Mahanati

I wanted to give it 9 stars because movie did take artistic liberty with a few of the scenes, but I have nothing but praise for how they went about making this film.

The parallel story to help us connect with the past is brilliant story telling. The research done by the costume department paired with the cinematography of Dani Sanchez-Lopez gives us the closest one can come to time traveling into the past while staying put. Venkateswara Rao Kotagiri's editing features seamless transitions when switching between time periods and helps with Savithri's aging process without abrupt change. The soundtracks and background music isn't you typical people breaking into song and dance but an extension to the emotions experienced by the characters. The director can pat his back for the casting. You have given a chance for Keerthi to show her acting skills. The support cast did a great job too. Samanth's dialog delivery at the end of the film gave me goosebumps. DQ's performance as a charmer translated across the screen.

This is the sort of cinema I have been waiting for. If film making is one of the prominant art forms of contemporary telugu people, the commercial mass films do little to progress the art form. There is art for art's sake. There is art for a reason. This film is definitely the latter. I have often wondered how we went from the likes of Satyajit Ray to what we have today. This film is what I have missed for a long time. It makes me proud of my heritage. I cant wait to watch some of the older films featured in this film.

It left me teary eyed and stronger somehow. Thank you Nag Ashwin for this work. I will follow your career closely from now on.

I've never in my wildest thought would have imagined Keerthy Suresh could be a testament, her presence match on par to the late Savitri that there is not a frame in this film that doesn't feel her infection leaving a mark which will remain with you long after the cinema. It was a facepalm moment for the Keerthy Suresh critic in me while witnessing Mahanati, the star who has slogged her way through so much mediocre films, has had her fair share of significance in tinsel town doing the same roles, and bats her eyelashes to woo the bozos and incel fellas. Facepalm moment for yours truly after watching Mahanati. Total kick in the teeth!

Prep plan: Well I wanted to do my ritual of having a little booze before entering a bog-standard film with my friends. To add to the tragedy with a day left for Karnataka elections, Government had notified pubs and bars to be closed till 12th of May. Well, a U-turn to return home, i almost bailed, but stayed for the sake of Dulquer Salman. Figured, alright, let's give this "cringey Keerthy Suresh" a shot, stone-cold sober in Gandhinagar which is the hubspot of cinema fans across Bangalore.

The movie ended, i walked out of cinema with such a great joy of seeing a decent Telugu film after ages. Last time I felt this happy, hmm in top of my head i'd say it's Gotta be "Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu". Keerthy, she plays this innocent girl throughout, sometimes it feels a bit too much, kich kich, but the background music saves it. As you may be aware that the story follows Savitri's exodus from her village to Madras who dreams of making it big while her well-wishers believe that she can create waves in repertoire cinema. She then meets the Quixotic Gemini Ganeshan and her life blooms as she travels in green pastures.

Well good things come to an end so does this love story of rags to riches and riches to rags. I don't want dig more on the story as the movie plays out like a partly like a melodrama documentary. The screenplay filled with subtext provided a sort of ongoing commentary on the story that makes it much more interesting. Seeing obvious parallels with the lead actress' reel and real lives collide is odd, but like the parallels between Savitri and the character she is preparing to play, it only adds depth to the story and gives us more insight into what is happening and mixes effortlessly with the central story.

Without a doubt, "Mahanati" is a fine piece of cinema that will captivate audiences of all kinds, whether they're looking for entertainment, time-pass or an engaging cinematic experience.

Very good movie and great direction of naagi garu. And all the cast done very great job especially keerthy suresh. The story inspires more people..

Excellent movie that lives upto the expectations of a biopic about the legendary actress!

Let me start with what I remembered when I heard the name Savithri until I saw the movie. I remembered the queen of weepy movies that the kid in me didn't want to watch on a Sunday evening. I remembered my grandmother's heavy praises about her acting. I remembered her masculine acting in the movie Maya Bazaar, the movie I loved. I remembered mentions about her being a drunkard which made me wonder why would such a popular actress go mad like that. Little did I know that she was a fun-loving person with interest in race cars, a philanthropist and had so much complications with marriage and life but lived like a lioness until she fell prey for alcoholism.

I went to the movie expecting a linear narrative of Savithri's life story but was pleasantly surprised to see that the director Nag Ashwin decided to take us through the journey of a lady journalist in 80s who was covering Savithri's death (Two Period movies in one). Here I am thinking high about this young pony-tailed newbie director just for taking up such an attempt instead of the usual masala and he strikes me even hard with his attention to detail, unexpected comedy and handling of emotional scenes with finesse. It only makes me wonder how many producers are out there (other than his father-in-law who produced this movie) who can bankroll for this crazy guy's future ambitions. Needless to say he has been added to my short list of directors to watch for.

Keerthy Suresh! She really makes sure that nobody can brush aside her choice for Savithri as just by chance for being a close look-alike physically. While it's not a surprise that she shines in the early portions as a playful teenager which she has portrayed already in other movies, she also proves that she can deliver a plethora of emotions including fit of rage, helplessness etc. Her mimic-ing of 60s like facial expressions and jaw movements also help the role. I would have liked to see less of her teeth in some scenes though. But I have to say I expected more from Dulquer. I didn't see Gemini Ganesan's soft-spoken charm come across but he does score in later scenes while expressing frustration. Samantha does her part well but I am not sure what exactly others see as special in the climax scene. It was just usual.

Coming to the shortcomings of the film, I felt Nag could have tried to replaced certain scenes with just a dialogue/narration to avoid the awkwardness. For ex, the laddu eating scene right after showing her marriage problems, comical engagement scene of Samantha while the audience is trying to digest the fact that Savithri became an alcoholic. It's like eating dessert between sambar rice and rasam rice! Hope he will learn with more films how important it is to maintain the emotional state of audience. Oh and btw, padding actor's face with stuff just to show that she put on weight doesn't help with expressing emotions. Even Kamal did this mistake in Dasavadharam so I don't blame Nag much.

I have one burning question though. How does the story of Savithri (going from success to failure due to her "love" for a married guy who cheats her later) inspire Samantha to "kick"-start her love life opposing even her parents, I don't know. What would have been a perfect end to her story is if she develops courage to fight against male chauvinism inspired by Savithri. Poor Nag might have been worried about alienating male audience too much.

Overall, If you're crazy bugged about the formula movies that they're spinning nowadays and would like to spend some worthy time in nostalgia, go watch this movie.

Direction, Background Music, artist performances....everything is superb.

Especially 2nd half is really really good.