Magudam

“Vishal's ambitious directorial debut blends action, emotions and scale, with a better second half, but lacks a tight screenplay.”

“As a directorial debut, Vishal shows some promising instincts when it comes to characters, but the film also demonstrates that understanding the ingredients of a commercial entertainer is very different from knowing how to balance them.”

“Vishal's directorial debut is over-ambitious and underwhelming. The story is very 1980s and offers nothing fresh to the audience.”

“A crown too heavy for weak storytelling”

“Vishal's directorial debut Magudam is an ambitious, action-heavy revenge saga that boasts committed performances across three timelines, but struggles with a screenplay that cannot always hold its multi-layered structure together.”

“Magudam doesn't end up being the epic that it aspires to be. It is an overstuffed formula film that never quite takes off.”

“This revenge saga has a story that feels borrowed from the 1940s. But director Vishal dusts off the dated premise and brings it into 2026 with a lousy screenplay and hideous visual effects.”

“If you haven't caught the drift yet, this three-hour-long gangster saga is a terribly contrived and amateurish actioner. Over three long hours, Magudam manages to do something many bad films couldn't: make film-watching feel like a punishment.”

“40 minutes into the three-hour-long Magudam, you feel like there's almost nothing you've been told that matters to the larger plot.”