When Chiranjeevi decided to remake Lucifer into Telugu, I was actually excited for I thought he’d be the only one who’d be able to do justice. But at the same time, I had my apprehensions as to if they would change his character to make it massy and cater to his star power. Thankfully, they didn’t alter the core of the Malayalam blockbuster, and I think I can say “Boss is back!”
Helmed by the remake master Mohan Raja, Godfather tells the story of Brahma, a mysterious yet dangerous man funding the government, who comes to the forefront of state politics after the death of the CM PKR. Jaydev, PKR’s son-in-law, is a corrupt mastermind vying to be the new CM, and smuggle drugs into the state. Brahma doesn’t approve of this, and the rest of the story is about how he saves his family and the state from Jaydev.
Mohan Raja makes the film his own rather than copying the original. He made quite a few changes to the original ensuring more screen time for Chiranjeevi, but at the same time, doesn’t deviate too much. He does a commendable job to highlight Chiranjeevi’s character without ever overdoing it. The direction is neat, but I thought the screenplay could have been a little crisper. I also thought that he failed to extract the best from other cast members.
It’s a cakewalk for Chiranjeevi and he does justice to the character. I wish he danced a little more in the Thaar Maar song. Nayanathara is decent as Sathya, PKR’s daughter, but I thought she could have emoted better; she had the same straight face for most of the film. Satyadev is brilliant as Jaydev and kills it. Salman Khan has a good cameo. Murali Sharma is okay, and the rest of the cast are alright but underutilized.
While the songs are mediocre, the background score by Thaman is decent. Edited by Marthand K. Venkatesh could have been better; the film was longer than needed and some scenes should have definitely made the cut on his table. Cinematography by Nirav Shah is of top-notch quality. The VFX too should have been better. And I was so very disappointed with Prabhu deva’s choreography for Thaar Maar.
Is it worth your time and money?: Even if you have watched Lucifer, Mohan Raja’s Godfather is still a good watch for the director makes it his film. At the same time, the film isn’t great because it has flaws common to most Telugu films (unnecessary item songs, some illogical sequences, etc.). Nevertheless, megastar’s magic works on screen.
Worth mention: Chiranjeevi and Satyadev’s performances.
Acting: 8/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 7.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7/10
Verdict: 7.5/10