Mohanlal's Lucifer - Dark Political Thriller

Mohanlal's 'Lucifer' - A Dark Political Thriller

Lucifer (Malayalam) is a political thriller released in 2019, which stars a wide range of Malayalam superstars including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Vivek Oberoi, and of course, the evergreen Mohanlal.

Lucifer is not the kind of movie that one gets to watch very frequently. In fact, the different story itself is alone to compel one to sit for the entire length of the movie.

Language: Malayalam.

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Politics, Dark.

Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Plot and Cast:

The story starts off with the depiction of the political struggle that ensues upon the death of a P.K.R, populist leader of the fictional IUF party in Kerala.

Immediately following P.K.R's demise, self-proclaimed journalist, Govardhan makes astounding revelations on a Facebook live stream  regarding who the successor of the late P.K.R will be, namely bringing a few characters to the forefront:

• Priyadarshini Ramdas, P.K.R's daughter. (Manju Warrier)
• Jathin Ramdas, P.K.R's son, shown to be living in the US. (Tovino Thomas) 
• Bimal Nair a.k.a. 'Bobby', an unscrupulous drug trafficker seeking to expand his influence in Kerala, he also happens to be P.K.R's son-in-law. (Vivek Oberoi)
• Mahesha Varma, the crafty secretary of PKR's political party (Saikumar) and of course,  
• Stephen Nedumbally, a mysterious political "godfather", who has close connections with the late P.K.R. (Mohanlal), Govardhan calls him the most dangerous of all and refers to him as 'Lucifer'. 

The story becomes interesting when P.K.R's son-in-law, Bobby sees an opportunity to become the IUF's financer. Bobby enters into a deal with a notorious drug lord Fyodor to pay ₹250 crores a month to the IUF in return for expanding their drug trade in Kerala. However, first, Bobby must deliver on a promise to set up a drug production plant in Nedumpally.

Bobby immediately proceeds to convene a meeting of the IUF ministers and informs them that the current government stands dissolved in order to pave way for new elections to cash in on the wave of sympathy generated by P.K.R's demise.

The unscrupulous Varma who reluctantly accepts the new order advises Bobby to take Stephen (Mohanlal) into confidence before going ahead with the financing proposal. 

However, on being presented with the new "financing" proposal, Stephen sees through it and warns Varma of the danger of drug peddling in Kerala and its effect on the youth. This brings Stephen at loggerheads with Bobby who seeks to eliminate him. 

However, Stephen has more than one ace up his sleeve and proves to be more than a match for Bobby's vast resources and network of criminals. 

The second half of the film also features Prithviraj Sukumaran as Zayed Masood, a skilled mercenary and Stephen's loyal confidante.  

Background score and Screenplay

The background score is extremely good and manages to create the dark tone of the movie, in line with the title of the film "Lucifer", which is synonymous with "Satan" or the devil. The irony is that originally in the Christian tradition "Lucifer" means "morning star" or "light bringing".

The movie has an excellent screenplay and nowhere does one experience a disconnect between one scene and the next which is an achievement considering the large number of characters in the movie.

Cinemania Guru Analysis

'Lucifer' has a fantastic storyline and very good character development.

A movie that immediately came to mind when I realized Lucifer is a political thriller was the Hindi film 'Rajneeti' which stars Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. However, 'Lucifer' quite different from 'Rajneeti'. While 'Rajneeti' focuses on a power struggle in more conventional methods involving manipulation and murder, 'Lucifer' is more about Stephen Nedumbally (Mohanlal) versus Bobby (Vivek Oberoi)

Mohanlal is superlative and excels in his role as the grey character, Stephen that he embodies in the movie. He once again justifies the "Complete Actor" nickname. Vivek Oberoi is also extremely convincing as the villain.        

One can say that while Stephen represents an "angel" of sorts, Bobby personifies the "devil incarnate". 

Supporting actors in the movie have played their roles well. Manju Warrier is fabulous as Priyadarshini, P.K.R's daughter. Saikumar embraces his role and truly makes one believe his character, Verma is a chameleon - changing colours as the situation demands.    

'Lucifer' has been undoubtedly made for the masses by projecting Mohanlal as a one-man army. The film depicts him as a demigod with unnatural strength and insight. In my opinion, it seems like an attempt to personify Stephen as the mythical-religious figure 'Lucifer'.      

“There is no such thing as good politics. It is only a fight between evil and lesser evil.”

- Stephen Nedumbally 

The above quote beautifully sums up the storyline.

The movie is nearly 3 hours long, however it doesn't seem to be dragged unnecessarily. Overall, the movie is a must-watch and should not be missed by anyone, whether a Mohanlal fan or not. 

Cinemania Guru Rating - 9.0/10

You can stream 'Lucifer' on Amazon Prime Video.

Extra 📰 - Mohanlal is fondly called 'Lalettan'. 'Etta' means elder brother in Malayalam and Lal refers to Mohanlal.