Maharshi - Review

In Maharshi, there are 3 or 4 scenes of Mahesh getting out of chopper/helicopter and that too in slow-motion. There are 6 or 7 scenes where Mahesh gives enlightening speeches to people around him. Then there are couple of confrontation scenes with the villains, Mukesh Rishi and Jagapathi Babu. And in Bharat Ane Nenu if you went out to restroom and missed the press meet scene, you are in luck in Maharshi because if you miss one you still have 3 or 4 more press meets. And in the last 1 hour of the movie you can enjoy many scenes of TV news anchors breaking the news every other day about those press meets. And added bonus is that Mahesh runs like Usain Bolt in one scene. I mean what not to like in this movie. Right? If yes, then do not read any further.

Vamsi Paidipally, after remaking the French movie, The Intouchables with Oopiri, now looks towards local cinema. And this time it is not just one. He picks 3 Idiots, Mahesh's very own Srimanthudu, Bharat Ane Nenu and few more from many other movies. Except for one or two scenes in the movie, the whole movie is like a huge deja vu. It is a cliches galore. The emotions are superficial, the gyan given by Rishi so many times to so many people is just bland, the chopper shots are repetitive, the press meets are too many, the songs are placed exactly where and when you know they are coming and novelty can be found on page number 1374 in the dictionary if Vamsi ever wants to look it up.

My biggest complaint in the movie is that Mahesh does not sweat. That kind of made me so uncomfortable because on one side Mahesh is trying to solve the unsolvable farmer problem but he just does not sweat. People standing on the side lines are sweating but Mahesh is in the middle of the action and yet does not sweat. Please directors add some sweat in the cgi. Do not ruin his mass hero image. He needs to sweat.

Pooja does not have a role. Allari Naresh is under-utilized. Jagapathi babu is sleep walking through this cliched role. Mukesh Rishi's role is bordering on comedy, I mean unintentional comedy. Few scenes with Prakash Raj and Jayasudha are good. Mahesh is a good actor but he is becoming monotonous. He needs to break out. This is the right time for another role like Nijam or Murari or Pokiri or Khaleja. I mean roles with variations. The movie's only plus is the budget. Movie looks totally big screen worthy visuals wise but content falls flat.

Simply put, without mincing any words, Maharshi is long, boring, cliched, lacks any novelty and Mahesh should avoid such stories for his fans' sake at least.