Kollywood actor Sivakarthikeyan is known for his entertaining flicks and attained success in Tollywood with films like Varun Doctor and Don. He is coming up with Maaveeran which released in Telugu as Mahaveerudu. The film's OTT rights have been bagged by Amazon Prime and streaming will be after the completion of its theatrical run. The film is directed by Madonne Ashwin. Let us see what Mahaveerudu offered to movie lovers.
Mahaveerudu's story is about a youngster from a slum who compromises on everything and how such a common person became the crusader and hailed as Mahaveerudu. Sathya (Sivakarthikeyan) lives in a slum along with his mother and sister Vijayawada. He works as a cartoonist who writes the comic story Mahaveerudu daily.
The government shifts all the slum people into the government-allotted 2 BHK apartments. Despite the problems, Sathya calms and pacifies his mother and sister to compromise and adjust. However, his mother chides him for his timid nature when a thug troubles them. This leads to some startling developments. To find out those startling developments and how editor Chandra (Aditi Shankar), and Minister Jayasurya (Mysskin) are connected to it, form the rest of the story.
Sivakarthikeyan turned out to be the livewire for the film with his performance. He showed good expressions and emotions bringing in variations. He looked realistic and natural as a timid person who compromises on everything and anything by staying away from conflicts. He elevated the scenes showing transformation in his mannerisms.
Mass Raja Ravi Teja's voiceover turned out to be an added advantage to the film. His voiceover and Sivakarthikeyan's mannerisms created magic on the screen evoking laughs in the theatres. Aditi Shankar is ok in her role as the editor. Saritha as Sivakarthikeyan's mother performed well showing good emotions and expressions. Yogi Babu is good in his role. Mysskin played the angatonist role and it is designed differently. Sunil played an important role in the film but his look did not suit him.
Mahaveerudu's story selected by Madonne Ashwin is a predictable and routine one. However, what made it passable is the fantasy element associated with it in the form of a voice. This increased the curiosity among movie lovers. He started the first half in a simple and predictable manner. He highlighted the happenings in the slums, media, and also in government-allotted apartments in a natural and realistic way.
However, things take a curious turn the moment a strange voice starts making its presence felt. The scenes involving the voice, Sivakarthikeyan, the baddies, and the antagonist came out quite well and they stand out. The first half ends on an interesting note and many expected the second half to take off to another level. However, the second half turned flat with the voice thing dragged to a point of no return and routine elements creeping in. The story is routine but the screenplay and direction turned out to be decent. Dialogues are natural and at times entertaining.
Philomin Raj's editing is ok in the first half but he let his editing scissors slip in the second half. The second half dragged a lot with many routine elements. Vidhy Ayyana's cinematography is natural and realistic. Bharat Shankar's couple of songs are foot-tapping and situational. The BGM is in sync with the story and it elevated the proceedings. Production values are decent.
Altogether, Mahaveerudu's story is an average entertainer. Madonne Ashwin penned a routine story but used little creativity and included a strange voice and aided by Sivakarthikeyan's talent, managed to create a few laughs. But with other things falling apart, Mahaveerudu's power got diminished. A little fine-tuning of the script would have made a large difference. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 2.25 Rating for Mahaveerudu.