Rebel Star Prabhas gained huge stardom post ‘Baahubali’. But his next few movies failed to showcase the hero in the best manner. At the same time, Prasanth Neel stunned the entire nation with ‘KGF’ and became one of the most sought-after directors. Both of them combined to make ‘Salaar’ and this created a lot of expectations on the project. Touted to be one of the biggest action dramas, the movie has hit the screens amidst huge hype. Let us see if the movie reached those expectations or not.

Story:

Deva (Prabhas) is a mechanic who lives in a small village near Assam. He lives with his mother who constantly worries about him and doesn’t even let him hold a plastic knife. His past keeps chasing him and he maintains a low profile all the time. Due to an oath given by him, Deva is forced to protect Adya (Shruti Hassan) who becomes the target of his enemies. He ends up going against the crime world of Khaansaar where his past life exists. How did Khaansar end up being the biggest crime world in the entire country? Who is ruling it? How is Deva linked to Khaansar? What does Deva do for his friend Varadha (Prithviraj Sukumaran)? Answers to all these questions form the story of ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’.

Analysis:

The image of the hero is very crucial for action scenes and elevation shots to work out on the screen. They click only when the hero has a lot of aura and a terrific screen presence. Prasanth Neel managed to break this myth with ‘KGF’ as he made a mass action franchise with Kannada hero Yash who was unknown to many people across the nation. His taking and elevations stunned each and everyone. He has now teamed up with ‘Baahubali’ hero Prabhas who is known for his screen presence. It natural for everyone to expect a lot of elevations scenes and action sequences that will create euphoria in theatres. Prasanth Neel did not disappoint the audience in this aspect. He designed four big action blocks and delivered massively as the fans will go crazy. He showcased Prabhas in a way that his fans wanted to see him from a long time. But you cannot make a three hour movie with just fights and elevations. So, Prasanth Neel injected a lot of drama and stressed on world building in the first part of ‘Salaar’. It is where the film’s graph comes down. Much like ‘Game Of Thrones’ where it is all about ruling the land of seven kingdoms, ‘Salaar’ is about different tribes trying to sit on the throne of ‘Khaansar’ kingdom which the entire nation fears. The dystopian world created by Prasanth Neel resembles ‘KGF’ at times but it is the way he established the world that leaves everyone stressed. His screenplay is filled with people giving narrations to others that one fails to understand who is narrating the story to whom after a certain point. Also, he tried to explain the story both visually and through voiceover as well. At one point, you see what army every tribe brings with their names on the screens but the same is explained through voiceovers too. This leaves a mixed feeling among the audience at the end.

KGF’ looks like a story which is filled with hero elevations and fights. But it is the mother-son sentiment that holds the movie together. The underlying theme and the constant reminders of what his mom said to the hero drives the movie forward. That strong emotion is missing in ‘Salaar’. The mother-son thread irritates after the first few scenes in the initial half while the strong friendship between Deva and Varadha which was stressed in the trailer and interviews does not translate on the screen. They are shown as best friends since the beginning but they are separated for two decades which makes it tough for the audience to believe that they would do anything for each other. Also, Prithviraj’s character does not look special but the major disappointment is the way he designed the hero’s character. He appears quite dull from the beginning and he tests the patience of the audience. Halfway through the first half, we get to see him show a bit of emotion. It is because of Prabhas’ cutout and image that the audience stayed with this character. The crime world of ‘Khaansar’, the fight between the tribes, hero entering it and terrifying others will remind us of ‘KGF’ and the ‘Black’ themed visuals does not help. There is no surprise factor in the movie till the end, it is all about anticipation regarding what we know would happen on the screen.

The audience were led to believe that the movie revolves around the ‘Khaansar’ kingdom in the trailers but Prasanth Neel takes a different route. He started the movie through the character of Shruti Hassan and then introduces the hero. The first half an hour of the movie is not quite interesting and even Prabhas is introduced in a regular manner without huge elevation. He makes the audience wait for Prabhas to enter the beast mode by adding a lot of over-dramatic scenes between the hero, heroine and his mother. The movie turns interesting only when the hero is allowed to break free from his shackles. The film gives a high to the audience from then to the interval. The elevation is at a peak level during the pre-interval portions. Prabhas is presented in the best way possible and sets the stage perfectly for the second half. But the latter half is spent on giving details about ‘Khaansar’ and its tribes. A lot of explanation is given on the history of the kingdom, how the tribes fight with each other, how the governing works and what characters pose a threat to the throne aimed by Varadha’s character. The action scenes in the second half worked out amazingly and a few elevations too were great. Prabhas is presented in a deadly way during the climax but Prasanth Neel left a lot for the second part. The last 15-20 minutes is used for setting the stage for ‘Salaar 2′. The twist given to Prabhas’ character at the end will make the fans happy and gives hope that the second part is going to be better than the first. But ‘Salaar – 1’ definitely leaves you with mixed feelings.

Performances:

The kids keep calling Prabhas ‘cutout’ in the movie. This clearly explains what Prasanth Neel wanted to highlight. Prabhas does not do a lot of acting in this movie. He is limited to being serious all the time. The movie does not give him any scope to showcase his acting skills. But his personality and screen presence were used brilliantly in this movie. We don’t even get to see his face in some scenes but it is a macho personality of Prabhas that is enough to make the masses go crazy. His look is decent in the film and he flexed his muscles during action sequences. His screen presence is jaw-dropping at places and fans will be quite happy but there is nothing special to talk about his acting.

Prithviraj Sukumaran arrives before the interval on the screen. His look and presence are great but the role he was offered does not need an actor of his calibre, at least not in the first part. He did very well in dramatic scenes and impresses you a lot despite looking like any other character in the movie during the second half. Shruti Hassan is not utilized at all in this film. She is just a mere spectator and listener in this film. We need to see what Prasanth Neel does with her character in the second part. Jagapathi Babu brought depth to his character but his screen presence is very much limited in this part. He is there for a few scenes at the start of the second half and arrives again at the end. Eeshwari Rao is wonderful as the mother and did brilliantly but her character irritates you. Jhansi too irks the audience while Shriya Reddy does well in a key role though her acting is a bit over-the-top at places. John Vijay stands out among all the villains. Bobby Simha, Garuda Ram and others were decent in their specific roles.

Technicians:

Ravi Basrur’s music does not stand out. He followed the ‘KGF’ template here too. While it sounded unique in that franchise, it becomes monotonous here. Though the music worked out in the action scenes, we get a feeling there is something missing in terms of music. The adrenaline-pumping music which helped ‘KGF’ a lot was missing here. The two songs arrived in the first half and they were emotional. Music is not a letdown but not an asset either. Bhuvan Gowda’s cinematography is fantastic. Though the tone and theme resemble ‘KGF’ a lot, his visuals impress you again. He captured the action sequences in a wonderful manner. The production values are top-notch as expected.

Coming to Prasanth Neel, he followed his ‘KGF’ pattern here too. The whole film looks like a bunch of people narrating different parts of the story to a bunch of other people. He created a new world named ‘Khaansar’ which looked like a medieval kingdom and a foreign country at the same time. His narration is wavered just like ‘KGF’ and spends a major part of the second half explaining the history and war between the tribes. He confuses people with a lot of information but the elevation scenes and dramatic moments engage people to a large extent. He proved once again that he is an expert in picturizing action sequences and elevating heroes. His mark is evident throughout the film but we expect more from him. While his work can be assessed completely only after the second part, he certainly did not meet the standards set by himself in the first part.

Verdict: ‘Salaar’ – Action Unlimited & Too Much Still Left To Say!