'Mahaveerudu', the Telugu-dubbed version of the Tamil-language movie 'Maaveeran', was released in theatres today (July 14). Despite the cancellation of shows early in the day due to content delivery and license issues in some pockets of the Telugu States, the film's screenings started to get smoother by the afternoon. Let's find out what to expect from the latest dubbed release in town.
Plot:
Sathya (Sivakarthikeyan) is a cartoonist in a news daily named Maa Bhoomi. His cartoon strip titled Mahaveerudu is a hit with readers. Owing to a development project, Sathya, his widowed mother (Saritha) and his sister move to a newly-built government-sponsored apartment, where dozens of families have been rehabilitated as compensation for taking over their dwellings. But the building is spurious, hindering the quality of life of its dwellers. Sathya, despite being a journalist, is notoriously cowardly and doesn't dare to question even the in-house Engineer.
In a fantastical turn of events, Sathya starts hearing the voice of the protagonist of his cartoon series. This protagonist knows the future like a god. The rest of the film is about how Sathya becomes an accidental hero and averts a major tragedy by locking horns with the villain of the piece - a Minister (Mysskin) who wants to win the next election come what may.
Performances:
Sivakarthikeyan is undoubtedly one of the very few likeable Tamil actors of the new generation. For the Telugu audience, he is leagues ahead of his colleagues such as Ashok Selvan, Atharva, Arun Vijay and others. If he continues to deliver films like 'Doctor' and 'Mahaveerudu', chances are that he will emerge quite popular among the Telugu audience. He is absolutely good in the film under review.
Mysskin is failed by a rather weak character. His ways and language are cliched. Yogi Babu is hilarious as a construction worker who is deputed to do patchwork in the creaky apartment building. Ravi Teja has dubbed for the unseen force whose voice the male lead keeps hearing over 60% of the running time. Saritha is good as the male lead's frustrated mother. Our own Sunil is seen as the Minister's trusted and occasionally domineering lieutenant. He is good.
Aditi Shankar appears to become the hero's love interest at first. But her character (she is a sub-editor) thankfully doesn't give way to cliches.
Technical Departments:
Bharath Sankar's background score is excellent. His work is in the league of a GV Prakash Kumar, if not an Anirudh. The cinematography is adequate. The production design and VFX are decent. The ramshackle building looks real and lived-in. Credit to director Madonne Ashwin for ensuring some meticulous work.
Merits:
A new spin on the hero vs villain template.
Situational humour that never feels forced.
The absence of a hero with zero saviour complex.
Non-routine clashes.
Some interesting situations due to the fantasy element.
Demerits:
The overlong run-time.
Not-so-interesting deployment of the voice-over.
The villain's characterization. A Minister would never behave like an absolute clown right in the presence of hundreds of people in real life.
Vox Verdict:
'Mahaveerudu' makes for a riveting watch despite some flaws. By wedding fantasy elements with a routine template, the film achieves some awesome results.
Rating: 3 \ 5
