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Review Telugu

Savyasachi review: A thriller that does not realize its potential

Release Date: 02 Nov 2018 / Rated: U/A / 02hr 30min


Cinestaan Rating

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Karthik Kumar

This Chandoo Mondeti film would have been a far better film without all the commercial compromises.

Chandoo Mondeti’s Savyasachi is a thriller that is beautifully mounted on an interesting concept of the vanishing twin syndrome.

However, for most part of its runtime — a bloated 150 minutes — it wants to be accepted as a commercial potboiler, checking all the boxes that make it appealing for mainstream audiences.

Thus, we have a romantic subplot that is utterly boring and adds no value to the film. We also get some laughs, courtesy body-shaming jokes and double entendre dialogues.

By the time the film realizes its potential and really capitalizes on the concept on which the protagonist’s character is built, one has lost interest in it.

Naga Chaitanya plays Vikramadithya, who, as a foetus in his mother’s womb, had absorbed the foetal tissue of his twin. In medical terms, this phenomenon is called the vanishing twin syndrome. Therefore, Vikramadithya is ambidextrous. He is Vikram as well as Adithya, his unborn twin whose few cerebral remains and neurons give Vikram’s left hand additional power.

The scenes between young Vikram and his mother, played by Kasthuri, who is aware of his condition, serve as a lovely family touch. She loves Vikram as much as she loves Adithya. Vikram’s sister is also aware of his condition and the family showers its love unflinchingly on the unborn twin, Adithya. On Rakshabandhan, the sister ties a rakhi on Vikram’s left hand. These portions, dramatic as they seem, work well on screen.

R Madhavan plays a psychopath in Savyasachi. Despite his earnest performance, one isn’t quite blown away by the idea of having Madhavan play a menacing character because of the way it is written. He goes on a rampage and after he kills 20 people quite early in the film, he disappears until the interval. His back-story is reserved for the second half. By then the film has lost all its initial promise.

If only Savyasachi had concentrated on its strong premise instead of wasting its potential on silly gangs and romance, we would have had a cracker of a thriller. On top of this, there are needless tributes to Nagarjuna in the form of dialogues, scenes and the remixed version of one of his more popular songs. Perhaps this was director Mondeti’s way of persuading Nagarjuna to sign his next film, but it is a waste from this film's point of view.

Nidhhi Aggerwal as the leading lady is as annoying as most North Indian heroines in Telugu films. Vennela Kishore delivers a few funny lines but it is really disappointing to see him play the hero’s friend in every other film with the sole purpose of eliciting laughter.

The action choreography deserves some praise. There is a particular action stretch in the second half of the film where we witness the true power of Chaitanya’s left hand, in a slightly exaggerated way. It’s a well-shot and choreographed action sequence.

If only the writing had been devoid of all the commercial compromises.

 

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