Swag

Writer, director Hasith Goli and actor Sree Vishnu teamed up for their second outing after Raja Raja Chora which was received well. In Swag, Hasith Goli deals with a much serious subject that is not only relevant in this day and age but also thought provoking.

Swag opens in the year 1551 where a king from "Swaganika" dynasty plays a second fiddle to his wife, Rukmini Devi, who is a matriarch. Rukmini's goal is to develop a matriarchal society while the king aims for a partriarchal one. This tussle continues for generations and in the present day a policer inspector named Bhavabhuti asserts male dominance in all walks of life. He later stumbled upon family inheritance and the rest of the movie is about how he tries to acquire the wealth and what role does matriarchy and patriarchy play into his quest.

This is a kind of subject that can go in any direction and can even made borderline vulgar. However, Hasith Goli demonstrates exceptional command over his story and characters. He clearly know what he set out to accomplish with this movie and that is refreshing to see from a relatively new comer. Although I wished the writing was a little bit better in the first act where the conflict is setup. The screenplay appears rushed and the editing by Viplav Nyshadam, while delivers the quirky feel that the maker was going for, cuts scenes too soon. The result is the information overload in the first act that stays with you till the end. I did wish they relaxed the first act just a tiny bit for the audience to take it all in.

Sree Vishnu plays five different characters ranging from a 16th century king to a modern day teenager obsessed with Instagram. This is his best performance yet. He is full of surprises in this movie and carries the movie with a natural ease. Female leads Ritu Varma and Meera Jasmine excelled in their respective roles and showed the variation that is needed as they play multiple roles as well.

Music by Vivek Sagar is an asset to the movie and it helped draw me in to all the drama. The production design was enough for you to lose yourself in the world of Swag.

Overall, Swag is an enjoyable movie watching experience and offers something novel and treats its audience with great respect.

-CinephileIndia2023.