Unofficial based on the Kannada film Ugramm, Salaar Part 1 : Ceasefire follows the story of two best friends who find themselves pitted against each other as sworn enemies. Who will triumph eventually? The story is just part 1 of the saga and surprisingly, the concept here works tremendously with the world building. And quite honestly, that was the tough part to assemble, something that the drama scores with easily. Where the film falters though in its execution particularly in the action sequences that ought to have been a cake walk(more on that later). The screenplay standing at close to 3 hours does make for a compelling watch but there are instances when the length of the film gets to you. I feel atleast 30 minutes could have been chopped off from the overall runtime to make for a crisper and even tighter watch. 

The drama gets off to a flying start with the introduction of younger version of the protagonists wherein their strong bond of friendship is expertly established. From there on, it was like watching the film Ugramm all over again with the whole angle of a woman returning from the States being attacked, only to be sent to the character of Prabhas, who by the way gets a grand entry! There is considerable buildup to the drama wherein you don’t get to see a single action sequence for close to an hour into the narrative. Now because I had watched Ugramm, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the entire first half of the film that had nothing new to offer, even with the limited action sequences that didn’t quite impress me owing to some choppy editing! But the interval block(although extremely poorly edited) does leave a mark with its staging, thereby putting some vital context for things to follow in the second hour. 

The second hour is when the actual story kicks-off featuring a fantasy land of Khansaar that follows its own set of rules. The flashback here has a steady buildup but the amount of details provided to the viewers is excessive and comes literally out of nowhere, something that describes the politics of the land while highlighting the history of shifting character dynamics along the way. I just wished that the writers had taken a creative decision to start the film from the portions of the second half, and eliminating the entire ‘Ugramm’ buildup, something that would have helped the viewers to familiarize with the world, the characters and the equations a little better. Had the writers allowed the story to breath a bit, the results would have been even better. Nevertheless, the mood and tone of the drama from this point sets the ball rolling nicely(and remember this is a continued world building given that this is just Part 1). 

Through the second hour, you are acquainted with the bond of the two protagonists with a strong emotional undercurrent that runs through the narrative. There is even a little timeline thrown in like a countdown that adds to the mystery surrounding the drama. The buildup is steady but effective and it does make for a compelling watch. I also was appreciative of the call-back at the end that managed to tie the loose ends of the screenplay together. The action set pieces are better but still, the action per se did not work for me at all due to jump cuts after every half a second. A one-take or atleast a continued motion in the action set-pieces(remember Animal?) would have been a lot more effective. But the twists and turns at the end by giving away a little information to the viewer almost like a tease, did setup things rather well for the second hour. Overall, the screenplay is decent and packs a solid punch with its world building.