What's Behind
Adivi Sesh is known for his versatile performances and different genre of entertainers. When he decided to do the biopic of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan, every gone got excited and expectations soared when Mahesh Babu collaborated with the team to turn it into a pan India entertainer. The makers started premiering the film ten days ahead of the theatrical release, showing utmost confidence in the film's content. With Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan's parents giving a green signal to Adivi Sesh for the project, rejecting many Bollywood top directors and production houses, curiosity increased among movie lovers. The film hit the screens on June 3, 2022. Let us see what effect Major had on the movie lovers.
Story Review
Sandeep Unnikrishnan(Adivi Sesh), son of middle-class parents K.Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi (Revathi) from Bengaluru, who was scared during his childhood, aspires to join the Indian Navy after watching a Naval Fleet Review. At first, he gets rejected by the Navy and despite being disappointed and much against the wishes of his parents, however, inspired by his girlfriend Isha (Saiee Manjrekar), he finally joins the Army.
Sandeep becomes the trainer of the NSG's elite commandos and how he reacts when terrorists take seize of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai during the 26/11 Attacks, and what role Pramoda (Shobita Dhulipala), NSG chief Shera (Murali Sharma) players, should be watched on the screen.
Artists, Technicians Review
Adivi Sesh worked on the script for more than 15 years and finally decided to get going. He along with director Sashikiran Thikka decided not only to show the valor of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan but also to showcase the major developments in his life. In the process, the duo has taken many cinematic liberties. They have been claiming that Major shows how Sundeep Unnikrishnan was martyred but how he lived the life of a Soldier and how he dealt the personal and professional life. As such most of the first half concentrated on Sundeep Unnikrishnan's childhood, inspiration to join the defense forces, and the blossoming romance. This resulted in deviation from the main story, the 26/11 Attack for which Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan remained in the hearts of all.
The proceedings in the first half turned out to be slow though at times entertaining. However the way director Sashikiran Thikka showed the training at NDA, Khadakwasala, the world's premier military training institute, turned out to be a laughing stock. He should have paid more attention to the training of Sundeep Unnikrishnan and how he coped with it. Except for a couple of scenes that looked silly and out of sync, the most important aspect, how he was trained as a meticulous soldier remained untouched. The first half ends with terrorists taking seize of Taj Hotel. This paved way for the end of the emotional-filled first half to the action-packed second half. Second half turns quite predictable and is witnessed in many films based on the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks.
Adivi Sesh enacted gravity-defying stunts and one felt that stunts could have been choreographed in a more natural and realistic manner. At times, it was shown that Adivi Sesh gave orders to his superiors rather than take from them. Sashi Kiran Thikka's screenplay ended up confusing viewers. Suddenly in the middle of the 26/11 Attack and the NSG commando operations, the scenes of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan's personal life, parents, lover, marriage, etc come out from nowhere, leaving all surprised and wondering what was wrong.
Patchipulusu Vamsi's with his cinematography elevated the scenes giving them the required impetus. Sricharan Pakala's background music added value to the scenes. The editing of Vinay Kumar Sirigineedi, and Kodati Pavan Kalyan couldhave been far better as there are many drags in the film. Dialogues of Abburi Ravi turned out to be a mixed bag. Some of them are powerful and effective but at times in trying to highlight the value of solider and by going on defining, he overdid it and ended up irritating the viewers.
Adivi Sesh performed the role of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan quite effectively and effortlessly. He showcased various expressions and emotions according to the situation. Be it showing his love towards his parents, romancing his lover, dealing with the breakup or training his commandos and taking on the terrorists, he carried the film on his shoulders. He made an impact with his performance in the film.
Prakash Raj performed the role of a father quite well. His role is loaded with emotions and so is that of Revathi who played the role of Sandeep's mother. Both looked natural and realistic. Saiee Manjrekar looked beautiful and gorgeous initially on-screen but later looked dazed. She got a limited role and at times her scenes deviated from the film's narration. Murali Sharma is good as the NSG chief. Others performed according to their roles.
Advantages
Adivi Sesh
BGM
Few dialogues
Disadvantages
Screenplay, Direction
Routine elements
Cinematic liberties
Editing
Rating Analysis
Adivi Sesh's Major directed by Sashi Kiran Thikka is not an authentic biopic on Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan. Sashi Kiran Thikka and Adivi Sesh have taken many cinematic liberties and in the process diluting the soul. However, by balancing the entire first half with the emotions in various stages of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan's life and the second half by showing the valor of the soldier, they paid floral tribute to the martyr who saved many during the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks. Sashi Kiran Thikka's uneven and confusing screenplay and direction, Adivi Sesh's loopholes in the story, and Abburi Ravi's less impactful dialogues prevented the film from turning out to be stronger. Considering all these points, CJ goes with a 3 rating for Major.