Salaar Part 1 – Ceasefire: A Ghost Soldier
Star Cast: Prabhas, Shruti Haasan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jagapathi Babu, Madhu Guruswamy, Easwari Rao, Sriya Reddy
Music Composed by Ravi Basur
Cinematography by Bhuvan Gowda
Edited by Ujwal Kulkarni
Produced by Vijay Kirangudur
Directed by Prashanth Neel
Please read the review of KGF Chapter 2 before you read this. Otherwise, you may have misconstrued impressions and conclusions after reading this. It would be better if you also read that review.
Spoilers Ahead…
Ghost Soldiers are those who only exist on paper, not on battlefields. They receive high salaries and good facilities on paper, but in reality, the money goes to some generals and high-level officers. Three Ghost Soldiers have worked for Salaar Part-1 Ceasefire: Prabhas, Prashanth Neel, and Script. What did they do and how? I will discuss them all in detail later, but before that, let’s try to understand the dynamics of Khansaar that I think I remember from my viewing. Khansaar is a place in India that lies along the borders of Gujarat and Pakistan. The area has access to sea, land, and air transport facilities. Three notorious tribal groups, namely, Mannars, Shouryangas, and another one (sorry, I couldn’t catch that tribe’s name), started making it their “Kingdom” back in 1100 AD. Like some tribal groups that were labeled as “criminals” by the British, these people have also been branded as high-level criminals. In the 1700s, when the British tried to invade their territory, they formed a sect and decided to unite and fight as a group.
After India gained independence in 1947, the people of Khansaar decided to remain unrecognized on the geopolitical map. The leader of the Mannar clan, Shiva Mannar, who looked like his son Varadha Raja Mannar, made them a formidable force that no one could challenge. He divided the land into 101 parts and appointed a head for each area – a Kapu (with 1 vote each). Above these heads, there were Doras (with 3 votes each) – leaders of 10-12 Kapus. These Doras were like samantha kings to the Raja or the supreme leader (with 15 votes). The tribes were notorious and criminal in nature, and their support helped politicians rise to power. Thus, Khansaar became a non-existent kingdom – a Ghost Kingdom. In 1985, Raja Mannar (Jagapathi Babu) coveted the throne and killed the next prince of the Shouryanga clan. The tribes had agreed that Mannar and Shouryanga would alternate as leaders or kings. This meant that if one generation of leadership belonged to Mannar, the next one would belong to Shouryanga. To distinguish between them, their bodies had different marks and their leaders wore different armbands and necklaces.
In Baahubali, Amarendra wins the hearts of the people and finds solutions even without being their king or having any powers. In Salaar, he responds to the problems of the oppressed, one of whom happens to be another heir apparent. Raja Mannar has exiled his own son, Varadha Raja Mannar, who has to live like a Kapari under a Dora. He cannot rebel as it would anger the king and his allies. He has no army. He needs his general. The film does not start with this story to hook us from the beginning. Instead, it tries to be both Baasha [1995] and Baahubali. The problem is that Prashanth Neel thinks that Ugramm [2014] is his best story. If he had focused on the criminal tribes and their conflicts, it could have been a Chatrapati [2005].
Have you noticed one thing? No film that I am referring to is not a Prabhas film. Prashanth Neel, who created a new character for Yash and made him nationally popular, could not do the same for Prabhas. He had to choose a story that was similar to Chatrapati or Baahubali. This means that he worked hard on writing a story that fit Prabhas’ image, but not one that made him stand out. He was hurt that Ugramm did not give him the success that he wanted or deserved, so he picked a hero who was used to such stories. He thought that people would like to watch him in that again. In Chatrapati, Prabhas already played a person who fought against oppression and sought his mother’s love and approval. In Baahubali, Prabhas already played two characters who revered their mothers as Goddesses. Then, why repeat that as Salaar? When a writer or maker feels that his or her work did not get the justice it deserved, he or she tries to redo it “n” number of times until it succeeds.
Ram Gopal Varma had a fixation on Antham’s [1992] idea until he made Satya [1998]. He also pursued Raat’s [1992] idea or making a film like Exorcism until he succeeded with Bhoot [2003]. He made Gayam [1993] and Company [2002], which were inspired by The Godfather, but he did not stop until he made his best version – Sarkar [2005]. He even made a trilogy of Sarkar films, similar to The Godfather films. He attempted to remake Evil Dead as Deyyam [2021], but he did not repeat it as it was only a moderate success. Mani Ratnam explored different versions of Mouna Ragam [1986] for different generations, such as Sakhi/Alaipayuthey [2000] and OK Kanmani [2015]. Raghavendra Rao stuck to the formula of humorous villain, glamorous heroine, ideal son and revenge plot until the 1990s, when he made the blockbuster Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari. Rajamouli still follows Baasha’s template of commercial screenplay, even for RRR [2022]. Ram Charan’s character seems like the main lead because of the flashback. Baasha’s template does not mean that the hero has to be soft; he can also have hidden motives.
Prashanth Neel wanted to make his own version of Baasha for Kannada cinema with Ugramm. He confessed that he was let down by the people around him and the film did not become a big hit. Later, he got another opportunity to make a huge film and he decided to not repeat Ugramm but create a completely different film. That film became his identity, in fact. But he lost it to his stubborn ambition, the Ghost Soldier in his stories. His creative vision, ability to keep the audience engaged with a new character who faces challenges and emerges victorious, has been overshadowed by his admiration for his previous work and the time he “wasted”. Ugramm seemed like a copy of many successful films with a talented writer-director behind it. But by trying to copy the same, Prashanth Neel harmed himself even more.
Consider the example of KGF Chapter 1, where the story is introduced as a tale of a criminal who is despised by society. In contrast, in Chapter 2, everyone is engrossed in the story that is being told. Neel maintains the ambiguity of whether the story is true or fictional, even in the second film. Here he introduces the oppression of the tribes, but he does not explain which tribe is being abused or why. He mentions that one tribe has been wiped out and that there are three tribes in total. But what happened to the third tribe? There is no clarity. Raja Mannar recalls his father in Varadha Raja Mannar. Then why does he not prevent others from harassing him? What kind of relationship did the father and son have? How did it happen that a powerful son of the Karta was humiliated and his father did not care? If Raja Mannar wants to rule by his own terms, then he becomes a dictator. How can a dictator respect and follow the Constitution, or Nibandana? Varadha Raja always wanted to fight back and he brought Devarath for that purpose. Why does he stop him all the time? It would have been better if he had waited for him to act. Duryodhana stops Karna because he is afraid of the wrath of Bheeshma and Drona, not because he does not want a war.
It would have been better if Prabhas had entered the Khansaar not by his own choice, but because of some other obligation. Then, Varadha’s resignation to his fate would have made more sense. As it is, they just seem like unnecessary melodramatic scenes that add nothing to the screenplay. Without context, a mother’s fear for Deva’s life is not interesting. Dragging those scenes out also felt like overdoing the obvious. When people are expecting him to explode and know that he will, such delay does not create drama, but boredom. It would have been more interesting if Prabhas himself had a fear of the monster he could become when unleashed, and that was why he held himself back. In one scene, he is shocked by the blood on his hands, and in another, he is eager to unleash the same violence. The context may be different, but a person who is afraid of doing more harm than good would try to stay calm at all times. A contrast between his mother’s happiness before he entered the Khansaar and her paranoia afterwards would have added some subtext and context to her emotions. Neel’s storytelling has many gaps that one wonders why he did not fix them even after such delays in release.
Prabhas seems to have lost his passion for headlining films. Ever since Baahubali came his way and he realized that he could only do that kind of film to please his fans, he seems to have withdrawn into himself. He does not light up the screen with his charisma like he did in Mirchi or Rebel. He just walks, talks, and shows no emotion. He has good action skills, but he seems to be bored. I hope he finds his inspiration again soon. Prithviraj Sukumaran put his heart and soul into it and gave his best. Except for Bobby Simha, everyone else competed for the best “ham”-mer award. Ravi Basrur did not contribute anything to the scene except for some random score. Bhuvan Gowda is good again, but the editing was not up to the mark. Overall, Neel seemed to be obsessed with the idea of “retelling” Ugramm on a larger scale and introducing Khansaar, rather than fixing the flaws of the previous one. The excessive melodrama that he loves ruins Salaar at several points. While we expect the King’s General to be the main attraction of this story, the King turns out to be the load bearer, like a huge building that is supposed to stand on one pillar, while the other pillars are almost “ghosted”.
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