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Saroja Movie Review |
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Saroja-Thriller in the dark |
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| Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Starring:
S.P.B. Charan, Siva, Premji Amaran, Kajal Agarwal, Nikitha,
Prakash Raj, Jayaram
Direction: Venkat Prabhu
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production: Amma Creations
Release Date : September 05, 2008 |
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It’s
the return of the victorious team of Chennai 6000028. All
those who watched and loved the refreshingly youthful fun
story would certainly have high expectations of Saroja. The
onus is on Venkat Prabhu to prove that Chennai 600028 was
not a freak hit. Billed as a first of its kind in Tamil cinema,
Saroja tells the story of four ordinary men who end up in
an extraordinary situation on a day that is perfectly normal
to start with. |
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Ganesh
Kumar, Ram Babu, Jagapathi Babu and Ajay Raj are the
four protagonists of the story. The movie begins with
four of them setting off in a car towards Hyderabad
to catch a cricket-one-day-international. But what happens
is more exciting than just a 50 over cricket match,
perhaps something more exciting than they would have
bargained for. Things start to go wrong when an untoward
incident on the road threatens to spoil their trip.
But the youngsters have spirits that will not be dampened
and that is exactly what leads them to the centre of
a conspiracy. Taking a deviation from the highway, they
make their way through an isolated path hoping to rejoin
the main road at a later point.
But events start taking unexpected turns by the moment.
An accident, a few gunshots, a heart stopping incident,
a few goons, a missed purse and a girl (Saroja) all
alone in the middle of nowhere leave them bewildered.
It is only slowly revealed that what they have seen
are the moving parts of an immaculately planned conspiracy.
As the threads are unraveled, henchmen, policemen, a
high flying businessman and many others are at different
ends of the conspiracy. |
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Basically planned as a thriller, we feel it would not be appropriate
to reveal anything else about the movie as it would take the
zing out of the experience of watching it. The prerequisite
for any thriller is the pace in the script and Venkat Prabhu
seems to have faltered a bit in this regard. Some scenes in
the first half could have been shorter and crisper. However,
he has done really well in all other departments. His evolution
as a film maker is evident in the way most of the scenes have
been picturised, the scale is definitely bigger this time
round. There are places in the movie where one can clearly
feel and see a Hollywood influence. The dialogues are youthful
and well conceived. The high point of the movie is when the
threads of the conspiracy are fully revealed, the audience
will surely be taken by surprise, however intuitive they may
be. |
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Talking about the cast, it is indeed pleasant to see
much of the Chennai 28 cast back again on screen; the
director shows his acumen here. All of them have done
fairly well, but the one who scores highly is Premgi
Amaren once again. He returns to his best after his
debut, seemingly enjoying the experience of working
under his elder brother; but there is a lingering doubt
as to whether his comic capers in the midst of racy
thriller will be liked by the audience. SPB Charan is
the new addition. Apart from the Chennai 28 cast, the
movie also has experienced hands in Prakash Raj and
Jeyaram who add a touch of class to the proceedings.
Debutant Vega, Nikitha and Kajal Aggarwal have done
their parts well without delivering anything special. |
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Technically,
Saroja is a movie that gives a lot of scope for the cinematographer,
most of the story being at night, and has been used well.
The background score too is befitting of a thriller. The songs
have been tailor made for the youth and are bound to be enjoyed.
But the movie on the whole belongs to the director who has
taken a one line plot and maintained the element of suspense
till the very end, a very challenging thing to do for a director
in only his second movie. He has managed to cleverly craft
the characters such that we don’t get the slightest
inkling of what is afoot.
Saroja is certainly different from the run of the mill movies
and the attempt should be appreciated. At the box office,
the thriller tag and the deftly held suspense will prove to
be its strength and the lack of pace (at places) and the elements
of comedy (perhaps) may go against it. Venkat Prabhu proves
that he is not a flash in the pan, the young director is here
to stay.
Verdict – Watch it for the
excitement
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