Swag

Writer, director Hasith Goli and actor Sree Vishnu teamed up for their second outing after Raja Raja Chora which was received well. In Swag, Hasith Goli deals with a much serious subject that is not only relevant in this day and age but also thought provoking.

Swag opens in the year 1551 where a king from "Swaganika" dynasty plays a second fiddle to his wife, Rukmini Devi, who is a matriarch. Rukmini's goal is to develop a matriarchal society while the king aims for a partriarchal one. This tussle continues for generations and in the present day a policer inspector named Bhavabhuti asserts male dominance in all walks of life. He later stumbled upon family inheritance and the rest of the movie is about how he tries to acquire the wealth and what role does matriarchy and patriarchy play into his quest.

This is a kind of subject that can go in any direction and can even made borderline vulgar. However, Hasith Goli demonstrates exceptional command over his story and characters. He clearly know what he set out to accomplish with this movie and that is refreshing to see from a relatively new comer. Although I wished the writing was a little bit better in the first act where the conflict is setup. The screenplay appears rushed and the editing by Viplav Nyshadam, while delivers the quirky feel that the maker was going for, cuts scenes too soon. The result is the information overload in the first act that stays with you till the end. I did wish they relaxed the first act just a tiny bit for the audience to take it all in.

Sree Vishnu plays five different characters ranging from a 16th century king to a modern day teenager obsessed with Instagram. This is his best performance yet. He is full of surprises in this movie and carries the movie with a natural ease. Female leads Ritu Varma and Meera Jasmine excelled in their respective roles and showed the variation that is needed as they play multiple roles as well.

Music by Vivek Sagar is an asset to the movie and it helped draw me in to all the drama. The production design was enough for you to lose yourself in the world of Swag.

Overall, Swag is an enjoyable movie watching experience and offers something novel and treats its audience with great respect.

-CinephileIndia2023.

It's good to communicate your ideas through a cinema, but what if the cinema itself ends up as a 2.5 hr long social commentary? That's exactly Swag is all about.

Director Hasith Goli deserves a pat on the back for coming with such a noble intention, but the execution was far from satisfactory. If viewed as a cinema, 1st half is a crashing bore, with literally so much going on the screen without any impact. But the interval makes us stick to the narrative. The entire second half becomes preachy, contrary to what they have promoted. One particular episode stands out, but rest of the movie isn't upto the mark.

Credit to Sree Vishnu for donning multiple getups, although one role stands out, rest all felt as a gimmicks, thanks to the flat writing. Rest of the cast did what they were given.

Technically, the movie is basic, BGM by Vivek Sagar is fine, editing makes sure proceedings aren't confusing, cinematography is okayish.

At the end, when viewed as a cinema, SWAG disappoints, but can watch it once for its intentions.

The concept's got some flavor, but the story's like a lukewarm pizza-kinda meh. A couple of characters pop, but most just fade into the background.

The screenplay? It drags like a long convo with your chatty uncle-kinda clumsy and hard to swallow.

Sri Vishnu flexed his acting chops across four roles, and Ritu Varma gave it her all, but the rest of the squad? Just vibin' at best.

Production design was on point-locations, sets, and props looked fresh, but the makeup? Let's just say it needed a glow-up.

Direction was decent, music was alright, and the cinematography? Just hanging out in the middle. Overall, you might wanna skip this one; it ain't worth your time...

Message by the movie and presentation of them movie is very good. But acting is top notch by Sri vishnu garu . I have no words to say what a talent he got. I got mesmerized by the transgender role. He literally looked like a goddess to me in his acting. I wish you next level movies for your career . Wanted to meet you in person if allowed. I am big fan of Nani Surya and sethupathi garu . Now you are on the same list . But this movie your acting is equivalent to Kamal sir. What a versatility . Lot of wishes for your work and dedication for each role in movie. I wish u get all awards for this tremendous work. Thanks for such a great movie.

The movie is very good. The second half is a bit slow and uninteresting but overall the movie is a good attempt.

Shri Vishnu has done Lifetime Award winning acting. He has done very well in total 5 roles.

Meera Jasmin garu has to say Chomeback with this movie. Even if this character is not present in the climax, the nose job gives a lot of impact to that character. Rituvarma nice good job. Rest of the actors have done well in their characters.

The point taken by director Harshit Goli is well known but dealt very well. That does not mean that there are no mistakes. They do not appear until the climax. But the flashback is a bit confusing. It seems that it is not clear.