'Saindhav', produced by Venkat Boyanapalli of Niharika Entertainment, was released in theatres today (January 13). In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.
Plot:
SaiKo aka Saindhav Koneru (Venkatesh) works with the Coast Guard in a fictional coastal town named Chandraprastha. A widower, he is distraught when his little daughter Gayathri (Baby Sara) is diagnosed with a genetic disease, to cure which an injection worth Rs 17 Cr has to be administered. In an attempt to procure the most expensive injection in the world, SaiKo joins hands with Michael (Jisshu Sengupta), a local ganglord waiting to destroy the empire of Vishwamitra (Mukesh Rishi) and Vikas Malik (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), his arch enemies. But this path is fraught with life-threatening situations. Can SaiKo save himself, his daughter and his love interest (Shraddha Srinath)?
Performances:
Venkatesh's salt-n-pepper look made 'Rana Naidu' edgy. In the case of 'Saindhav', the look adds to the frayed temper of his character. His intensity is good but not terrific. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the versatile Hindi artist, removes the inconsistencies of his character and delivers somehow despite his character being routinely maniacal. His acting chops make some scenes feel cohesive even though the writing is bland.
Baby Sara looks the part, while Shraddha Srinath looks emotionally uninvolved in a few scenes. Arya and Ruhani Sharma have boring cameos, while Andrea Jeremiah (as Jasmine, Vikas Malik's love interest) is reasonably good. Mukesh Rishi, Ravi Varma (whose casting is a dead giveaway), Jayaprakash (as an upright coast guard officer) and others are average. Getup Srinu draws a few laughs although his presence is tonally off.
Technical aspects:
Director of Photography S Manikandan contributes to the storytelling, albeit in a limited manner. Both in relation to the sonic palette and the placement of colours, the film is adequate. Santosh Narayanan's background score makes us feel the darker and ominous hues of the film in bits and pieces. Otherwise, the BGM is a drawback.
Editor Garry BH's work is far from adept. The Production Design by Avinash Kolla ensures that there is overall visual balance but nothing is brilliant about Chandraprastha. VFX Supervisor Praveen Ghanta tunes into the mood of the film.
Post-Mortem:
'Saindhav' was intended to be an exercise in pulling off a roller-coaster ride in the mold of an action thriller like 'Vikram'. However, the absence of intrigue in the clash between the hero and chief antagonist lacks intrigue. Since the world-building is flat, the second half suffers from a sense of repetitiveness.
A series of attacks, a bundle of threats and avalanche of existential threats dot the second half. The hero wields a range of weapons and we are expected to buy into his peak gruesomeness. In keeping with the cinematic vocabulary of directors like Lokesh Kanagaraj and Prashanth Neel, SaiKo's merciless brutalism is flashed in the form of bland lines referencing him by the negative characters.
The backstory of SaiKo was touted to be unique in terms of the narrative structure. To be sure, the narration is nothing out of the ordinary. The final 20-minute stretch was described as one of the best cinematic experiences ever, but what we get is a pathos montage song in the backdrop of a final shootout - choreographed without a stroke of freshness.
Like the recent 'Salaar', 'Saindhav' uses the idea of deploying the suffering of hundreds of kids to build its emotional muscle. We sympathize with the poor kids but, barring SaiKo's daughter, none of the other kids gets to move us. It is as if the director dialled up to eleven (in all, 329 kids are in danger of dying) because it sounds like a colossal calamity on the cards.
The dialogues are unimaginative, especially the ones mouthed by Venky. The punchy ones among them are stale. Since the story progression is broadly predictable, the action scenes should have offered novelty. Here too, there is no luck.
Closing Remarks:
'Saindhav' is predictable and stale. Its action scenes are unexciting. Venkatesh's performance is good but it is hardly the saving grace it needed to be.
