What’s it about?
Munna (Sundeep Kishan) is a gangster and Gurunath’s trusted aide (Gautam Menon). Gurunath prefers Munna over his own son in all matters (Varun Sandesh). Gurunath sends Munna to Delhi one day to kill the person who attacked him. Munna, on the other hand, falls in love with Theera (Divyansha Kaushik), the daughter of the attacker he was assigned to kill. This sets off a chain of events. Will Munna actually get what he wants?
Analysis
At the film’s conclusion, the director reveals the films that served as inspiration for “Michael.” “Leon: The Professional,” “Nayagan,” “Man from Nowhere,” and “Deewar” are their names. Director Ranjit Jeyakodi deserves credit for being humble enough to acknowledge his inspirations.
As the director points out, the plot of “Michael” is not original. To sum up in a single line: a man joins a gang to exact revenge for the death of his mother.
This familiar tale is presented in the popular action-packed narrative style. Similar to “KGF,” this film opens with the protagonist in his adolescence before detailing his rise to gangster primacy. So we get a lot of stylized action stunts and build-up shots for hero.
The heroine’s introduction, too, is very stylish as well. Both their love story and the plot twist are quintessential elements of the film noir genre.
The opening of the film shows promise. The visuals are incredible, and the environment is captivating as well. Because of the intriguing setup, we pay close attention to what happens next. However, once the film’s main point is revealed, it’s easy to see that it’s lacking in depth. Despite its sleek exterior, it’s filled with tired clichés from other gangster movies.
Furthermore, Gautam Menon is an inappropriate choice for the role of the don. When Gautam Menon and Anasuya Bharadwaj appear as a couple, and their lines only elicit boos from the audience.
The film’s biggest flaw is that it drags on and on, failing to reveal its true ending until the very end. The plot weakens when the twist is revealed. The twist is hardly original. Prabhas, in fact, has done similarly in “Munna.”
The director has relied heavily on stylized taking to make up for the lack of substance.
When it came time for performances, Sundeep Kishan, who had undergone a transformation for the part, fit the bill. His honest efforts deserve recognition. Female lead Divyansha Kaushik is fantastic. Gautam Menon is, as has been pointed out, a poor choice for the role. Also, Anasuya is. The performance by Varun Sandesh is excellent. The addition of Vijay Sethupathi and Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar merely raises the film’s profile.
The technical output, from the cinematography to the score, is top notch.
Bottom-line: ‘Michael’ is all about style. It’s a revenge drama in the vein of recent action films like “KGF” and “Vikram,” but it doesn’t amount to much. The slick visuals are a plus, but the drama falls short.
Rating: 2.5/5
By Jalapathy Gudelli
Film: Michael
Cast: Sundeep Kishan, Divyansha Kaushik, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Vijay Sethupathi, Varun Sandesh, and others
Music: Sam CS
Cinematographer: Kiran Koushik
Editing: R. Sathyanarayanan
Producers: Bharath Chowdary, Pushkar Ram Mohan Rao
Story, Screenplay & Direction: Ranjit Jeyakodi
Release Date: Feb 03, 2023
