Salaar 1 l Not Just A Review

By: Amit kumaR Agarwal

 

 

After the blockbuster success of KGF and KGF 2, Prashanth Neel is back with Baahubali, Prabhas, top-lining the cast of Salaar. Will Salaar turn the sipahsalaar of the Indian BO?

 

The 70's and 80's masala fare is back and how; the biggest hits of 2023 have all been action-extravaganzas with vendetta written loud and clear. The latest Indian release Salaar is in the same genre and needless to say set many BO records even before the first day is over.

 

Ironically, the star of the film it clashed with 'Dunki'; starring romantic-superstar, Shahrukh, had two of his career's highest grossing films in 2023 in action genre - when he tried to change the genre, the result is an overtly underwhelming performer, Dunki.

 

Salaar opens with childhood friends, Deva (Prabhas) and Vardha (Prithviraj Sukumaran) in a place called 'Khansar'. They share a very strong bond of till 'death-do-us-apart'. 

 

Cut to: 32 years later, a girl Adya (Shruti Haasan) flies to India much to the chagrin of her father, Krishnakant. To see Adya safe her father orders his man in India, Bilal, to take her to the only man that can save her, revealed to be Deva.

 

In a turn of events, Bilal tells Adya the story of Deva and Vardha. Many years ago, while Vardha and Deva were still kids, Deva together with his mother was banished from Khansar because of a fallout. Vardha's father, Raja Mannar (Jagapathi Babu) takes away Vardha's share of the kingdom as a punishment.

 

Vardha also does not get along with his step-brother, Rudra (Ramachandra Raju) and step-sister (Shriya Reddy). A power game ensues and to come on top, Vardha calls Deva to help him. Deva now a one-man-army meets Vardha after a gap of many years.

 

Together they go on to win the entire Khansar, or do they fail?

This is the basic plot of Salaar.

 

Prashanth Neel has modeled the film on his super-successful K.G.F. franchise. Though K.G.F. was a complete film with romance and comedy perfectly infused, here, the audiences are definitely going to miss romance and comedy. Also, while K.G.F. was seamless, the screenplay here is patchy, as a result, audiences might get confused. Also because of this patchy writing, the highlight scenes impact to elicit claps and whistles fades to an extent. Though there, claps and whistles are not as thunderous as K.G.F. As a stand-alone film, though, Salaar is a good action-drama.

 

Prabhas fits the character of Deva to the 'T', for Hindi-region audiences this is his best role post - Baahubali franchise. He looks phenomenal with a perfectly chiselled physique. Prithviraj Sukumaran is good as Vardha. Shruti Haasan hardly has a role in the film.

 

In the end, in spite of shortcomings, the film works. The lead-in to the second part is second only to Baahubali The Beginning. A perfect treat for those that love action-drama, Salaar 1 is a perfect-taster set for the wine, Salaar 2.