GodFather Movie Review: Chiranjeevi Packs Restrained but Effective Punches in This Passable Remake; Salman Khan’s Cameo Is Just About Okay (LatestLY Exclusive)

GodFather Movie Review: Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial debut Lucifer, starring legendary Mohanlal in the lead, was a political thriller with plenty of masala content and a magnetic larger-than-life hero. It had its flaws, especially a weak second half, but Lucifer turned out to be one of Malayalam cinema's highest grossers. Director Mohan Raja and Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi saw the potential in its premise and adapted it into Telugu as GodFather. GodFather isn't a facsimile remake - it has some interesting tweaks - but it is very much a faithful adaptation of the original, and thankfully it doesn't take a very over-the-top route. That is, until a certain Bollywood superstar needed to make his mark. Godfather: Chiranjeevi Calls Mohanlal's Lucifer 'Unsatisfying'; Lalettan Fans Slam the Superstar and Share Papanasam Star Kamal Haasan's Video Praising Drishyam.

Like with the original, GodFather begins with the state in a turmoil after the demise of its beloved CM PKR. Even before the last rites are performed, there is already a powerplay going on as to who would be the next CM. As an investigative YouTube journalist called Govardhan (Liger director Puri Jagannadh, decent enough actor, though) explains, there are two CM probables.

One is Jaydev (Satyadev) , PKR's conniving, pervert son-in-law, who keeps a holier-than-thou image in front of his wife. The other is Sathya Priya (Nayanthara), Jaydev's wife and PKR's grieving daughter. However, the deciding factor would be pushed by none other than Brahma (Chiranjeevi), a kingmaker with a mysterious past who was dear to PKR and who is hated by Sathya Priya.

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As with the original, the first half of GodFather establishes the political machinations of its key players in coveting the empty throne in a very engaging manner. It is also contained about keeping its focus on its lead star - unlike Lucifer, the remake doesn't make you wait much for Chiranjeevi's massy entry, and once that happens, you are easily drawn into proceedings.

Like I said before, there are some interesting tweaks in the remake. For one, (Slight SPOILERS ahead) Brahma is established as the illegitimate son of PKR, thus making the conflict between him and Sathya Priya thicker and the eventual reconciliation more emotional. Secondly, GodFather avoids Tovino Thomas' character from Lucifer and instead, rolls his character dynamics into Sathya Priya's character. Which, in a way, does give the female lead more to do, making her a direct player in the Telugu 'Game of Thrones', though Sathya Priya often loses her agency of being a powerful character in her own right, 'cos she is at mercies of either Jaydev or Brahma. What's more, Nayanthara loses out on that kickass scene which Tovino benefitted in the original.

Some other characters are also tweaked, like that of Sunil's, who plays Brahma's traitorous right-hand man, played by Kalabhavan Shajon in the original. While his character does follow the same route, the conclusion to his track fares different and I didn't really mind that change here.

Back to the first half, even though GodFather does its own fine-tuning, it plays along with the same premise as Lucifer, and was nevertheless engaging and entertaining, despite an overbearing length. What I liked about the film here is how Mohan Raja made Chiranjeevi have a larger-than-life character, but save for a couple of fight scenes, it also gives him enough restraint and therefore makes Brahma one of the superstar's more impactful and enjoyable characters in recent times. Mohan Raja also peppers in a couple of nice masala moments in between, that left me in smiles as I cheered for the hero.

One such scene is the moment that comes before the interval when Jaydev goes to meet Brahma in jail to make him come to his side. It is a very enthralling scene where the villain goes monologuing and the hero, surprisingly, just remains silent (albeit with a twinkle in his eyes) and yet it is the hero who wins the scene at the end. This sequence is immediately followed by the intro of Salman Khan as 'Masoom Bhai' and TBH, the masala-loving fanboy in me was jubilant on seeing the two superstars together on screen.

Sadly, as GodFather enters the second half, it not only borrows the rest of Lucifer's premise, but also its major flaws. The extended runtime gets into frustrating levels, as proceedings fall into very predictable pattern and turns into a cliched revenge saga and a one-man-show. Oh, how I wish the makers could also have tweaked this weaknesses of Lucifer and made GodFather into a tighter affair. Unfortunately, the flaws feel more magnified here, and while Chiranjeevi still invokes watchability with his presence, the meandering screenplay often shakes the ground beneath him. Lucifer Movie Review: Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Directorial Debut Is A Cliched But Stylishly Shot Fanboy Tribute to Mohanlal’s Mass Persona.

Even Salman Khan's much-hyped cameo also falls victim to this. After that cheer-worthy interval intro of Bhai, the next time we see him, it is in a solo action scene that is marred by below-the-par VFX and Salman's stiff swagger. When Chiranjeevi and Salman get together in the climax, it should mean fireworks. And there are literal fireworks on screen, but the stretched climax, which includes an over-sexed item song by Warina Hussain (GodFather makers didn't think a female objectifying song in Lucifer needed excision), adds further dampener. The epilogue, again tweaked in its tone from the original's ending, puts another song, now featuring Prabhu Deva and has Salman do Salman steps, lacks major impact and intrigue that Lucifer enjoyed (which still remains its most memorable moment).

The performances in GodFather are quite good enough, led by Chiranjeevi whose magnanimous screen presence does half the work for the role of Brahma and the other half comes from his controlled performance. Satya Priya may not be counted as one of Nayanthara's better roles, even though the actress does well with what she gets here. Satyadev is very impressive as the antagonist. Among the supporting cast, Murali Sharma leaves a mark. I wish the makers could have done more with Salman's role. Wasn't a fan of what Prithviraj did with his similar character in the original, but compared to Salman's in GodFather, his character fares slightly better.

Yay!

- Chiranjeevi

- An Engaging First Half

Nay!

- Weak Second Half With a Weaker Climax

- Salman Khan's Cameo Could Have Been Better

- Overall Runtime Should Have Been Worked About

Final Thoughts

GodFather, in all honesty, is a decent enough adaptation, but unlike the expectations set, it does little to improve upon the original, and instead, heaps upon Lucifer's glaring flaws. Still, Chiranjeevi's restrained but effective performance is a huge asset, along with political intrigues in the first half, makes GodFather watchable enough for his fans.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 05, 2022 03:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).