MANISH KUMAR BESALA

My review: I watched the movie mahanati . I have always been intrigued by the personality of Savitri. A powerhouse of talent, matchless grace and beauty with a heart of gold. She is an enigma. I have not watched any Keerthy Suresh films before so I was skeptical whether she will be able to do justice to such a role when I read she is doing the lead character. After watching the film I must say she is a perfect choice. The first half is quite dragging with a boring background score. I found her over-the-top initially in the scenes trying for opening in films. Her performance in the recreated black and white shots was mediocre. But she made a brilliant transition in second half. She looked absolutely stunning and acting was really impressive, the Chivaruku Mighiledi climax shot deserves a special mention. I loved her costumes. The silk sarees were gorgeous! Dulquer Salmaan delivered a decent performance as Gemini Ganesan. The supporting cast were a let down. The guy who acted as Savitri’s uncle did a good job. Prakash Raj and Naga Chaitanya appear in cameo roles as Chakrapani and ANR respectively, both failed to impress. Vijay Devarakonda and Samantha’s parallel track is strictly alright. The shooting scenes are mostly in Telugu. She did a lot of bilingual films. They should have dubbed those scenes so that the Tamil audience would be able to connect better. It is a biopic but has a lot of fiction added. The story is shown right from childhood. She had an own sister in real life but that character is completely excluded. Gemini and Savitri were mostly doing multi-starrers with Sivaji. The rift started after 1965 only. She didn’t act opposite Sivaji in that period. But Gemini is portrayed as a husband who gets jealous when she is offered roles opposite Sivaji. Gemini was approached for Veerapandiya Kattabomman when SSR backed out in the last minute. Sivaji sought his help and the shooting was in Jaipur. He turned down the role saying he needs to be with Savitri. She was pregnant with their first child and her due date was round the corner. But she insisted Gemini to do the role saying they have to help Sivaji Anna as it's a crucial film in his career. She viewed Sivaji as her own brother. Wish such details were included so that the next generation gets to know more about her real life character. She was a very broad minded person. The scene where her daughter breaks the alcohol bottles is too filmy. I saw her daughter’s interview. When she was questioned did she ever do anything to stop her mother from drinking she said she was scared to confront her. Also at no point of her career Savitri ever wanted to quit acting and be a house wife. But in the film she is shown as a wife ready to quit her career in two different scenes. She was passionate about her profession. Vintha Samsaram a remake of Vietnam Veedu was directed by Savitri. She did the female lead. But Sivaji was not the hero, it was Jaggaiah. Can’t ignore such mistakes. She invited Gemini for her daughter’s marriage but he didn’t attend that should have been included. But his wife Alamelu attended the wedding. Savitri shared a cordial relationship with his wife. In fact after she fell in coma, Alamelu flew to Bangalore and brought her to Chennai. The beautiful relationship shared by Savitri and Alamelu was barely missing in the movie. But have to appreciate the director for not showing her face after she fell in coma and not making it over melodramatic. It would have been painful to watch! Her son was young at the time of her death. He was barely sixteen but shown as a 6-7 yrs old boy in the film. If you are a fan of period films you may enjoy the film. Don’t get carried away by the reviews. Watch it with low expectations. The movie is lengthy. The editing should have been crisp. The music is pretty good liked two songs. Worth a watch!