Michael Telugu Movie Review: Sundeep Kishan At His Best In A Serious Gangsta Action Drama About Love, Betrayal, And Vengeance

Michael Movie Synopsis:

Michael is Sundeep Kishan’s first ever gangsta drama, which was made on a huge budget beyond his market and released at a pan-India level today. The film has been in the news for the last few days because of this. Ranjit Jeyakodi had set up the film in neo-noir style, as can be seen from the trailer. Besides Sundeep Kishan, the film also has a huge star cast. Well, Michael lived up to the expectations surrounding it from all sides – budget, market, casting, making, and everything else – after the release. Here is the detailed review of the film Michael from Telugu FilmNagar.

Michael Movie Story:

Bombay was under the control of the gangster Gurunath in the mid-1990s. Michael, a 13-year-old orphan, saves Gurunath one day from a planned murder. From then on, Michael grows under the supervision of Gurunath and the care of Swamy. But unfortunately, Michael goes rogue and turns against Gurunath due to some unexpected circumstances. What made Michael and Gurunath seem like opposite forces toward each other is the key and most interesting element of the rest of the narrative of the film.

Appreciation for Michael:

Though the story of Michael revolves around love, betrayal, and revenge, which we regularly watch in most of the gangsta movies, the real beauty of the film lies in its making and presentation. The credit completely goes to Ranjit Jeyakodi. Michael truly adheres to its neo-noir style of production, going by its setting in the 1980s and 1990s with complete effectiveness. Telugu FilmNagar appreciates Ranjit Jeyakodi’s stylish direction of the film.

Michael Movie Review:

Michael opens with the narration of Swamy (Ayyappa Sharma), who elevates the lead character by establishing himself slowly, right from childhood. The narration is staged and moves between timelines, similar to what Prashanth Neel did for KGF. The best part of this narration in Michael is Kalyan Chakravarthy’s dialogues. These dialogues construct the character.

The story of Michael begins in the mid-1990s and then flashes back to 15 years ago. The story takes place in the mid-1990s and features Gurunath (Gautham Menon) and his gang. Gautham Menon is absolutely phenomenal in the film. His looks and attitude are very impressive. Varun Sandesh, as Amarnath, Gurunath’s son, has the best character of his career. The actor is quite impressive with his cruel shades. Anasuya as Charulatha, Gurunath’s wife, is also important for the film. Anasuya is more involved with the film’s flashback. Director Ranjit Jeyakodi has set up a brilliant Bombay of the 1980s and 1990s. The production values are great, as is the production design. Gandhi Nadikudikar, the art director of the film, needs equal appreciation for this, along with Ranjit Jeyakodi.

After introducing the gangsta world of Mumbai and Gurunath in the mid-1990s, the story shifts to the 1980s to establish Michael’s journey from his childhood to becoming a manly gangster. Sundeep Kishan firstly needs to be appreciated for sitting in the backseat for more than 20 minutes in the beginning of the film despite being the lead character and playing the titular role. Sundeep Kishan also needs to be appreciated for showing different looks throughout the film. Sundeep Kishan has been so fierce and intense in the film. Michael is undoubtedly his best character to date.

Going forward in the story, Michael and Gurunath together plan a murder, which unfortunately fails due to Dheera (Divyansha Kaushik). As we can see from the trailer, Michael falls prey to a widow spider named Dheera, and then everything goes wrong. The romantic track between Sundeep and Divyansha is well written, but a few sections of the audience can feel some lag and boredom in it. Ranjit moves the story forward at the cost of it, which later pays off well at the intermission block. The romantic track between the lead couple, Neevuntey Chaalu, is beautifully shot. Divyansha Kaushik plays a glamorous addition to the film. But what worked for her was the chemistry with Sundeep Kishan. The intermission scene depicts two cards in the film: love and betrayal. What’s left for the second half is revenge.

The second half of Michael has many elevation scenes for Sundeep Kishan and Vijay Sethupathi. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar also joins this party for a couple of scenes. The only problem with these elevation scenes is that they are slow-paced. It feels stylish in some frames and extended in others. Vijay Sethupathi and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar will definitely steal the show for a 10-minute action sequence in the film.

Sam CS needs to be heavily lauded in most of the action and elevation scenes. Sam just killed it in these sequences. The emotional background score also feels okay.

The film’s final twist in the climax portions is good and interesting. But the proceedings fall into a regular zone for a couple of minutes after that. The flashback episode in this climax portion can be a bit stronger. Ranjit Jeyakodi appears to have prioritised his making and presentation over the story. But what is appreciable here are the characters. Every single character has weight and worth in the film.

The technical aspects of Michael are top-notch. The first technical highlight is colour grading. The entire film has a dark tone since it belongs to the neo-noir category. This is very helpful for the presentation of the film since the entire story is told in a serious tone. The cinematography by Kiran Koushik and stunts by Dinesh Kasi are outstanding.

Final Words For Michael:

Michael checks all of the boxes of a gangsta movie. It has all the action elements needed. But there is a lot of drama too in the film, which is slow-paced and extended at times, though it has justifications later. The making of the film is worth watching, but the story can be much stronger. The elements of love, betrayal, and revenge are the best cards in Michael’s show. Michael will undoubtedly pave the way for Sundeep Kishan to begin a new chapter.

Michael Telugu Trailer: