‘Mahaan’ movie review: Vikram shines in this ambitious but overstuffed gangster epic

By now, there are some things we now have come to anticipate in a Karthik Subbaraj movie – sorry, ‘A Karthik Subbaraj padam’. A reasonably fashionable outdated track that form of matches the movie’s narrative; a smattering of Rajinikanth film references; a personality named Michael; a cameo by Subbaraj’s father, Gajaraj… what else? Oh, sure, after all: the well-known Karthik Subbaraj Twist™. These tropes and motifs might be seen as signatures of an auteur or as repetitions that get a bit tiresome.

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In Mahaan, you’ve blended emotions about it. Actually, you’ve blended emotions about the entire movie as nicely.

It’s not at all an odd movie, as a result of Subbaraj has tried an epic. We have now a sprawling drama, spanning many years. We discover the lives of three key characters crisscrossing one another; their fates, inevitably intertwined. We witness historical past repeating itself. If all this isn’t sufficient proof of an epic, then there’s Santhosh Narayanan’s trumpet-heavy background rating that accentuates the drama.

The movie opens with this Mohandas Gandhi quote: “Freedom isn’t price having if it doesn’t embody the liberty to make errors.” What follows is the story of somebody named Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram), who finally ends up making errors with a capital M.

Gandhi’s grandfather and father are followers of, nicely, Gandhi. His father is so dedicated to his ideology that he modifies his son’s birthday from August 16 to August 15 on his beginning certificates. Later, Gandhi marries Naachi (Simran), who can also be a staunch Gandhian. She teaches her little son to close his eyes if he sees a Hollywood film poster as a result of she believes these movies comprise violence and intercourse. Gandhi isn’t merely surrounded by Gandhians, he’s stifled by them. Their expectation to emulate a person who’s revered as a Mahatma burdens him. For, Gandhi’s inclination is to journey the trail of pleasures — even when they’re thought-about sinful.

Due to his father and spouse, Gandhi, until he turns 40, lives — slightly, forces himself to dwell — in line with the Gandhian methods. However life takes a dramatic flip at 40 when he runs into his boyhood buddy Sathyavan (Simha), who has taken over his father’s alcohol enterprise. Committing one sin after one other, Gandhi turns into anti-Gandhi, and shortly, he has an enormous life option to make.

Vikram is implausible as Gandhi Mahaan. He transitions effortlessly from a timid college trainer to a gun-wielding alcohol baron. His eyes convey the pleasant menace when he finds out for the primary time that he’s able to violence. They’re equally efficient in displaying his helplessness as a person who has to make a tricky selection.

The remainder of the principle solid do a wonderful job as nicely (Dhruv’s efficiency is, nonetheless, somewhat overpitched). Simha, particularly, is spectacular as Sathyavan. Subbaraj is in no hurry whereas fleshing out these characters. And, that’s wonderful as a result of you don’t anticipate a gangster drama to journey at a breakneck tempo.

One of many issues with Mahaan is that it doesn’t fairly hit you because it ought to. For example, there’s a level the place Gandhi tells Sathyavan, “Oru vaazhkai, varalara vazhanum” [roughly translates to ‘We got one life, make history’]. It’s an epic, hair-raising line on paper. However your hair doesn’t rise when it’s uttered on display.

One other problem is the inconsistency in Gandhi’s emotional graph. There’s a level the place he’s crestfallen, burdened by his personal deeds. He seems to be like he has misplaced the need to dwell. However there’s an abrupt liberation after which he returns to his audacious self.

In its final hour or so, you discover the movie making an attempt to do too many issues. We comply with a father-son rivalry, a narrative of a person paying for his sins, a battle of two ideologies… and, after all, amidst all this, we get a twist as nicely (as a result of this can be a Karthik Subbaraj padam). It’s admirable that Mahaan makes an attempt to juggle all this. However after some extent, it will get a bit extreme. And also you surprise if the movie ought to have listened to a line from its protagonist. “Every part carefully. That’s the fitting technique to be.”

Mahaan is presently streaming on Amazon Prime