Godfather is an official Telugu remake of Mohanlal's Malayalam film Lucifer. It is directed by Mohan Raja and produced by NV Konidela and RB Choudary under the banners Konidela Production Company and Super Good Films respectively. The film has Mega Star Chiranjeevi and Nayanthara in the lead roles while Satya Dev, Murali Sharma, Tanya Ravichandran and others play crucial supporting roles. Salman Khan has also played a cameo appearance as Masoom Bhai.
The Chief Minister of Andhra, PKR dies mysteriously, and the race for the throne is wide open. PKR's daughter Sathyapriya (Nayanthara), her husband Jaidev (Satya Dev), and Mr. Verma (Murali Sharma) are the names in the hat and Brahma's name gets added at the end. Brahma(Chiranjeevi) is considered as a force to reckon with and the strength behind PKR when he was the CM.
The power play between all these contenders, what role Brahma has in weeding out all corrupt ministers, and how he avenges PKR's death is what Godfather is all about. Directed by Mohan Raja, who is known for handling remakes really really well, he almost gets the essence of the original right, and adds a few elements to fit the sensibilities of the Telugu audiences.
Godfather is all about Chiranjeevi and it is the right kind of script which fits the stardom he carries, and Mohan Raja goes full throttle. One of the scenes which stands out is the conversation between Satya Dev and Chiranjeevi inside a prison where Chiranjeevi doesn't utter a word but the scene reeks of mass appeal. It is also a scene which shows us what a brilliant actor Chiranjeevi is. Cinematographer Nirav Shah rightly chooses to zoom in on Chiranjeevi's eyes and give us goosebumps.
Among the other actors, Satya Dev looks less powerful as the antagonist as a person with a huge screen presence like Chiranjeevi needed a much stronger villain. Barring him, Nayanthara, Murali Sharma, Tanya Ravichandran and Brahmaji end up as memorable characters in our minds and ace their roles. Salman Khan's cameo role increases the "massness" of the film, and he breeds swagger in every frame.
Technically, Nirav Shah's camerawork is stellar and he captures the film in a grand way. But the VFX especially in climax fights could have been better. The stunt choreography is a mixed bag. The jail fight sequences are executed well.
Among all these, one person whose work stands out is Music director Thaman. His purple patch of scoring mass BGMs for top heroes continues and he's given his heart and soul to this film. The screenplay by Mohan Raja is neat and simplified and is understandable for everyone. He also makes a few tweaks to the original by combining 2 characters and making it a single character. Those are the places where the Godfather differentiates from Lucifer.
Overall, Godfather is a mass film with a great screenplay and music. Chiranjeevi solely powers the film right from the frame he makes an entry. There are a few rough edges here and there but all those are forgotten as Chiranjeevi, Salman Khan and Prabhu Deva shake a leg together while the film comes to a close.