Saaho - Movie Review

What’s it about?
 
Like shown in the trailer, Ashok Chakravarthy (Prabhas) is an undercover cop and he is investigating a massive robbery that happened in Mumbai along with cop Amritha Nair (Shraddha).  The robbery has links with Waaji city, which houses Roy (Jackie Shroff) a dreaded don and his crooked henchman Devraj (Chunky Pandey). There is a black box that will decode all the mystery. After Roy gets killed in a road accident in Mumbai, the plot thickens. What is the link between Waaji city and Ashok Chakravarthy?
 
Analysis
 
“Saaho”, the much-hyped action drama, begins narrating the story of a city that is controlled by mafia don. As soon as Mandira Bedi comes on to the scene, anybody who has seen “Largo Winch” or its poor copy “Agnyaathavaasi” can easily guess that this is another attempt to repackage the same story in a different setting. As the film progresses, you first feel pity for Prabhas, then this pity turns into anger at him for allowing this mindless mess to come out.
 
It is said that T Series which bought the Hindi rights of ‘Saaho’ owns the remake rights of ‘Largo Winch’. Remaking or copying is not the issue but it is treatment and direction that is annoying. The corporate world and its tactics of ‘Largo Winch’ are replaced with the Mafia world and their games. Director Sujeeth who proudly used the credit as ‘written and directed by’ has followed the basic screenplay template of that foreign film and has included many scenes from other foreign movies like ‘New World’, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, etc.
 
In Jackie Shroff is shown as an evil mafia don who can even kidnap small kid to threaten a minister. When the director presents him as such a ruthless mafia don, how would audiences feel pain when the twist is revealed later? The basic flaw is changing the corporate world to the mafia world (this mafia theme is completely taken from Korean drama ‘New World’). Also, Prabhas comes off as an undercover cop and works with a police setup when he isn’t a police officer. How come even top-ranking police officers don’t know who is their undercover cop and who isn’t? That defies the logic.
 
It is understandable that the makers wanted to give more stress on action blocks than the story part but even those action episodes are hardly awe-inspiring. They come off as computer games. The Dubai action episode is interesting which lasts nearly 20 minutes but the following sequences mar the mood again.
 
Moreover, there are a couple of stunts that would put Ram Charan’s train episode of ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’ to the same. Prabhas jumps off a huge mountain and travels down many kilometers without any help of a parachute. Such a gravity-defying power he has. In another sequence, Prabhas lifts Shraddha Kapoor mid-air when she is about to fall. Prabhas even bares his chest to showcase his chiselled body in a scene, which will serve his core female fan base. All these scenes and action episodes are ‘designed’ to appeal to the fans but they have failed to serve the purpose.

Despite lavish production values, the film turns into a mess.

Coming to the performances, Prabhas is okay. He is excelled in action stunts but there is nothing for him to showcase his acting talents. His hair-style (receding hairline) is very bad. Shraddha Kapoor has done her best despite poorly written character. There are scores of actors but only Chunky Pandey makes an impact.
Technically, the film is far superior with rich cinematography, high-end action episodes. The songs composed by different music composers are catchy and are shot richly.
 
It is director Sujeeth who fails in total. His direction and screenplay are full of clutter.
 
Bottom-line: ‘Saaho’ is a huge disappointment. This is a classic example of another attempt by the makers to use the star power, and his image than telling a story. Based on ‘Largo Winch’ with copied scenes from other foreign films, this turns into a mess totally. Production values and some action episodes are good though.