Saakshyam Movie Review
Saakshyam which created a lot of buzz with intriguing trailers is out in theaters now. It is an action film based on the five elements of nature. Sriwass took an interesting theme, but the execution is not up to the expectations.
Story:
Vishwa (Srinivas) is raised by a NRI couple after his family was killed by Munuswami and his brothers (Jagapathi Babu, Ravi Kishan, Asutosh Rana, Madhu Guruswamy). Vishwa doesn’t have a clue about anything that happened when he was an infant. But the nature that witnesses the gruesome crime plots the revenge when Vishwa comes back to India from US.
Performances:
Srinivas performance in Saakshyam is slightly better than his previous outing. However, he still needs a lot of grooming and should work on his diction. He is good in songs and action sequences with his toned physique. Pooja Hegde’s glamour is an attraction, but she is restricted to a nothing role that doesn’t give any scope to exhibit her skills. Jagapathi Babu looks menacing as the villain. Ravi Kishan and Asutosh are okay as his brothers. There is nothing much to talk about other actors including experienced actors like Vennela Kishore, Brahmaji, Rao Ramesh and Pavitra Lokesh. Lyricist Ananth Sriram is a total miscast in a key role as Valmiki.
Technicalities:
Director Sriwass tried to give a new spin to the time-tested revenge plot by including the five elements of nature. The idea might have seemed thrilling on paper but the execution is so bad that it hardly engages the audience. Except for a couple of action scenes, Sriwass’s direction lacked vision and clarity.
Theme song is impressive and the background score is very good in many sequences. Cinematography is top notch and the visual effects are okay in parts. Grand production values are one of the film’s main strengths. Producer Abhishek Nama has spent a lot on the film as he believed in the concept. Dialogues penned by Sai Madhav Burra are good.
Thumbs Up:
Concept
Production values
Action episodes
Thumbs Down:
Weak execution
Cliched treatment
Analysis:
The idea to make a conceptualized commercial entertainer is good. Director Sriwass has come up with a really interesting theme of using five elements of the nature to seek revenge. The idea must have sounded thoroughly exciting on paper. In fact the theatrical trailer cut had impressed one and all. Unfortunately, Sriwass couldn’t make the idea into an engaging film. Mixing commercial elements into a serious plot diluted the impact and a few key scenes ended up as ridiculous stuff due to lack of vision and bad execution.
Take off is good as the villains are established well. The crimes at the beginning are gruesome and the escape of the hero from the villains clutches as an infant is a thrilling sequence. Director wastes a lot of time on the love track of hero that is boring to the core. Even Pooja’s glamour couldn’t lift the spirits. Things start to excite as hero takes off to India. However, the first killing with the help of ‘air’ kills the excitement because of horrendous execution.
Second killing episode shot in Varanasi has been on point with good technical values. Sriwass looked in full control in this episode where he has hit the right notes. Shifting back to family setup and a badly placed song brings the tempo to near zero and the third killing using the element ‘earth’ is just like any action scene. Climax is a huge letdown because of poor visual effects and a very underwhelming end to Jagapathi Babu’s character.
It’s gutsy of Sriwass to make something on this scale, but he totally lacked the vision to make it an engaging action thriller. Saakshyam would have been a thrilling ride had the director got the execution right. A single line idea isn’t enough to make a film worth watching just because of grand production values. Technicians and actors have put in a lot of effort, but everything has been wasted because of a shallow script.
Verdict: Exciting Idea, Tedious Execution!
