Owing to the dismal performance of Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi’s recent movies (Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Acharya), there was some uneasiness in the trade about GodFather. Chiranjeevi, however, expressed a lot of confidence that GodFather would end his losing streak and satisfy his fan base. And he was correct. Director Mohan Raja has packed GodFather with plenty of energetic moments to ensure there isn’t a dull moment in the narration.
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GodFather is the official remake of the Malayalam hit Lucifer. The film begins with the untimely death of Chief Minister PKR. His passing causes a power vacuum, creating an opening for the dubious minds in politics to make a bid for the top position. However, the power-grabbers are not aware that PKR has made arrangements, perhaps in anticipation of his sudden death, to protect his life’s work: his family and political party. The CM’s chair and family are guarded by one of the wickedest men and his name is Brahma (Chiranjeevi). As his name suggests, he creates and controls every move of everyone in this game of power.
Lucifer was in a way philosophical as its writer Murali Gopy had used big words to create the myth of Stephen Nedumpally. The Malayalam original begins with the question of who’s Stephen Nedumpally and that question sustains the entire movie to the end. Even though Lucifer was set against a political backdrop, the film gravitated more towards presenting Stephen as a mythical character. Director Mohan Raja, however, has steered clear of mystery and has turned GodFather into a full-fledged political drama.
The horse-trading, the fake public feud of politicians, the big corporations deciding the fate of the next government, the reverence that dynastic politics enjoys, and the submissive media, all are reminiscent of the current political climate. Conventionally, the protagonist has to fight the system which has been rigged by those in power in their favour. In GodFather, the director has turned the tables. The hero rigs the system for the villains to fail.
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Mohan Raja has added some original twists to the narration, which were not present in Lucifer. For example, the confrontation scene between Brahma and Jaidev (Satyadev Kancharana). Jaidev gets to do all the shouting and aggressive gestures as Brahma remains calm, not reacting to any of the provocations. While Jaidev assumes a dominant position in the scene, in the end, he realises the reality. He has not got Brahma boxed in, but the opposite is true. Mohan uses clever and subtle ways to elevate Brahma’s heroism.
The scene where Brahma meets the investigative journalist, played by Puri Jagannadh, is also interesting as it’s a face-off between an idealist and a realist. For the first time, Brahma admits his limitations and reminds the idealist journalist that society can’t be changed overnight. And Brahma is okay with playing dirty if it serves a greater good.
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Mohan Raja has also steered clear of unnecessary distractions in the form of parallel comedy tracks or special dance numbers. He has only kept those things that serve the main plot and within that space, he has indulged the superstardom of Chiranjeevi and Salman Khan for the amusement of their fans. In the middle of a gunfight, Salman’s Masoom Khan pushes an overturned car just with his shoulder, all the while firing a shotgun to create a safe passage for Chiranjeevi’s Brahma to get out of the car. The action scenes are too ridiculous to take them seriously. And Mohan knows it. But, he’s also aware that this kind of stunts will do the job of amusing fans.
