Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire is set in a fictional and imaginative world. Prashanth Neel, of KGF fame, deserves kudos for his imagination and the way he builds up the tension in the mass scenes. A few clapworthy scenes and the stylish editing keep the interest going. Sadly, the world of Khansaar shown in the film is very complicated. There are too many players and it becomes a task to understand who is related to whom and what their agenda is. The whole ‘Ceasefire’ track is difficult to decipher. The twist in the climax also doesn’t work as intended; it doesn’t make you excited for the sequel like it happened with Baahubali or Pushpa. Finally, the film is too long (175 minutes). Prabhas, however, is in a much better form, compared to his previous films. Prithviraj Sukumaran rocks the show, despite limited screen time. Shruti Haasan is hardly there. Easwari Rao (mother) Mime Gopi (Bilal) and the actor playing Krishnkant leave a huge mark. Others who do well are Jagapathi Babu (Raja Mannar), Sriya Reddy (Radha Rama Mannar), Ramachandra Raju (Rudra) and Tinnu Anand (Gaikwad). John Vijay (Ranga) hams. The actors playing Selfie, Vishnu and Bharwa are fair. All in all, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire is strictly okay.

My rating - ** ½ out of 5!