Broadcast and Cinematography

Imagine how it starts off quite aesthetically with the lead characters dying desperately – separated from each other by death and falling off the cliff in true Japanese style. Switch to the contemporary hero, the film is fresh and the staging is brilliant. Director SS Rajamouli stands out due to his ability to create setbacks for his hero, but still rescues him using clever ideas. He has gone by what he feels in his heart to have music, background, characters and graphics gel into emotive visuals!

Maaveeran, remake of Telugu super hit Mahadheera, is about a couple being separated by the villain in their previous birth 400 years ago. Will the lead characters realize who they were in their past life for a perfect reunion? Hit the theaters to know the answers! Maaveeran has apparently inspired many a Tamil film released last year! Ouchamagoucha, was Raavanan’s falling from the cliff scene inspired by the Japanese-styled falling from the cliff in Mahadheera? Was Aayirathil Oruvan inspired by Mahadheera?

Paints a shame on the Tamil Film Industry, since skillful directors from Kollywood get inspired by Tollywood than their customary Hollywood. As said earlier, the staging is quite brilliant to introduce the hero as a bike racer, after a brief episode of a dying warrior. This is where Ram Charan Teja shines as a person honed with enough skills such as Martial Arts, Dancing, etc. but a lot less of acting. A slight rigidity or woodenness crosses his face very often.

Is that the Kajal Aggarwal we saw in Naan Mahaan Alla and in other quite a few Tamil films? How do Telugu directors show her better looking on screen than their Tamil counterparts? Each time she appears, the porous vulnerability on her face puts her in a spot of bother for our hearts to ache. This is one factor that works hugely in favor of the movie. The director also cleverly withdraws Ram Charan Teja, each time he gets close to her, until the climax.

Maaveeran could be appreciated for using properties and making them significant within the narration. The white shawl used in the film in important scenes is typical. Similarly, birds flying when the hero and the villain confront, riding a horse to chase a bus, etc. show some difference that glues you to the screens are some more examples of the same. Besides the lead characters, Dev Gill walks with aplomb playing a ruthless villain. The rage in his eyes transforms into lust when he sees Kajal Aggarwal.

Still, whatever Hollywood challenging film Tollywood makes, they always look either like an “Amman”, the 1995 hit, or “Arundhathi”. The character of a priest is barely necessary and Dev Gill could have learned the truths about his previous birth in any other way. The item song before the climax could have been edited out to save some exasperation. Maragathamani’s music is heavily inspired by AR Rahman’s “O Saya” song alone for unknown reasons.

Venkateswara Rao Kotagiri’s editing complements Senthil Kumar’s path-breaking cinematography and S Ravindhar’s production designs but could have trimmed the length. Peter Hein did a commendable job in both the period as well as contemporary sequences. One interesting aspect is K Bhagyaraj’s Tamil dialogues that are in perfect synchronization with the lips but not with chronology all the time. The lip-sync constraint makes him choose contemporary slang terms at times, even in the period sequences.