‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’ Review: An Inside-Out Indian Epic of Violent Delights
22.12.2023 - 20:31
/ variety.com
Siddhant Adlakha Leaning full-tilt into its duology structure, Tollywood action drama “Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire” has a winding, often confounding narrative aimed at building up a sequel, but its maximalist action tableaus always yield dividends. After his previous two-parter “K.G.F.” smashed Indian box-office records for Kannada-language films, director Prashanth Neel employs the talents of ultra-charismatic superstar Prabhas (the star of S.S.
Rajamouli’s “Baahubali” series) as the silent, stewing protagonist Deva, in a grimy guns-and-gangsters melodrama. At first, the story plays its cards close to its chest before transforming wildly and suddenly into a mythological epic about secret societies and millennia-old blood feuds.
At 174 minutes long, with nested flashbacks overflowing with exposition, the movie has lengthy stretches that can feel like a chore. However, each extraneous segment eventually converges in some of the most exhilarating and cathartic on-screen violence Indian cinema has to offer.
Opening with a series of flashbacks, “Salaar: Part 1” swiftly establishes a teenage Deva as both loyal and fearsome. In order to protect the honor of his best friend Vardha — the son of the powerful Mannar family, though who they are is initially vague — he defeats an adult wrestler in innovative but self-destructive fashion, leaving him with a distinctive scar up his arm and neck.
Before long, Vardha returns the favor by helping Deva and his mother (Easwari Rao) escape a threat left similarly nonspecific, and as they enter self-imposed exile, Vardha brands Deva his “salaar”: a one-man army called upon in a time of need — a position he claims dates back to Persian kings. This prologue swiftly gives way to a contemporary,
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