Swag

Overall the film felt like a live play where actors want to give their best and even story is good, but the whole thing still seems off.

This film is a good example in which a good amount of effort went into writing the story but other areas of bringing it to the celluloid were done unenthusiastically including dialogues, direction and screenplay.

While watching, it was evident that the actors were trying to give it their best shot, but still the final result felt artificial. It could have been due to the direction or screenplay. Editing felt very abrupt at many places. Music was below average. Production design for the historical part involving castles was good.

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.

The movie is very good. The second half is a bit slow and uninteresting but overall the movie is a good attempt.

Shri Vishnu has done Lifetime Award winning acting. He has done very well in total 5 roles.

Meera Jasmin garu has to say Chomeback with this movie. Even if this character is not present in the climax, the nose job gives a lot of impact to that character. Rituvarma nice good job. Rest of the actors have done well in their characters.

The point taken by director Harshit Goli is well known but dealt very well. That does not mean that there are no mistakes. They do not appear until the climax. But the flashback is a bit confusing. It seems that it is not clear.

It's good to communicate your ideas through a cinema, but what if the cinema itself ends up as a 2.5 hr long social commentary? That's exactly Swag is all about.

Director Hasith Goli deserves a pat on the back for coming with such a noble intention, but the execution was far from satisfactory. If viewed as a cinema, 1st half is a crashing bore, with literally so much going on the screen without any impact. But the interval makes us stick to the narrative. The entire second half becomes preachy, contrary to what they have promoted. One particular episode stands out, but rest of the movie isn't upto the mark.

Credit to Sree Vishnu for donning multiple getups, although one role stands out, rest all felt as a gimmicks, thanks to the flat writing. Rest of the cast did what they were given.

Technically, the movie is basic, BGM by Vivek Sagar is fine, editing makes sure proceedings aren't confusing, cinematography is okayish.

At the end, when viewed as a cinema, SWAG disappoints, but can watch it once for its intentions.

Look man , I go to movies for pure entertainment. The film if its has strong story and is providing relaxation is comparatively good than the one which is more technical or rich in cinematic values for me . This film has been fairly good in terms of the comedy it provides and the story line. It failed to remain consistent but it is okay because the director has clearly planned something new for the audience with this film. The actors were good , but the female leads seemed to have no screen presence at all except for Meera Jasmine mam. Few stories like the ones between Meera - Vishnu and Ritu-Vishnu seem to be written brilliantly and executed well on the screen too, while the ones like Vishnu-Daksha seem to provide enough laughs . The issue arrives in the later half of the movie where the film becomes a lecture giving us classes on Gay rights and honestly man , I just wanted to watch a film . Overall , the honest comedy and few engaging stories are what make this film a good one and the lecturing lets this film down.