Plot:
Savitri (Nanditha) is very fascinated by the word ‘marriage’. Right from her childhood, she has been dreaming of her marriage and, in this process, makes her sister Gayatri (Dhanya), a scapegoat by getting her married to someone she doesn’t like. Rishi (Nara Rohit) enters her life a co-passenger in a typical DDLJ / Chennai Express style and many other characters get added into this mix. Rishi saves a couple– Madhu and Sreemukhi– and later on proposes his love to Savitri. She out rightly rejects the proposal and what follows is a silly twist and how Rishi woos and binds her in an emotional state with his funny yet serious side. There are other twists laced in the narrative but they offer much surprise. In a nutshell, this is a tale of a guy fighting against all odds to win the love of his life.
Performances:
Nara Rohit – He is a natural charmer and stands as a strong reason to watch this film. He breezes through the comedy sequences and chills out in the fights, breaks open his emotional and gritty side towards the end. A real winner!
Nanditha– She gets good screen presence and few cool lines to render. Also the entire story revolves around her. However, she does nothing much than look pretty and just dream about her marriage.
Posani Krishna Murali– He sparks up in a sheer silly scene, where he believes himself to be Lord Krishna. Though the scene looks ridiculous, he does his job to bring the roof down.
Murali Sharma– He is a doting father who gets couple of scenes to put on his acting chops.
Ajay– He plays a good brother in the family and gets restricted to some routine stuff.
Ravi Babu– He makes you laugh with his uncanny characterization that has just few words to speak.
Vennela Kishore– He plays a typical NRI who likes the Telugu culture but, in the end, cribs about it. Another funny performance by him!
Satyam Rajesh– He gets going with another routine performance, which he has been doing since ages.
Dhanya Balakrishnan– She plays the elder sister to Nanditha and gets to shine in only one or two scenes. Another talent wasted.
Shakalaka Shankar– He is a one scene wonder as a dhaba owner and again nothing new from his side.
Prabhas Sreenu– He stays for a longer time and does the job of a sidekick to the hero. In his typical style, tries to look confused to make the audience laugh.
Analysis:
Director Pavan Sadineni used a tried and tested template for the story and didn’t try to venture beyond the ordinary. Though in terms of scale, his first film might be small, but was a better film than this one. Savitri just adds to his repertoire and proves that he can handle big stars and decent budgets. But, can he get the story and screenplay right is still a staggering question. The film entertains you in parts with Rohit’s humor and the jokes that are spread evenly. Nanditha has nothing much to do than pout in awe and wonderment. The other characters too aren’t etched properly leaving just the scope for comedy and action. The film’s an overblown DDLJ with a dash of Srinu Vaitla’s patented offering.
Merits:
Good dose of comedy.
Couple of action scenes.
Nara Rohit’s performance.
Demerits:
Routine story and sequences.
Repetitive treatment that puts you to sleep for some good time.
Music:
Shravan’s music is peppy, esp. the title track. The background score is near perfect and punctuates the scenes well.
Others:
Though the film is shot at few locations, it gives you the feel of a big ticket film. All thanks the production team. Camerawork by Vasanth captures the train episodes and the rustic aura of the village quite well. Goutham with his seamless cuts keeps the film short and crisp and just over two hours.
Verdict:
Savitri is a routine tale with nothing new to offer. There are oodles of entertainment in the form of comedy and chases, but that don’t make up for poorly-etched characters and amateurishly-executed scenes. You keep on finding one twist from this film and one scene from that film to fill the gaps. The humor saves the day but the story and treatment needed much more pruning. All in all, Savitri merely qualifies as a one-time watch.