GodFather movie review: Chiranjeevi-starrer is a mediocre remake plus a VFX-heavy Salman Khan

Language: TeluguCast: Chiranjeevi, Nayanthara, Satyadev, Salman Khan Director: Mohan RajaStar rating: 2.5/5There hasn’t been much of a buzz this week among Telugu film audience regarding Chiranjeevi’s GodFather. There had been high anticipation surrounding the project when it had been announced, but the excitement died down — slowly but surely. After Acharya and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, fans are hesitant to really put their trust in a film. So with this context in mind, GodFather is not a very bad film. It is just a lot close to the original, and if you are one of the people that has seen Lucifer, GodFather might very well turn out to be a snooze fest. If not, this is a film that would reintroduce you to Chiranjeevi, the star who won hearts with his well-intentioned film.As well-meaning illegitimate son, Brahma Teja (Chiranjeevi) prefers to stay away from the spotlight. His biggest duty is to ensure that his father has all the monetary support that he requires to run a political party without intervention from corporate conglomerates within the country. Now, the idea of an illegimate son making all the moves in a political party through his father is intriguing, but GodFather doesn’t take any risks to make the film flashy, or entertaining. They introduce this grand criminal Abdul Qureshi, one that has been on the run from the Interpol, but why is he so great? What about him has even the Interpol in awe of him? Answers to such questions are not something that you should look forward to.What the filmmakers have really done to make Brahma the most interesting and powerful within this universe, is to make him unbeatable. They pit Brahma against his corrupt and power-hungry brother-in-law, Jaidev Das (Satyadev). One of the biggest surprises of this film really is Satyadev as the villain. Not only does the actor hold his own opposite Chiranjeevi, but he also excels at portraying a character that is extremely hateful.The unfortunate part really is that Jaidev has no back story whatsoever. He keeps repeating that his aim in life is to become a Chief Minister. He claims to have fooled Sathya, his wife and her family into accepting him. He is proud of having made it this far, but the question until the very end remains, why? GodFather is bland in the way it treats its main characters. Not only does it refuse to ground them in reality, it further alienates audiences by introducing dialogues that are more comical than emotional.Take for instance, this dialogue “Peanuts are good for poverty, not politics.” This is just scratching the surface of the film’s intriguing dialogues. While this is on one side, there is Puri Jagannadh’s cameo on the other. The director who has been trolled online for his most recent film — Liger — starring Vijay Deverakonda, takes on the role of the fourth pillar of democracy: the media. It is ironic really. However, if there has been one sequence that truly belong in this film, it is the conversation between Puri’s character Govardhan and Brahma. This repartee is entertaining, especially after long moments of tedious plot development.You pack all of this up, you have a bland, uninteresting but not a terrible film. The kick comes with Salman Khan’s appearance though. The first question that comes to mind is — when has the audience ever seen Salman Khan play a second fiddle? For the sake of almighty, he drives a bike that can shoot as if a bazooka was fitted into it. The VFX, to be honest, is really terrible in these scenes, but what really captures our attention is how Salman’s character Masoom Bhai sets the stage for Brahma’s takeover in the film.Prithviraj Sukumaran, who also directed Lucifer in Malayalam had appeared in this extended cameo. In GodFather, Salman Khan has taken up the role, and has played it with candour. However, it only distracts audience for very little time. The snail pace of the film, the mightier-than-thou treatment that Brahama gets, and the missing pieces of information regarding some of the main characters have made GodFather a disappointing film for me.What is actually surprising is the fact that the film is directed by Mohan Raja. This man became well-known in the Tamil Film industry for churning out one remake after another, and really successful ones at that. However, the magic touch seems to be missing in GodFather. It is certainly not a movie that would put you to sleep, however, it is neither one that would illicit excitement either.Priyanka Sundar is a film journalist who covers films and series of different languages with special focus on identity and gender politics.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.