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Mahanati
Mahanati links:
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Jeevi
rating: 3.5/5
Punchline: Emotional rollercoaster ride
Genre: Biopic
Type: Straight
Banner: Swapna Cinema
Runtime: 176 minutes
Censor Certificate: U
Release date:9 May, 2018
Theater watched: Regal Cinemas Hadley 16, New Jersey, USA
Cast: Keerthy Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha Akkineni, Vijay Devarakonda, Rajendra Prasad, Tanikella Bharani, Malavika Nair, Shalini Pandey, Tulasi, Divya Vani, Naga Chaitanya, Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj, Naresh, Krish, Srinivas Avasarala, Sandeep Vanga, Tharun Bhascker, Nani .etc
Music: Mickey J Meyer
Cinematographer: Dani Sanchez-Lopez
Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry & Ramajogayya Sastry
Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Screenplay: Siddharth Sivasamy
Direction: Nag Ashwin
Producers: C Ashwini Dutt, Swapna Dutt, Priyanka Dutt
Mahanati links: |
Savitri’s (Keerthy Suresh) father dies when she is 2 years old. She is brought up by KV Chowdary (Rajendra Prasad) who thinks that they can make money in stage acting and cinemas. She is fascinated by Gemini Ganesan much before she made debut as an actress. She gets an opportunity in films because of Gemini Ganesan. She falls in love with him and decides to marry him though he is already married. Rest of the story is about what happens when things go wrong in marriage.
Keerthy Suresh: It’s not an easy feat to match the might of Savitri while doing a biopic. Keerthi Suresh has excellently portrayed the role of Savitri. In certain angles, she resembles Savithri very much. She looks very young and fit during teenage. And her physical appearance keep changing as she grows old. She portrayed innocence very well. After few scenes in the movie, we forget that she is Keerthy Suresh. She is bound to get a lot of awards for her work in this film.
Others: Samantha does the role of an investigative journalist. Her character starts off as a meek and stuttering women and she changes as the movie progresses. Her performance in climax is very emotional and moving. Dulquer Salmaan plays the role of Gemini Ganesan. He is adorable in the beginning portions and we tend to hate him towards to end of it. He is absolutely a delight to watch. Vijay Deverakonda plays his role with a lot of charm and brings some lighter moments to the film. Mohan Babu plays the role of SV Ranga Rao with a lot of genuinity. Naga Chaitanya essays the role of Akkineni Nageswara Rao effortlessly. Rajendra Prasad is very good as Savithri’s maternal uncle. Krish surprises everybody with a beautiful portrayal of KV Reddy’s character. It’s his scene in which Savitri as an actress introduced in the movie. Srinivas Avasarala is impressive with his portrayal of LV Prasad.
Story - screenplay - direction: Nag Ashwin who has shown his ability and thinking prowess with his debut film Yevade Subramanyam took a gap of few years before coming up with Mahanati. It’s a great risk to do such a biopic of an actress whose last few years are marked with controversy and downfall. The director has taken a crucial scene as starting point and then narrated the story in 3rd person’s perspective. Most of the fans of Savithri know the real story in bits an pieces. But we don’t know the timeline of her films vis-a-vis her personal life. This film shows the exact timeline. It’s very easy to stuff the movie with all popular scenes and songs of Savithri films. Nag Ashwin used a few scenes and songs from her films, but concentrated more on the personal life of Savithi. He has explored the aspect of her love and marital life with Gemini Ganesan. And used the last 30 minutes to show the whirlwind of emotions and the distress Savithri goes through in her final years. Searching for Sankarayya gives another dimension to the story. Nag Ashwin took the tough path to narrate this story and comes out with flying colors. 
Other departments: Music by Mickey J Meyer is a huge asset. All songs are good. Sada Nannu followed by Chivariki Migiledi are my personal favorites. Mahanati song is used in background music very effectively. Background music is exceptionally good. Cinematography by Dani Sanchez-Lopez is excellent. It’s very difficult to shoot the visuals in three color schemes and he does a perfect job. Art direction of the film is realistic. Makeup and costumes are authentic. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is good. Production values by Vijayanthi Movies and Swapna Cinema are grand. They should be commended for backing up such a content based biopic. Dialogues by Say Madhav Burra are natural. They denote black and white era, yet understood by contemporary movie lovers.
Analysis: Mahanati is an authentic biopic that’s told in an uncompromising manner. The director didn’t commercialise the narration for the sake of frontbenchers. This is how the biopics are made in Hollywood with a classic style of narration with emotions taking the front seat. The last half an hour of the film is so emotional that your heart becomes heavy. Mahanati makes you smile with her innocence, amazes you with her talent and make you sad with her ending. On a whole, Mahanati takes you through an emotional rollercoaster ride. Go and watch it!