Saripodhaa Sanivaaram Review - Commercial Formula Done Right!

Ashwin Ram

Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is an action thriller starring Nani, Priyanka Mohan and SJ Surya in the lead roles. The film is directed by Vivek Athreya of Ante Sundaraniki fame, and produced by DVV Entertainment.

Premise:

Nani, an Angry Young Man who fights for the innocent people, but only on Saturdays as promised to his mom. What happens after the cruel cop SJ Suryah comes into the picture and gets marked as the hero's target is the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:

To begin with, Vivek Athreya’s writing is powerful. There is a purpose for most characters, powered with a convincing backstory and a logical reasoning. The base plot is familiar, yet the director’s treatment does the trick by delivering something different in both class and mass moments. There are many solid situations in the staging level that are carried with the commercial knack during the face-off sequences. The villain character is strongly designed, his mindset is beautifully portrayed at the very beginning. All his scenes have come out interestingly, especially his combination sequences with Nani are a blast in the theatres. The Saturday concept is fresh and the starting point of it has the right emotional quotient, the threats on other days are smartly postponed to the following Saturday by the hero’s mind game. The screenplay is intriguing overall with many good scenes, memorably penned and decently executed. A couple of subplots… Ajay Ghosh’s track is used for the hero's introduction and certain aspects are cleverly implemented in a couple of payoff places, but kills the time as three fights surround the same topic. And, there won’t be much change in the story if Aditi Balan’s scenes are removed, who plays the hero’s sister. Thankfully, the above mentioned lags don’t disturb the key final hour of the flick.

Performances:

Nani is perfect in the vigilante role, man shines bright in a tailor-made subject suiting his stature that has a share of challenging heroism, apt emotions and measured romance. On one hand, Priyanka Mohan’s love angle is layered, importantly her character is placed as the connecting tool between the hero and villain. However, she could have expressed better when that notch-higher meter was required. SJ Suryah is the show-stealer, outperforms everybody around with his loud natured dialogue delivery and eccentric behavior. Murali Sharma gets a vital role, the twists surrounding his personality traits are enjoyable. Abhirami as the mother is the core of the film, a brief role played neatly.

Technicalities:

Decent songs by Jakes Bejoy, understanding the less scope for audio tracks in the subject, the team has trimmed it accordingly. Commendable background score, gives enough elevation in the fights and tension during the face-off moments. Quality work by the cameraman, the geography and the colour tone convey the mood, mainly the slow-motion shots are very impressive. Sloppy editing, the runtime is a bit of an issue as there are some loosely packed portions, the chapter-wise narrative felt like an excuse to the disjoint flow order. Stunts are satisfying to watch, drama takes the front seat in all the action sequences, the highlight is the climax fight because of the usage of props.

Bottomline

An wholesome action flick that gets many things on-point. An engrossing watch, barring a few overly stretched action blocks and subplots. Equally fascinating writing style for the hero and the villain, also their cat and mouse game offers the punch.

Rating - 3/ 5