Mahaan teaser: Vikram is no Gandhi, five key takeaways from this Karthik Subbaraj’s gangster drama

The protagonist seems to come from a family of followers of Gandhi. So much so that the hero is named Gandhi Mahaan. We see how his family fronted the peaceful protest in his native village to abolish the sale of liquor.

Will the real Gandhi Mahaan, please stand up?

It seems Gandhi Mahaan is seemingly forced to embrace Gandhian beliefs by his family. His father seems so rigid that he won’t approve of his son unless he’s living a life preached by the Mahatma in every conceivable sense. We can see the father clutching the shoulders of a young Gandhi Mahaan and sort of extracting a promise from a terrified youngster to live the life of a ‘Mahaan’ (Mahatma). Perhaps, the fear of disappointing his father forces Gandhi to lock up his real self and pretend to be a good man.

Gandhi Mahaan is no great soul

If the teaser is anything to go by, Gandhi finally gathers the courage to be his true self. And that real self is rather terrifying. He takes control of a syndicate that calls the shots when it comes to the sale of liquor in any part of the state. He seems to nurture the ambition of becoming the king of all bootleggers. So much so that his words become the law. He seems to nurture and protect the illegal business that his family so vehemently opposed. He clearly seems to have some serious unresolved childhood issues.

A still from Mahaan. (Photo: Twitter/Karthik Subbaraj)

A promising film

Vikram seems to be in his element in this movie as a deeply conflicted man. He seems to have embraced the chaos that are part of his character, which seems to take on many shades. Is he a decent and peace-loving man? A ruthless gangster? Or a failed father? What is the identity of a real Gandhi Mahaan? Karthik Subbaraj seems to have created a character that lets Vikram channel the grit and hate in his unique style.

Sins of the father

One of the main themes of Mahaan seems to be the troubled relationship between fathers and sons. Gandhi Mahaan’s childhood may have been affected by his father’s high-handedness in holding him to the standards of Mahatma Gandhi. And he turned out to be a rebel and a hardcore criminal. Invariably and unthinkingly, he might have passed on his childhood trauma to his son, Dada, played by Dhruv.

Mahaan is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on February 10.