Prassthanam Movie Review: Sanjay Dutt Is All Pervading In This Modern Day Depiction Of The Mahabharata

Movie: Prassthanam

Actors: Sanjay Dut, Manisha Koirala, Ali Fazal, Satyajeet Dubey

Director: Deva Katta

Rated: 2.5 Out Of 5 Stars

My Verdict: The Film Has Nothing New In Its Platter, But Is Surely A One Time Watch

Well, the story of the film revolves around politics and hence the very premise of the film is nothing new. There have been several films that have been made on politics and they have worked well and when Prassthanam has a star cast it can boast about, it is almost like the icing on the cake.

Actor Sanjay Dutt plays MLA Baldev Pratap Singh who is married to Saroj, played by Manisha Koirala. Ali Fazal plays Ayush the step son who is the sole heir to Baldev. The story is set in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh where Singh’s family is the most looked up to and revered. The film is all about the rivalry – It is about loyalty, sacrifices, valour, pride, power family ties and the helplessness one finds oneself in when there are blood relations are involved.

The story isn’t something that we haven’t heard about earlier and therefore it is of utmost importance that it is executed in a fabulous manner and somehow the director has fallen short on that. There are a few characters who have been forcefully included into the script and then there are vital characters that have not been given much screen time in the film!

Sanjay Dutt is all pervading in the film and he has again worked his magic in the role. His stances, his body language, his looks – everything that pertain to him was fabulous. His chemistry with his onscreen sons be it Ali Fazal who he is very drawn towards or Satyajeet Dubey who he is averse to. His chemistry with Manisha in all of the scenes almost took my breath away. H looked so believable that I almost began to feel as though they were real life husband and wife. But the sad part is Manisha’s character was not as fleshed out as it should have been. Given the fact that all the three men in the film are somehow, in some way attached to that one woman, her character should have been given more screen time because it was an important character.

I am left to wonder what is Amyra Dastur’s character (Ayush’s love interest) even doing and why is she even there? And what were those songs forcefully crammed into the narrative. Why? Did the makers just want to show the smooching scene between Amyra and Ali? It marred the narrative! Simply dampened the entire flow and how!

Jackie Shroff as Baldev’s driver is a force to reckon with. His facial contours and his baritone made for a unqiue character and sameas the case with Chunky Pandey’s formidable opponent part. He was marvelous! SO much so thatalmost everyone else seems to be paani kam chaai in front him. The way his character uses family politics and turns Baldev’s own son against him is nicely done!

In a film with almost all half-baked characters besides the Sanju’s Ali Fazal actually made the most of his. He plays the role of Baldev’s step son as mentioned earlier who doesn’t flinch from sacrificing his life for the well-being of his family. His raw portrayal of his character was perhaps one of the best things about the film.

The Direction was good in parts. It wasn’t a consistent affair. IT wouldn’t be an exaggeration n to state that to a certain extent, things are pretty predictable in the film. The first half was wasted, only the characters and their backstory were being told. My point is, was it that important? Why not just go ahead with the film. There are a few exciting points scattered here and there in the film, especially the action scenes. And the ones that have Sanjay Dutt in them are even better.  The dialogues are a bit too unrealistic. It seems as though the writer Farhad Samji had it in his mind that he had to write dialogues that will be remembered and in a bid to do so, the dialogues became cheesy!

All in all a well-intentioned film about modern day Mahabharata that plays up in the hinterlands of our country and is surely a one-time watch!