Mahaan Movie Review
Mahaan is arguably the most fulfilling Chiyaan Vikram film in a long long time. Mahaan is also a good comeback for Karthik Subbaraj after the critically panned Jagame Thandhiram. Here goes our Mahaan Movie Review.
Mahaan Movie Review
Sensational Dhruv & rock-solid Chiyaan anchor the show!
Performances
Story & Narration
Technical Aspects & Music
Mahaan, directed by Karthik Subbaraj and starring the father – son duo Chiyaan Vikram and Dhruv Vikram has dropped for streaming on Amazon Prime. The film falls in the tried and tested gangster space (liquor mafia – political nexus) which the director is really fond of. The father – son angle is Mahaan’s USP; Dhruv Vikram is fantastic right from the moment he enters pre-interval. His scenes in the 2nd half are fiery. The youngster’s range of histrionics is enjoyable.
Chiyaan Vikram plays his age and is his usual charming self. The ace actor is simply brilliant in the emotional scenes towards the end of the film. He is very apt to translate the film’s concept onscreen – “true freedom cannot be felt unless one makes mistakes”. Subbaraj also has some nice dialogues about extremist ideology and how even the so-called pure Gandhians are staunch extremists.
The drama and cat&mouse play between father and son in the climax elevates Chiyaan’s character and befits the film’s title ‘Mahaan’. Vikram plays Gandhi Mahaan, who is raised as a staunch Gandhian by his father. Till the age of 40, he leads a very disciplined and restricted life without any exposure to alcohol and other vices. Simran plays his over-dramatic wife.
The night after his 40th birthday, Mahaan’s life changes drastically. From Mr. Clean, Mahaan totally gets into the wild, dark world of liquor business and the violence that comes along with the territory. Dhruv plays a dynamic, dashing cop and confronts his dad after a point. Bobby Simha (in a striking old makeover) and Sananth (impressive in a key role) are important support characters. Muthukumar also gets a substantial part, playing a politician.
Simran’s old age makeover could’ve been done better. Among the surprisingly weak links in the film is Santhosh Narayanan who has quite a forgettable outing. None of the songs are at his usual level! Young cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna impresses again with his work.
At a runtime of more than 2 hours 40 mins, Mahaan goes through its share of lulls in the first half. It really picks up only after Dhruv enters. The second half is mostly engaging with some melodramatic drags towards the end. Eventually, Mahaan is a fulfilling watch which rides safely on both the Vikrams’ immense talent & screen presence. Mahaan Movie Review by Kaushik LM
