Maharshi exudes a sense of comfort and happiness in the midst of the wreckage and targeting. Ĭommandingly, Mahesh Babu never hides his character's arrogance, Somewhere he knows thatA the sneer won't last. But they are purposely hazy in their appeal, the sole exception being Allari Naresh who loves his best friend Mahesh Babu to death. There are some powerful veteran actors in the film. The only time he is persuaded to slow down his vehicle of social reform it is to break into a joyful jig and song with his romantic interest Pooja Hegde who looks like she walked into the wrong film. He waltzes across the arching plot not missing a single step as he negotiates his character's offensive conceit. Indeed, Mahesh Babu's transformative performance from arrogant conceit to conscientious farmer is arguably his best to date. The restorative image of a film that wants to heal the wounded selfworth of farmers is never squandered for effect.Every time Mahesh Babu speaks on the issue of bankrupt farmers we see not the star but the star's conscience spilling into the frames irrigating the driest corner with tears that long to be shed. The village sequences create a sense of imminence and generosity for the cause of the farmers. But it's in the second reformatory half that the protagonist Rishi Kumar, and his story come into their own. The early scenes in the IIT campus are well executed.
Director Vamsi Paidipally knows how to tap into Mahesh Babu's youthful image. The first-half with its quaint college is heartwarming without trying to be excessively cute. He scoffs at his father (Prakash Raj, in a moving cameo), taunts his best friend Ravi (Allari Naresh who can't decide whether he wants to spare isolation) who hero-worships him and drives away his girlfriend (Pooja Hegde, inconsequential) because.well, she doesn't fit into his ambitions. Mahesh Babu Aplays a man who thinks the world of himself. Seldom does a cinematic hero looks so comfortable with his arrogance.
He doesn't shy away from comfortably occupying the moral high-ground that the narrative allots him. To be sure, almost every frame of Maharshi is dedicated to eulogizing its leading man as he plunges into the role of a social crusader. On the surface Maharshi is yet another star-vehicle for Telugu cinema's most revered contemporary superstar.
Breaking free of his innate political reservations he speaks out in favour of farmers of our impoverished country in a voice that never strains to be heard. Mahesh's previous films such as 'Dookudu' (2011), 'Business Man' (2012) and 'I - Nenokkadine' (2014) have previously been dubbed in Hindi, with reruns on Hindi television channel. Mahesh Babu who is a formidable icon in Telugu cinema, won't remain quiet any more. Owing to his growing popularity, his next film 'Maharshi' which is touted to be his biggest film - will also be dubbed in Hindi. If you stay quiet you are accused of pacifism.