June 4th, 2022
Rating: 7/10 (Emotionally Charged and Action Packed Biopic)
Cast: Adivi Sesh, Saiee Manjrekar, Shobita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Revathi, Murali Sharma and others
Story and Screenplay: Adivi Sesh
Directed by: Sashi Kiran Tikka
Music: Sricharan Pakala
Cinematography: Vamsi Patchipulusu
Editing: Vinay Kumar Sirigineedi, Kodati Pavan Kalyan
Production Design: Avinash Kolla
Producers: Anurag Reddy, Sharath Chandra, and Mahesh Babu
Banner: Sony Pictures International Productions, G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment, A+S Movies
After a gap of almost 3 years, Adivi Sesh is finally back on screen. His latest film Major, a patriotic action biopic is up for release and has humongous expectations riding on it. Directed by Goodachari fame Sashi Kiran Tikka, the film stars Saiee Manjrekar as the heroine and has Prakash Raj, Shibitha Dhulipala, Murali Sharma, and Revathi in supporting roles. With terrific expectations set by the trailer and unuanimous positive response from the special premiere shows throughout India, can Major give Sesh Pan Indian superstardom along with a 4th consecutive hit? Let's find out in today's review.
Plot
Major tells the story of the real life superhero Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was the unsung hero of the 26/11 attacks in India.
Performances
After being absent on screen for 3 years, Adivi Sesh is AMAZING as Major Sandeep Unnukrishnan. The physical similarities from the picture the team released is way too high and from an acting standpoint, this is Sesh's CAREER BEST PERFORMANCE. Specifically the improvement and ease in key emotional sequences is SUPERB and his TREMENDOUS SCREEN PRESENCE shines in every single scene from start to finish. The phyiscal transformation into a soldier is also brilliantly showcased and you can see the amount of hard work and effort Sesh put into the role. He's devastatingly lethal in action sequences and during the entire attack episode, he's an absolute beast. Overall, Adivi Sesh delivers an extremely fine and composed performance that should all but catapult him to superstardom with Major.
Saiee Manjrekar is EXCELLENT as Isha. She gets a solid role and does very well in the college and emotional sequences in the 2nd half.
Shobita Dhulipala is fine as hostage Pramoda Reddy. She's there for the majority of the 2nd half and does a good job capturing the psychological horror of being captive.
Prakash Raj and Revathi are OUSTANDING as Sundeep's parents. The legends have been doing this a long time and do an icnredible job in all their scene. Specifically Prakash Raj's dialogues during the climax are UNLIMITED GOOSEBUMPS.
Murali Sharma is adequate as Major Sundeep's superior officer. Anish Kuruvilla is brief and does what he can as a hotel manager.
All the other actors casted as the villains do a fantastic job of making you hate them.
Direction
Direction by Sashi Kiran Tikka is sublime. Much like Goodachari, the twists and turns along with the action episodes are superb taken. The improvement upon Goodachari is that the action episodes are emotionally charged which make them relatable and riveting for the audience. He extracts a superb performance from Sesh and the rest of the cast and gets the best output from all his technicians. The direction in the majority of the scenes is very good and does not veer into anything unnecessary and sticks to the core point.
While Sashi Kiran is the director, the Story and Screenplay are once again written by Adivi Sesh who's proved himself as an excellent writer-actor already. The writing stands out as the intensity needed in all the key scenes are there. The love track is well presented and all of the action sequences and the buildup towards them are OUTSTANDING. There are certain blocks which elevate the movie, specifically the 2nd half which give you Unlimited Goosebumps. For the majority of films, it's all in the writing and Sesh understands what it takes to engage and excite the audiences in a career spanning 20 years. There are some pacing issues in both halves, but for the most part Major is riveting and action packed for the majority of it's runtime. Sesh's writing and script stands out more than anything making it the perfect tribute for Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan.
Technical Aspects
Music and BGM by Sricharan Pakala is ELECTRIFYING. The songs are all montages songs rightfully so, but the background score ELEVATES so many scenes and provides UNLIMITED GOOSEBUMPS when it's effective. This is Sricharan Pakala's career best work.
Cinematography by Vamsi Patchipulusu is WORLD CLASS. The visuals are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING and GORGEOUS and reflect the money spent on screen. Some shots are just jaw droppingly good and Vamsi's work will definitely gain a lot of big projects after Major. The camera work throughout the movie was a feast for the eyes.
Production Design by Avinash Kolla is WORLD CLASS. To be honest there aren't any words to describe it because Avinash and the team recreated THE ENTIRE TAJ PALACE layout and it looks SO GOOD, that you're convinced they were actually there. The planning and execution for something so monumental is an acheivement itself and the entire thing was basically a MASTERPIECE set. More than any of the other technical departments in Major, the Production Design STANDS OUT.
Editing by Vinay Kumar Sirigineedi and Kodati Pavan Kalyan is decent. The movie suffers from sluggish dips in pace here and there.
Action Sequences by Sunil Rodrigues are AMAZING. They're all brilliantly choreographed and executed on screen.
Costume Design by Rekha Boggarapu is SUPERB. All of the costumes in the film are brilliant.
Sound Mixing by Krishnaraj Arumugam and Sound Design by Ethi Raj is EXCELLENT.
Dialogues by Abburi Ravi are FANTASTIC. Some of them give goosebumps especially the ones related to what does it mean to be a soldier.
VFX Supervision/Output by Venkateshwar Allagadda is VERY GOOD.
Production Values by Sony Pictures International Productions, G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment, and A+S Movies are HOLLYWOOD LEVEL. Major has been mounted on an INTERNATIONAL SCALE and all of the producers involved have given the best resources for the best output possible.
Positives
+ Adivi Sesh
+ Performances
+ Production Design, Cinematography, and BGM
+ Emotional Quotient Throughout
Negatives
- Sluggish Pace and Scenes at Times
- Slow 1st half
Analysis and Final Take
Adivi Sesh has come a long way since debuting in Sontham. After failing multiple times as a director, he finally got his break in Pawan Kalyan's Panjaa and has never looked back. After delivering 3 back to back hits in Kshanam, Goodachari and Evaru, Sesh has slowly crafted his own niche of thriller entertainers in Telugu cinema. Now with his biggest project yet in Major, he dreamed big and wanted to bring the story of Major Sundeep Unnikrishnan to life on a global scale with the best production values possible. He pitched the script to Namratha Ghattamaneni, wife of Mahesh Babu and then Mahesh Babu himself greenlit the film believeing in Sesh's talent and abilities and roped in Sony to give the film an epic feel despite beig a biopic.
With a superstar producer and the best resources available, Sesh has reunited with his Goodachari director and heroine Shobita and after a long wait owing to production delays and postponements, Major is SCINTILLATING. The writing, performances, production values and emotions stand out from start to finish.
As with any biopic, they run the fine line between fabrication and reality and Major is no different, but direction keeps you so engaged that you rarely think about such circumstances.
The 1st half starts off well but by the time pre interval sequences hit, you are wondering when will the interval come. The romantic track also takes up a lot of time along with Sandeep's training. The entirety of the 1st half is given to establishing Sandeep background, childhood, family, college, and training at the academy. Some scenes work, others feel sluggish despite the writing.
The 2nd half also starts off sluggish but the last 40 mins and specifically last 20 minutes are UNLIMITED GOOSEBUMPS. From the how many soldiers sequence till the end of the film, you will want to cheer, clap, and cry due to the patriotism and emotions presented during this portion. The climax and end will leave you teary eyed and makes you realize how much of a real life hero Major Sandeep was.
Overall, Major is an emotionally charged and action packed biopic that's the most befitting tribute to Major Sandeep. Almost everything works in this films despite a sluggish tempo that interferes with the overall flow of the movie. Adivi Sesh is incredible and he's beautifully aided by the rest of the cast, his director, and the core technical team who have all put in an INCREDIBLE amount of effort to make this film a reality.
JAI MAJOR SANDEEP UNNIKRISHNAN! Go and Watch it!
Signing off,
- Teja Rao, Die Hard Telugu cinema fan.
