Prassthanam - set in Maleehabad, Prassthanam is a political thriller with some impressive performances. Baldev Pratap Singh (Sanjay Dutt) inherits a political empire more by default as the scion of the family is felled and in the process, has to marry the latter's widow. As the stepfather, he adores his stepson and grooms him to be eligible for being his worthy heir, much to the disappointment of his own son from the marriage who decides to unleash mayhem. Baldev will have to wither the storm of many twists and turns that will test his love, loyalty, leadership and resilience. The lessons we learnt from our holy scriptures are mere ideals, one's actions in reality are guided more by his needs and desires, and the ties of blood are stronger than these ideals.
Remade from a Telugu film of 2010 by the same name, Prassthanam has a sombre and mature performance from Sanjay Dutt, who returns to a role that he has so often done in the past, that of a leader facing the test of time. Ali Fazal is superlative and Jackie Shroff is silent yet strong. The film isn't your average pot boiler although it has some predictable twists in the tale. The product is slick and shiny with an element of suspense kept alive until the very end. It could have been 20 minutes shorter probably that could have rendered Prassthanam to be faster paced and punchy. But director Deva Katta takes the film the whole nine yards, sucking some effectiveness out of it.
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