Mahanati

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.

#MAHANATI has all the fine elements of a great cinema in making like it is biopic, also a parallel plot running in 1980 (Vijay Antony and madhura vani portrayed by vijay and samantha) to tell the story of savitri amma since childhood to her death bed.

Film director Nag Ashwin had taken time to research every detailed aspect of the film be it talking to savitri's family members to know about her in detailed and to study the sets for recreating 1950s era.( lot of story-boarding work was done ).

Initially it takes us some time to adjust to era's of 1950s and 1980s then as we slowly encounter and adjust to characters especially little cute child savitra amma with song aagipo balyamma there is no looking back. Costumes are designed picture perfect just to mesmerize as if we are looking exactly 1950s era.

Thanks to cinematographer Dani Sanchez Lopez for making us visualize resplendent montage of golden era. There is huge star cast enacted with main leads Keerthy Suresh brilliant portrayal as cute innocent #Mahanati and Dulquer salmaan as loverboy with grey shades (Gemini ganeshan) well supported by others like Rajendra prasad(chowdary garu), Mohanbabu (as Late SV Rangarao garu), Prakash raj, Krishh (legendary KV Reddy garu), Naga chaitanya (Late ANR garu ),Naresh(in a key role).

One important aspect of the film is it has recreated the grandeur of small bits and pieces of famous films like mayabazaar and Devadasu (1953) to name a few which are exquisitely shot in vintage black and white. A film which tells the tale of savitri as great human being(philanthropist), vintage car enthusiast besides great acting(300 films), singing and directing across multiple languages.

Music and BGM by Mickey J meyer has soothing effect which matches the golden era. This film is a honest tribute to Legendary MAHANATI Savithri Garu. Take a bow to all the cast and crew for their wonderful performances.

# This film will be remembered in history of TFI as the first BIOPIC with reverences of stalwarts like NTR garu, ANR garu, K V reddy garu, SV Rangarao garu, Savitri amma, LV prasad garu, etc. , NOTE: the above are just my views and understanding ...and don't treat this as review. EPICs cannot be reviewed just see and enjoy.

From a person who has almost zero knowledge about the telugu film industry and its upbringing, Mahanati's aura and atmosphere will always be distant from me. But even from that itself i was able to witness an epic, drawn from a simple script and effort that makes this a great, if not , a must watch.

Telugu film industry is probably considered by many as the place that houses simple, no nonsense mass masala films. But recent times has proven us wrong. From Rangasthalam , Baahubali and Arjun Reddy, it has proven itself to be able to sustain well executed, brilliant films as well.

Mahanati will be a film that has the potential to be a classic. But not all biographies achieve the reach and attention that Mahanati so easily gets. It's not about the making, but how the story is told that makes it so damn exciting. From the loose opening to the grandeur ending, Mahanati is a gift to all those who embrace film in its raw form : to tell a story.

Biographies often have the tendency to fictionalize certain events for dramatic purposes. And i don't know how much Mahanati is fictionalized. As much as i can differ between those which are fictionalized and those which are real, Mahanti has done that expertly. The fictionalization is on spot. It can be compared to, perhaps as a event that is to emphasize something more, rather than just a blunt scene.

Mahanati's biggest plus might be its cast. Keerthy Suresh has grown from a simple, 'cute' actress to someone who can wield powerful performances, if demanded. Dulquer, Samantha all provided the performance that everyone expects. It is sure a economical casting. Dulquer has his roots in Malayalam. So does Keerthy. Samantha has established herself a prominent actress in the whole of south India and Vijay Deverakonda's next film is sure to make the counters ticking.

The cinematography does need some mention. The frames were slick, moving and fast. It doesn't sacrifice space for sub-par elements. Though the comedic scenes were bit of a mess. Perhaps it appeals to the region based film critics.

Mahanati is south India's answer to a legend. And it sure is one.

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Great biography and fantastic narration. It's like 5 hrs after the movie n I can still carry the feel. Credit goes to all the Cast n crew. Everyone performed their best.

Must n Worth Watch film. #SavithriLivesForever #Mahanati

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..