Cast: Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh
Director: Sujeeth
What’s it about?
The boss of an international crime syndicate Roy (Jackie Shroff) wants to legitimize his business in India, but his untimely death sets off a chain of events. In them are gang wars, robberies and the hunt for an elusive black box that is the key to Roy’s two lakh crore fortune.
Review
Sounds simple? That’s because I have written it that way. Wish writer-director Sujeeth had taken a similar approach. Saaho is laced with twists and turns so unnecessarily complex that after a point you might just give up even trying to bother. The fact that they are equally predictable doesn’t help matters either. Of course, the most sensational reveal is reserved for a high-octane adrenaline-pumping climax, but if you’re Bollywood level smart, you will crack it right from the start.
The film is mounted on the strong shoulders of Prabhas apart from the huge scale with death-defying (many times even logic-defying) stunts. Cars, tankers, trailers, bullets, people, hero, heroine - everything flies. Of course, one way or the other, our man Prabhas is always involved in all such mishaps. The camerawork is too jarring with too many close-ups even during fast-paced chases.
While his stunts and fights with the baddies are action-packed, the same cannot be said for his performance and dialogue delivery. A lot of is his trademark Bahubali charm is missing and his dialogue delivery is so slow that I could read the subtitles before he finished the sentence. Shraddha Kapoor makes an entry as Miss Smartypants hotshot cop, but soon becomes a liability. The gullible lady falls in love and trouble with almost equal ease and a lot of time is wasted in rescuing her. However, she’s always glammed up to the T. Whether she is shot, kidnapped, thrown off the building or exchanging sweet nothings with the hero while on police duty.
Also, there are many villains, but none of them scary. Funny? Yes sure, almost all of them except Chunky Pandey, whose bad-guy act is surprisingly the most convincing. The film’s special effects are quite impressive but also inconsistent, much like the editing. At almost 3 hours, Saaho feels like quite a task due to its juvenile execution and weak narrative.
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