Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Max movie review: When Lokesh Kanagaraj made Kaithi, which has its antecedents in John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, little did he know the impact of his sophomore film on the psyche of Indian films. It opened the floodgates for building a universe with popular characters sharing screen space. It showcased the natural allure of scenes predominantly shot in the nighttime, and most importantly, it established how adversity brings out the heroes in even the most seemingly ordinary of people. Director Vijay Karthikeyaa’s debut Kannada film, Max, is not about a bunch of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is purely about an extraordinary man doing extraordinary things to save his police station, and his officers from a relentless attack that starts because… well, you need a spark to ignite a forest fire, right?
In its barebones structure, Max is about the one-man destruction machine Inspector Arjun Mahakshay aka Max whose swag and machismo would always find a way to save the day. He is a no-nonsense cop, who doesn’t mind rubbing the wrong side of the powerful to ensure justice is served. One fine day, he finds himself assigned to a new police station in an area, which is controlled by political bigwigs, history-sheeters, and corrupt cops. Due to an untoward mishap, every bad guy in town wants to break into the police station, and kill Max and his fellow police officers, played by the likes of Ilavarasu, Samyukta Hornad, Sukrutha Wagle, Ugramm Manju, Vijay Chendur, and Govinda Gowda. Now, they only have one way out of it all, and that is the brute force of Max, and convenient writing loopholes that are so glaring even in the darkest of the night the film is set in. However, trying to find novelty in the writing of star vehicles is a criminal waste of time. This is not just any other star vehicle… Max is a vehicle that is fuelled by the sheer superstardom of Sudeep, and the actor is in top form.
How many people do you think it is okay for a superstar to mow down in his pursuit of justice? 5? 10? 20? 50? 100? Well, I didn’t count the number of people that Max shoots, stabs, punches, kicks, chokeslams, piledrives, suplexes, and a lot more. But it is more than the usual, and it is par for the course in such movies. The best part of Max is how the film is not treated as a realistic portrayal by any stretch of the imagination. Even when the stakes are seemingly high, we know the hero would come to save the day. Even when people around him fumble, make mistakes, and make things even tougher for Max, we know, just like love, his superstardom would also find a way. So, setting the tone right for such films is a job half done. On that note, Max hits the bull’s eye.
Take, for instance, the scene where a corrupt cop Roopa (Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar) enters Max’s police station to check if everything is alright. She is spying to get some clue that would ensure the antagonists can flock in to destroy Max and Co. Now, there are multiple ways of making sure Roopa goes out emptyhanded. There can be a long monologue. There can be a distraction in the form of a fight or a conversation. But would you have Max burst into a song that has his fellow cops dancing to the tunes? When that is how Vijay decides to treat Max, why bother thinking about the logic part of it. So, when the writing says there is an alternative path out of the police station, we buy it. When Max asks his fellow officers to do some adventurous things and even gives them a timer, and we see it countdown on screen, our heart isn’t really being fast. There is a sense of calmness because we know what is going to happen. Max is a throwback to the films of not-so yore where our stars were saviours, and superstars were gods.
But points to Vijay for shifting the focus off Sudeep for a few scenes at least to give us a sense of this world, and its inhabitants. Ilavarasu gets a fantastic scene, and he executes it with the precision of a veteran. Another standout scene is the one involving Max’s mother (Sudha Belawadi), and her dialogue about police and their families. The others, including Samyuktha and Sukrutha, get a raw deal, and come across as bumbling cops instead of suave investigators. This takes away quite a lot of sheen from the film, even if Max’s voiceover tries to make sense of it all. The movie has a strong emotional core that gets unravelled a bit too late, and the effect is quite superficial. The climactic act too feels very rushed, and it feels too convenient in a film where the most convenient of things have already been forgiven. However, Vijay and Co know that these are small asides, and the main picture is fixed on the swag and charisma of Sudeep.
It is a Sudeep show through and through, and he is beautifully framed in each scene courtesy the cinematography of Shekhar Chandra, who goes on an overdrive to establish the invincibility of Max. If that wasn’t enough, Ajaneesh B Lokanath takes care of the rest as there are multiple moments where the narrative stops to just take a step back and revel in the onscreen presence of Sudeep. While there is no doubt that these scenes are nothing but indulgence, these work effectively because the star at the centre of it is Sudeep. For instance, you hardly seem him use any weapons except his hands and legs to demolish the assembly line of henchmen. Of course, he could have come all guns blazing, but Max is not about machinery but pure mayhem.
There is a Kaithi hangover in the film, especially since there is the whole night time turning into daytime as the credits rolled, and a ‘what-if’ scenario that makes the protagonist a police officer with a past, instead of a prisoner with a past. But, some films are not just about the writing flourishes, the narrative high points, the screenplay twists, or the final hurrah. They are all about how effective an actor can sell sentiment and bravado. They are all about how cool a star looks in a white vest, bloodied torso, smoking an unlimited supply of cigarettes, and having fiery but steely eyes. They are all about how convincing a superstar looks as he dances around flames and fervour as he vanquishes nameless villains. They are all about maximising the demi-god status of the superstar at the centre of the frame. And on that front, Max reiterates why Sudeep is not just a superstar… but the Baadshah.
Max Movie Cast: Sudeep, Ilavarasu, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Sunil
Max Movie Rating: 3 stars
Max Movie Director: Vijay Karthikeyaa
Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
