha, Sananth and Muthukumar in the role of the principal antagonist.

Vikram plays a man from a Gandhian family who is stifled by the burden that his name, Gandhi Mahaan, puts on him. In one of the early scenes following a prelude set in 1968 - it shows three village boys playing a card game that ends in a violent scuffle - it is revealed that the boy's grandfather was a freedom fighter, his father an anti-liquor activist. Gandhi's best pal, Sathyavan is, in contrast, the only son of a toddy brewer.

Cut to 1996. On Gandhi Mahaan's 40th birthday, the staid commerce teacher decides that he has had enough of unquestioning adherence to the morals and principles enjoined upon him by his lineage. He throws caution to the wind. He gambles and drinks himself silly in a bar owned by Sathyavan, with whom he reconnects in the city quite by chance.

That one bacchanalian night changes the course of Gandhi Mahaan 's life forever. In a drunken state, he kicks up a huge kerfuffle when he returns home with Sathyavan (Bobby Simha) and the latter's son Rocky (Sananth). A couple of slaps and angry words are exchanged. Matters spiral out of control and Gandhi's wife Nachi (Simran) and son Dada leave him for good. Soon after, the landlord orders the man to vacate the house.

Left to his own devices, the hero bounces back quickly by setting up a liquor empire in partnership with Sathyavan, finds a son in Rocky and makes rapid strides in the business with a mix of calculated risks and strongarm tactics. At one point, Gandhi Mahaan admits that while he has the gift of the gab, he isn't particularly adept at using his fists. But don't let that declaration fool you.

For a high-octane drama that centres on crime and vengeance, Mahaan is sparing in its use of action sequences but the ones that are mounted bear an unmistakable Karthik Subbaraj stamp. Especially noteworthy is a long sequence in which Gandhi Mahaan is caught between his estranged son Dada (Dhruv Vikram), now a viciously uncompromising special task force policeman who has been detailed with the task of wiping out Gandhi Mahaan's gang, and Rocky, the young man who is like a son.

Dada's return into Gandhi Mahaan's life - it is Dhruv Vikram's entry scene - is also staged with some panache. The young actor, up against the seasoned Vikram, holds his own. It is, of course, no cakewalk. There are times that Dhruv Vikram's effort to ensure that he isn't eclipsed begins to show.

His grand moniker notwithstanding, the protagonist, in collusion with the third friend from the opening sequence, Gnanam (Muthukumar), a corrupt politician who wins elections on an anti-alcohol plank but is in cahoots with the liquor lobby, rises to the top of the heap when Dada and his men arrive out of the blue and decide to rain on his party.

More trouble brews when the crooked politician has his own ideas and runs afoul of Gandhi Mahaan and Sathyavan. When the liquor king meets Gnanam in the company of Sathyavan and Rocky in his grand ministerial office plastered with portraits of Gandhi, Nehru, Indira Gandhi and APJ Abdul Kalam, sparks fly and set the stage for the final leg of the film.

Neither the making of the film, which alternates between the overly flashy and the drably sedate, nor the background score and songs composed by Santhosh Narayanan, which incorporate dollops of hip hop, is exceptional. Mahaan is overlong, sluggish in parts and way too superficial for its convoluted message to attain clarity.

If the film still manages not to be a complete washout, it is because of the energetic performances, the occasional visual flourishes that Karthik Subbaraj packs into the film and the solid camerawork by Shreyaas Krishna, who imparts a distinct feel and texture to the frames.

That apart, there are at least a couple of takeaways from Mahaan . In one scene, the minister preens that he isn't given to issuing multiple threats like "a movie villain". I am a certified politician, he says, "a real villain". The favourite whipping boy of contemporary Indian cinema thus makes his presence felt in Mahaan .

Promoted Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

In another flash of striking insight, the hero asserts that those who seek to forcibly impose their ideals on others are no better than those that flout all laws of acceptable behaviour. Both are extremists, he says, harking back to the line (attributed to Mahatma Gandhi) that Mahaan opens with: "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

Mahaan grabs that freedom with both hands - like the eponymous character, it makes its share of mistakes and lives to tell the tale because Vikram injects just enough variety into it with a performance that serves to temper some of the film's excesses.

: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simran, Bobby Simha, and Vani Bhojan with Sananth, Vettai Muthukumar, Deepak Paramesh and Aadukalam Naren

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Mahaan Movie Review (2022)

Chiyaan vikram - dhruv vikram starrer mahaan movie review.

Mahaan Movie Cast & Crew

Chiyaan Vikram's highly-anticipated action drama, Mahaan, also starring his son Dhruv Vikram as the other lead, has released on Amazon Prime Video as a direct OTT release. Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, the film has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan. Mahaan is a film that carries a good level of pre-release buzz, thanks to its refreshing combination of actors. How has the film fared? Let's check it out!

STORY: Gandhi Mahaan (Chiyaan Vikram), frustrated by his monotonous life by following the Gandhian principles, is separated from his wife (Simran) and son, Dada. After their separation, Gandhi Mahaan becomes a billionaire and a liquor baron with the partnership of his friend Sathyavan (Bobby Simhaa). Years later, Dada (Dhruv Vikram) grows up to become a Police officer, who sets out on a mission to curb the liquor business and kill the people involved in the racket. Dada tells Gandhi that he will kill every single person in his gang and stop this liquor business. Gandhi is put in a complicated position where he needs to stand either for his friend who gave him life or for his estranged son. Which side did he take on and what was the result? Watch the film to know! 

SCREENPLAY, DIALOGUES  & DIRECTION:  Karthik Subbaraj returns to form at a reasonable level with Mahaan after a forgettable outing in Jagame Thandhiram. The premise here offers great scope for drama between the characters and Karthik makes wise use of it. The film is highly engaging although there are a few dips here and there in both halves. There are some well-shot scenes that hold your attention - for example, the church fight sequence where Vikram unleashes himself for the first time, and the first meeting between Vikram & co. and Muthukumar at the Minister's office. Karthik Subbaraj, the director is back in his zone of action that is laced with wackiness and a dark mood. Karthik Subbaraj is someone who has been strong with dialogues and with Mahaan, he puts out some sensible and thought-provoking lines that earn applause. The film takes us by surprise with its emotionally-charged second half and the drama is choreographed in an impressive fashion.

On the downside, the film is a tad too long, especially towards the end. As earlier said, the screenplay is inconsistent at a few junctures and a tighter staging of the plot with more solid moments (in the writing) would have made the film a completely engrossing watch. At times, Mahaan also turns out to be quite predictable. 

CAST:  Chiyaan Vikram delivers a brilliant performance yet again with a solid role that offers him ample scope to emote. He is a delight to watch, making our movie-watching experience enjoyable with his charismatic screen presence. The majority of Mahaan is actually Vikram's one-man show and he steals it with ease.

On the other hand, Dhruv is in raging form as Dada. After playing a super romantic and charming hero in Adithya Varma, his role in Mahaan is a big shift and he makes use of the space given to him to deliver a convincing performance. Dhruv carries a certain level of charm and swag which if utilized well, will definitely strike a chord with the audience. It is the duo's striking combination that makes Mahaan quite an exhilarating watch.

Simran gets a short role and does her part in a smooth manner. Bobby Simhaa's makeover has been done interestingly and he plays his role as an aging man in a compelling fashion. 

TECHNICAL:  Santhosh Narayanan's songs don't really pack the punch that a film like Mahaan demands. The background score also works only at places and is a major letdown. Shreyas Krishna's cinematography is top-class, especially the framing and lighting for the scenes. Vivek Harshan's editing is neat and helps with the smooth flow of the film. However, certain scenes could have been trimmed to make the film more gripping.  

SO?   Mahaan does have its own share of setbacks, but on the larger picture, the film is definitely watchable!

Verdict Chiyaan Vikram's fantastic performance with solid support from Dhruv, makes Mahaan an engaging watch!

Galatta Rating: ( 2.75 /5.0 )

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Mahaan Movie Review: An Unbearable Film About Unhinged Men

Director: Karthik Subbaraj

Cast:  Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simran

Like nearly every Tamil film that takes itself seriously today, Mahaan opens with a lazy prologue — the shot of Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram) pouring fuel on his car and dramatically setting it on fire. He then sits there lamenting his actions, while the film cuts back to his past. In the flashback, Gandhi Mahaan is forty, a school teacher, loser and a closeted film-goer. We are supposed to wonder how such a straight-arrow of a man came to burn his car in the middle of nowhere (the answer was already in the trailer, by the way). On his birthday, he has a midlife crisis after a stoned nobody tells him he can't possibly live the way he wants. So, when the next day his wife leaves for a vacation, Gandhi Mahaan decides to go nuts. And nuts he goes.

Karthik Subbaraj's Mahaan is the story of how the eponymous hero goes from a disciplined and hen-pecked teacher to a liquor baron and gangster, who is brought down by his own deeds. But dear reader, be warned that this is merely speculation, because Mahaan is so incoherent and tiresome that I can only take a wild guess what it is about.

It's biggest problem: Too many ideas. There are these 'freedom-fighting' and 'prohibitionist' ideas — the characters are called Gandhi Mahaan, Dadabhai Naoroji (Dhruv Vikram), Sathyavan (Simha), Nachi (Simran) and so on. The film harps on this incessantly, without exploring it in any detail. The source of central conflict — alcoholism — is treated with such superficiality that the froth on your beer goes deeper.

Then, there is the gambling metaphor; Karthik Subbaraj intercuts timelines with the face of playing cards, which promptly disappear somewhere along the way. There is something about making mistakes, living a true life, loyalty, fatherhood, revenge, bravery, belief, god, ethics of crime, extremism, playing with people's feelings — the ideas keep on coming, none amounting to anything substantial. None really underpinning or supporting the film.

There is also the costume design. We are shown that the forty-year-old Mahaan only owns white shirts. On the day he goes nuts, he chooses a gaudy multi-coloured shirt. On the day he meets his son, he is wearing black, while the latter is wearing white. In the climax, this is interchanged. There is definitely some semantics there, we just never get the chance to feel what it's supposed to mean.

With so much thrown at us, Mahaan feels like a drunken conversation with a friend's friend — you don't really care for them, but you listen anyway because you're doing someone a favour (in this case, my career as a film critic).

More importantly, Karthik Subbaraj can't decide if he respects the audience or not. At one point, it looks like the cops are staging an accident to hush up an encounter. They leave behind alcohol bottles and ram a bike into a rock. However, a few seconds later, one of them shoots the suspect point-blank. Why bother with the staging if you're going to leave a bullet in the man's chest!

On the other hand, he cannot resist explaining what he perhaps believes are high-concept ideas. In a scene, Gandhi Mahaan saves Sathyavan and his son Rocky from an attack. He is standing on top of a car, behind which we see the Holy Cross. Karthik Subbaraj can not resist explaining what this means to us. He puts words in the mouth of Sathyavan, calling his friend a guardian angel, a Jesus reincarnate if you will. In the climax, Gandhi Mahaan literally reads out the quote that was flashed at the beginning of the film. This incessant spoon-feeding is not only tiresome but also detrimental to Mahaan — if Karthik Subbaraj had left anything to the audience's imagination, they would have most certainly imagined a better film.

The writing is consistently hazy. There is absolutely no emotional investment in any of the characters (if you're a forty-year-old going through a mid-life crisis, please ping me, if you relate to the film!). Everyone is unhinged, including Nachi, who is losing it in her own way. Dada, played by Dhruv who is evidently trying too hard, is a maniac, but the reasons for his psychopathy are flimsy. Sathyavan, an important character in the narrative, is barely established. He's there a lot, we just don't know him. His son, Rocky, goes through marriage, romance and divorce, all on the phone — why even?

The supposedly big scenes are underwhelming. Take the scene when Dada finally meets his father in a religious festival or the one just before climax when Sathyavan confronts Gandhi Mahaan about his son's murder. The performances are over-the-top, the conversations lame, the effect lukewarm. There are convenient parallels with a single incident from their childhood — it is milked too much for anyone's creative comfort. The twists are ridiculous and visible from a mile away. When they're not, they barely make a dent.

The staging is equally lazy. In an important scene of loss and betrayal, there is a train passing by interjecting conversation. It is supposed to add the tension of silence to the proceedings. But it kept reminding me of Kushi , where the conversation between the protagonists is interrupted by a passing plane. Kushi 's director SJ Suryah had staged it simpler, more organically, to greater impact. In Mahaan , that treatment feels gimmicky.

Despite stunt choreographer Dileep Subbarayan's and composer Santhosh Narayanan's best efforts, the action sequences are a bore. The dialogues are amateurish and predictable. The lesser said about the performances the better.

At two hours and forty-two minutes, Mahaan is a self-indulgent and vacuous film. At its best, it's tiresome. At its worst, it's an abomination.

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Mahaan Review: Engaging But Not Exciting

Movie: Mahaan Rating: 2.25/5 Banner: Seven Screen Studio  Cast: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simha, Simran, Sananth, Muthukumar Music: Santhosh Narayanan DOP: Shreyaas Krishna Editor: Vivek Harshan Stunts: Dinesh Subbarayan Produced by: SS Lalit Kumar Director: Karthik Subbaraj Release Date: Jan 14, 2022

“Mahaan” is a Tamil gangster drama that marks Vikram and his son Dhruv Vikram coming together. The father and son have played the lead roles in the film. Karthik Subbaraj of ‘Jigarthanda’ and ‘Petta’ directing this drama has raised expectations. The film premiered directly today on Amazon Prime.

Let’s find out its merits and demerits.

Story: On his 40th birthday, Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram), a school teacher, decides to have a drink at a bar and enjoy life for a day. His wife Janaki (Simran) leaves him as Gandhi Mahaan broke the Gandhian principles. She heads for North India along with their son.

Abandoned by his family, Mahaan helps his friend Satya (Bobby Simha) in his liquor business. Satya and Gandhi Mahaan become billionaires.

Twenty years later, Gandhi Mahaan’s son Dada (Dhruv) comes to Vizag, bringing haywire challenges for the father. 

Artistes’ Performances: Vikram gets a role to exhibit his true performative skills, and he steals the chance. As a man caught between fatherly love and friendship, Vikram plays it with elan. Although his role is a little hazy, he gives his best, holds the film with his performance.

Dhruv Vikram enters the scene nearly after one hour. The young man is impressive. He lives up to the challenge of facing his father. 

Bobby Simha as Satya lends emotional core to the story. Simran as Vikram’s wife leaves an impression. Vettai Muthukumar as the politician is another interesting performance.  

Technical Excellence: The camerawork and production design are the striking features among the technical department.

Santosh Narayan’s background score serves the mood, but the music, on the whole, doesn’t impress much. 

Highlights: Vikram’s performance The final portions The drama between father and son

Drawback: The boring first hour Predictable sequences Weak flashback

Analysis “Mahaan” begins with Mahatma Gandhi’s quotation – “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” 

The protagonist Vikram is also named after Mahatma Gandhi. The central point is about prohibition and the liquor mafia. So, the title Mahaan (meaning Mahatma) is apt. But the film is essentially a gangster drama revolving around a father and son.

Like oft-repeated gangster dramas, it follows the same path for nearly one hour focusing on the ways and means of the protagonist becoming a billionaire and building a business (illegal) empire with his smart thinking. 

A middle-class teacher in the forties creates a liquor mafia gang. The first hour of the movie deals with this point.

The biggest problem with the first hour is that the drama is not at all engaging. Simran leaving her husband Vikram for the sole reason of drinking alcohol on his birthday is not convincing.

Furthermore, Dhruv Vikram developing so much hatred towards his father seems unrealistic. However, the film gets us involved when Dhruv enters the scene.

Dhruv’s dramatic entry sets the ball rolling. The confrontational scenes between Vikram and Dhruv are also handled well.

The main highlight comes when Vikram is caught between his son and his friend's son. Despite not having great moments, the second half makes an interesting watch. The final moments are told grippingly. 

However, “Mahaan” suffers from a lack of a strong conflict point. The whole stretch of prohibition and Gandhian values, with flashbacks leading to 1968, gives a feeling of déjà vu.

A better conflict for the son and father would have made it more interesting. Simran’s re-entry into the story doesn’t make much impact. 

Plus, the lengthy runtime is another minus. 

In a nutshell, “Mahaan” doesn’t provide anything new with long predictable stretches, but Vikram and Dhruv make it watchable. It is another unexciting gangster drama from Karthik Subbaraj.

Bottom line: Nothing Mahaan Here!

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OTT Platform	Amazon Prime Video
OTT Release Date	2022-02-10

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• Soorayaatam Singers: Mahalingam VM , Santhosh Narayanan Lyricist: Muthamil 2.3
• Evanda Enakku Custody Singers: Santhosh Narayanan Lyricist: Vivek (Lyricist) 2.9
• Pona Povura Singers: Gaana Muthu , Asal Kolaar Lyricist: Asal Kolaar 3.9
• Rich Rich Singers: OfRo , Durai (Lyricist) Lyricist: Durai (Lyricist) 3.5
• Evanda Enakku Custody Singers: Santhosh Narayanan Lyricist: Vivek (Lyricist) 3.5
• Missing Me Singers: Dhruv Vikram Lyricist: Vivek (Lyricist) , Dhruv Vikram 3.3
• Naan Naan Singers: Santhosh Narayanan Lyricist: Vivek (Lyricist) 2.7
• Umm Song Singers: Aditya Ravindran Lyricist: Vivek (Lyricist) 4.5

Mahaan News

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Mahaan

In this Mahaan film, Vikram , Dhruv Vikram played the primary leads.

The Mahaan was released in theaters on 10 Feb 2022.

The Mahaan was directed by Karthik Subbaraj

Movies like Maharaja , Garudan , Suriya 44 and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The Mahaan had a runtime of 163 minutes.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by Santhosh Narayanan for the movie Mahaan.

The cinematography for Mahaan was shot by Shreyaas Krishna .

You can watch the Mahaan movie on Amazon Prime Video,.

On 10 Feb 2022 Mahaan was released on the Amazon Prime Video, platform.

The movie Mahaan belonged to the Action,Thriller, genre.

Mahaan User Review

• Movie rating

Disclaimer: The materials, such as posters, backdrops, and profile pictures, are intended to represent the associated movies and TV shows under fair use guidelines for informational purposes only. We gather information from social media, specifically Twitter. We strive to use only official materials provided publicly by the copyright holders.

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Release Date : February 10,2022

123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5

Starring: Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simha, Simran,Vani Bhojan, Sananth, Muthukumar, Aadukalam Naren

Director: Karthik Subbaraj

Producer: SS Lalit Kumar

Music Director: Santhosh Narayanan

Cinematography : M Sherif

Editor: Vivek Harshan

Mahaan is a gangster drama that marks the first collaboration of Vikram and his son, Dhruv Vikram. Written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj, the movie is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Let’s see how the movie is.

Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram) is a commerce teacher, who follows Gandhian values until he meets his childhood friend Sathyavan (Bobby Simha), who brews liquor. In no time, Mahaan joins the liquor business and starts ruling the liquor mafia. But things change when his son, Dadabhai Naoroji (Dhruv Vikram), a Gandhian follower, comes back as a policeman to wipe out his father’s liquor business. Did Dadabhai complete his mission? How did Mahaan face his son? To know the answers we need to watch the movie.

Plus Points:

As always, Vikram delivers his best performance as a common man and also as a mafia leader. His performance in emotional scenes is quite mesmerizing. Meanwhile, Dhruv Vikram wows everyone with his unique and stellar performance as a ruthless policeman. The scenes and dialogues between the father and son are good.

Bobby Simha lives in his character. Sananth and Muthukumar give their best to make the movie a good one. The story runs well in the second half and hooks you in a few scenes. Santhosh Narayanan needs to be appreciated for his outstanding music that helps in elevating the scenes. The visuals are especially good.

Minus Points:

The major problem with this gangster drama is its slow-paced narration. In addition, Mahaan also has a lengthy runtime. The film takes a lot of time to enter the main story.

Until the entry of Dhruv Vikram, the movie runs on a slow note and makes you feel a bit bored. Many scenes in the first half test your patience with the boring screenplay.

Technical Aspects:

Director Karthik Subbaraj has good experience in dealing with gangster movies. He narrates it in his own space but he fails to make it an engaging gangster movie. Shreyaa’s cinematography is good and the background score by Santhosh Narayanan is outstanding. Production values are also good.

On the whole, Mahaan is a slow-paced gangster drama that works only in parts. If you bear the slow pace and lengthy runtime, you can give the movie a shot for the finest performances of Vikram and Dhruv Vikram. 123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Version

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Mahaan ( U/A ) 09/Feb/2022 Action, Drama 2hrs 42min

Critics: 5 Panel: 0 User: 1639

Overall: 3.6 from 1644 users

Synopsis/Plot : A middle-aged school teacher, Gandhi Mahaan, embarks on a journey of self-discovery after getting abandoned by his family. He soon becomes a pride billionaire but faces many challenges.

Director : Karthik Subburaj

Music Director : Santhosh Narayanan

Cast More Cast & Crew (8)

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Critics Review

Decent watch, especially for its intent.

It is known that Vikram is capable of fitting into the shoes of any challenging character given to him, after a break it feels he has been offered something tailor-made for him. There is a 20 year journey in the story and Chiyaan nails it by appearing in different getups, his acting goes strength to... (more)

Source: Ashwin, MovieCrow

Dhruv, Vikram in an unmemorable, pointless film on ideology

Karthik Subbaraj's films have always played with irony.Mahaan is the latest addition to the list. But with its flawed set-ups and a lack of emotional depth, it doesn�t become a very memorable one. (more)

Source: Ashameera Aiyappan, Firstpost.com

Vikram, son Dhruv deliver a spicy action drama that captures moral struggle of our time

The Vikram and Dhruv-starrer is a spicy action-family drama that captures the moral and spiritual struggle of our time. It could have been more if Karthik had slowed the pace a little and dug deep into the period and atmosphere. (more)

Source: Manoj K Kumar, Indian Express

Vikram and Dhruv spar in an overlong gangster saga

What should have been a clash of ideologies becomes a mere battle of egos, and the characters make inconsistent and unconvincing choices without any progression in their respective arcs. The Rustom and Sohrab premise, of a father and son engaged in a battle to the death, would have acquired some po... (more)

Source: Sowmya Rajendran, The News Minute

Vikram's gangster saga with son Dhruv is paisa vasool

The film, in short, tells the story of a man who becomes other than what his name says, and goes through a personal crisis when his family walks out on him because he drinks with a childhood friend while trying to "feel free". The action packed narrative rides on a topic that will always find di... (more)

Source: pinkvilla, Pinkvilla

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Music Tracks

No.	Song Title	Lyric Writer	Performer(s)	Listen here
1	“Soorayaatam ”	Muthamil	VM Mahalingam, Santhosh Narayanan
2	“Evanda Enakku Custody ”	Vivek	Santhosh Narayanan
3	“Missing me”	Vivek	Dhruv Vikram
4	“Naan Naan”	Vivek	Santhosh Narayanan
5	“Umm Song”	Vivke	Aditya Ravindran
6	“Pona Povura”	Asal Kolaar	Gaana Muthu, Asal Kolaar

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Tamil Actress Sunaina To Marry Dubai-based YouTuber Khalid Al Ameri?

Curated By : Entertainment Bureau

Local News Desk

Last Updated: July 04, 2024, 16:18 IST

Bengaluru, India

Sunaina started her career with Telugu films.

The actress shared an engagement post on her Instagram account last month.

South actress Sunaina has been in the headlines since the past few days because of speculations about her marriage. The news of her engagement with Dubai-based influencer Khalid Al Ameri is going viral on social media. The actress also shared an engagement post on her Instagram account last month. On June 5, she posted two hands holding each other with a lock emoji. But she didn’t disclose who her fiance is. Her post was liked by Khalid Al Ameri.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sunainaa (@thesunainaa)

Khalid also posted a photo of a girl holding hands with a diamond ring on June 26. In the caption he wrote, “Alhamdulillah.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Khalid Al Ameri (@khalidalameri)

Fans have expressed doubts that the two are officially confirmed to be engaged. It is said that both of them are going to get married soon and many celebrities, fans and social media users are wishing both of them good luck.

Khalid Al Ameri graduated from Stanford. He was already married to Salama Mohammed. The duo made a big splash in the Middle East. The couple became one of the most popular influencers and have millions of followers on their social media profiles. After some time there was a difference between the two and the couple officially got divorced. On July 1, his former wife Salama Mohamed also revealed that she and Khalid were divorced and stated that their divorce was finalised on February 14.

Sunaina, who was born in Hyderabad, entered the film industry in 2005. She made her debut in the Telugu industry with the film Kumar Vs Kumari and in the Tamil industry with Kadhalil Vizhunthen. She got many opportunities further and appeared in several films, including Samar (2013), Vanmam (2014), Laththi (2022) and Kavalai Vendam (2016). Recently, Sunayana starrer Tamil crime thriller Inspector Rishi was released on Prime on Amazon in March.

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‘Kalki 2898 AD’ Review: Lavish Tollywood Sci-Fi Epic Is an Unabashedly Derivative Spectacle

Telugu cinema superstar Prabhas swashbuckles as a Han Solo clone.

By Joe Leydon

Film Critic

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With “ Kalki 2898 AD ,” Telugu cinema filmmaker Nag Ashwin rifles through a century of sci-fi and fantasy extravaganzas to create a wildly uneven mashup of everything from Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” to Marvel Comics movies, underpinned by elements from the Hindu epic poem “Mahabharata.” It’s billed, perhaps optimistically, as the first chapter of the Kalki Cinematic Universe franchise — which makes it part of a larger trend, since it launches the same weekend that Kevin Costner’s multi-film “Horizon” saga does in the U.S.

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Bhairava (Telugu superstar Prabhas ), a roguish bounty hunter who rolls in a tricked-out faux Batmobile equipped with a robotic co-pilot, yearns to earn enough “credits” to buy his way into the Complex, where he can crash the best parties, ride horses through open fields and avoid all the debt collectors hounding him in Kasi. He seizes on the opportunity to make his dreams come true when a colossal reward is posted for the capture of SUM-80 (Deepika Padukone), an escapee from the Complex’s Project K lab, where pregnant women are routinely incinerated after being drained of fluids that can ensure Yaskin’s longevity.

While on the run through a desert wasteland, en route to the rebel enclave known as Shambala, SUM-80 is renamed Sumati by newfound allies and, more important, protected by the now-ancient Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan), who has evolved into an 8-foot-tall sage with superhuman strength, kinda-sorta like Obi-Wan Kenobi on steroids, and a sharp eye for any woman who might qualify as the Mother, the long-prophesized parent of — yes, you guessed it — Kalki.

Bhairava and his droid sidekick Bujji (voiced by Shambala Keerthy Suresh) follow in hot pursuit, and are in turn pursued by an army of storm troopers led by Commander Manas (Saswata Chatterjee), a cherubic-faced Yaskin factotum who always seems to be trying a shade too hard to exude intimidating, butch-level authority. Ashwatthama swats away the storm troopers and their flying vehicles like so many bothersome flies, and exerts only slightly more effort by warding off Bhairava and his high-tech weaponry. (Shoes that enable you to fly do qualify as weaponry, right?)

For his own part, Bhairava has a few magical powers of his own, though it’s never entirely clear what he can or cannot do with them. After a while, it’s tempting to simply assume that, in any given scene, the bounty hunter can do whatever the script requires him to do.

But never mind: He and Ashwatthama do their respective things excitingly well during the marathon of mortal combat that ensues when just about everybody (including Manas and his heavily armed goons) get ready to rumble in Shambala for the climactic clash.

All of which may make “Kalki 2898 AD” sound a great deal more coherent than it actually is. Truth to tell, this is a movie that can easily lead you at some point to just throw up your hands and go with the flow. Or enjoy the rollercoaster ride. And if this really is, as reported, the most expensive motion picture ever produced in India, at least it looks like every penny and more is right there up on the screen.

Reviewed at AMC Fountains 18, Houston, June 26, 2024. Running time: 181 MIN.

• Production: An AA Films release of a Vyjayanthi Movies production. Producer: C. Aswini Dutt.
• Crew: Director, writer: Nag Ashwin. Dialogue: Sai Madhav Burra. Camera: Djordje Stojiljkovic. Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. Music: Santhosh Narayanan.
• With: Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan, Disha Patani. (Telugu, English dialogue)

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