Prabhas of ‘Baahubali fame and Prashant Neel of ‘KGF’ fame collaborated for the first action film Salaar: Part 1: Ceasefire, so expectations have skyrocketed since the announcement. Salaar is the only Indian movie released without any pre-release events or promotions. Hombale Film released the film without any marketing strategies; the film usually only gained word of mouth. The film’s release was delayed multiple times and finally released on December 22.
That is why the advance bookings were made on a huge scale, even though the teaser and trailers for this movie were disappointing. Everyone knows that ‘Salar’ is being made in two parts. In this sequence, the first part, titled ‘Salaar Part 1: Cease Fire’, came to the audience today (December 22). How much did this movie impress the audience? Are Prabhas fans hungry? Especially Prabhas, who struggles with flops like ‘Saaho’, ‘Radheshyam’, and ‘Adipurush’. Is it possible to give him a hit and hit him? Let’s find out:
Story:
Deva (Prabhas) lives in a middle-class, humble place with his mother (Eswari Rao) in a mining area of Assam. Deva is a modest boy who obeys his mother’s words but gets into a fight for Ayhya (Shruti Haasan), the daughter of a man named Krishna Kant, who comes to India from abroad. Ayhya was in danger from her father’s enemies, so Deva took on the responsibility of saving her from them. Because of her, Deva was frequently involved in fights and had to resort to violence again. Why is he alienated from his friend Varada (Prithviraj)? What is the link between Deva and Kansas City, the most violent city on the planet? That is the rest of the story.
Analysis:
In terms of story, ‘Salaar’ is nothing new. Director Prashant Neel said that Salaar was adopted from his film Ugram. The film is perfectly molded to Prabha’s stamina. The film also resembles B. Gopal’s ‘Samarasimha Reddy ‘, Chiranjeevi’s Indra ‘, Narasimha Naidu’, and Suresh Krishna’s ‘Basha’. But Prashant Neel’s take impresses from the beginning to the climax. The quarry fight and interval sequence in the first half are outstanding. The second half starts a bit slow. It also seems to lag in the middle. But the fight sequence, with the deity reference, blows whistles. After that, characters like ‘Ponniyan Selvan’ come on screen and create confusion. The audience can feel a disconnect in the second half. Still, the climax is wholly otherworldly and feels convincing. Director Prashant Neel can be appreciated for the lead given to the second part.
When it comes to acting, Prabhas impresses with his screen presence. He showed his grace in the fight sequences. He did a commendable job. Like in ‘Chhatrapati’, Prabhas has few dialogues but speaks volumes. How do I use his cutout? It should be said that director Prashant Neel has used it to the extent it should be used. Prithviraj Sukumaran did a brilliant job in his presence on screen. His body transformation is quite remarkable. There are chances of him getting a market in Telugu with this movie. Shruti Haasan’s role is good; she did a great job with the limited screen space. Jagapathi Babu’s role, ‘Pogaru’ fame, and Shriya Reddy’s roles are influential. Also, Bobby Simha played an important role.
Plus Points:
Prabhas
Prithvi Raj Sukumaran
First half
Climax
Minus:
Some lag in the second half
Entering too many roles in the ‘Ponnian Selvan’ type is confusing.
Absence of chart-buster songs, which commercial films should have
Overall, after ‘Baahubali 2’ Prabhas came with a worthy movie ‘Salaar’. It contains Whistle moments that Prabhas fans want. But it should not be compared to ‘KGF’.