Release
date:
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August 30, 2019
|
Director:
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Sujeeth
|
Cast:
Language:
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Prabhas, Shraddha
Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mandira Bedi, Prakash Belawadi, Arun Vijay, Chunky Panday, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lal, Tinnu Anand,
Jackie Shroff, Vennela Kishore, Murali Sharma
Saaho was simultaneously shot in Telugu, Tamil and
Hindi. This is a review of the Hindi version.
|
Prabhas is a pretty
boy and a giant of a man, the sort of hunk with a face so innocent that he
looks like he does not realise quite how hot he is or the effect he has on our
hormones as we watch him, a face also pleading not guilty to violence committed by his
body against bad guys in films.
There are few
things more attractive in this world than a person who is not overly aware of
their beauty. This
charming aspect of Prabhas’ personality is diluted
though in a film obsessed with its leading man’s many positive physical
attributes. And so we get Prabhas captured in a long shot as an imposing
solitary figure leaning languidly against a car, Prabhas standing Batman-like
atop a skyscraper looking out on the world, Prabhas shot from a low angle
stretching his arms out as he is framed against snow-covered mountains, Prabhas’
monumental muscles on display as he bathes, Prabhas’ face in
close up, Prabhas’ face in extreme close-up – any closer and the camera would
have pierced him.
To be fair to
cinematographer Madhie, this would have been the brief. Saaho is, after all, a film defined by visual over-statement. In
leading lady Shraddha Kapoor’s introductory scene, we get an extreme extreme
close-up of one of her eyes. And she too is treated more like a mannequin than
a human being by the camera throughout.
This, in totality,
is what writer-director Sujeeth’s Saaho
is: an over-indulgent, over-stylised film in which looks have been prioritised
over substance, swagger over script.
The plot, for what
it is worth, is about internecine rivalry in a business empire that one man
describes as the “world’s most powerful crime syndicate”. When the chief of the
Roy Group (Jackie Shroff) is killed, the battle for his position is fought
between a whole troop of characters played by Mandira Bedi, Arun Vijay, Chunky
Panday, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lal and Tinnu Anand. As they scramble across the
world in search of a black box that is the key to godknowswhat, a troop of
others including the police are hot on their heels. Among those in pursuit are
characters played by Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vennela Kishore, Murali Sharma and Prakash Belawadi.
Please don’t ask me
who is who, who is aligned with who, or what specific purpose that black box
was meant to serve. I lost interest somewhere in the first half when it became
clear that this uninspired script packed with a multitude of uninteresting
twists was just an excuse to flash highfalutin
gadgets, SFX, stunts and Prabhas at us.
The writing
recycles a zillion tropes from a zillion ‘mass entertainers’ of the sort that
continue to find favour with male megastars across Indian film industries from
Prabhas to Rajinikanth, Salman Khan to Mammootty and Vijay.
Among Saaho’s library of clichés is the
heroine who is given a serious job and then trivialised by the hero, her real
purpose in the project being to fall in love with him, be loved by him, look
glamorous and feature in a couple of song ‘n’ dance routines. Shraddha Kapoor’s
cop Amritha Nair even gets to fall on the floor on her back in a shootout while
Prabhas’ Ashok falls on top of her, they gaze at each other, breathe heavily
and simultaneously deal with the life-and-death situation around them. Gawd!
Done to death in commercial cinema across the world! Can we retire it
forever? Puhleeease?
More clichés, these
ones peculiar to the Indian cinemascape. Amritha sheds her smart work attire to
slip into a teeny weeny shimmery outfit for a nightclub song – she is undercover,
of course. And then there is that long romantic number for which she wears
flowy dresses and poses around in grand natural locations while he poses around
with her. The only such number I remember liking in recent years is Gerua from the Hindi film Dilwale (2015)
because, the formula notwithstanding, that song was to die for and the
SRK-Kajol chemistry is worth dying and being resurrected for. The music of Saaho, on the other hand, is insipid.
And Prabhas and Kapoor have zero sparks between them. They are, in fact, so
cold together, that when they first declare their love for each other, I burst
out laughing.
The two also share
a kiss at one point that would put an iceberg to shame.
As bland as their
pairing is the acting of the entire cast. Mandira Bedi is the only one who gets
to break from the rest when she overacts till kingdom come on discovering the
film’s final big reveal.
The problem is not
that that secret in the end can be seen coming from a mile. The problem is that
it is, by then, just impossible to care.
Prabhas is one of
Telugu cinema’s biggest stars. He is known nationwide for playing the title
character in Baahubali: The Beginning
and Baahubali: The Conclusion, the
Tollywood ventures (released in several languages) that rank among India’s top
5 all-time greatest box-office
hits. Saaho is his pitch to make a
post-Baahubali all-India splash
again. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Malayalam
and Kannada dubbed versions have also been released. Whatever the Baahubali films’ flaws may have been,
the first one was pathbreaking in its use of technology in the Indian scenario
and neither of the two can be accused of being run-of-the-mill. With the world
now at his feet, I cannot imagine why Prabhas signed up for a film as generic
and dull as Saaho.
The only film more
boring than this that I have seen this year is the Malayalam disaster Mikhael starring Nivin Pauly. Saaho and Mikhael make last year’s Hindi film Race 3 look shiny and innovative in
comparison.
In the unending
hours between the beginning and the end of Saaho,
across locations in India and abroad, villains say stupid things in low
voices, Prabhas’ character does things that we are told are impressive, there
are fights and chases, bodies are battered, men in winged armoured suits fly
through the air, mobikes zip down expressways and cars explode. A lot of it is
very high tech and clearly very expensive. At the end of the day though, what we
get is not a film but a little boy showing off his toys to his playmates.
Rating (out
of five stars): *
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
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Running time:
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171 minutes
|
A version of this review has also been published on Firstpost:
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