- Film: Saaho (Action Thriller )
- Cast: Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Chunky Panday
- Direction: Sujeeth
- Written by: Sujeeth
- Duration: 2 hours, 51 minutes
- Rating: 2
Story:
The Mumbai Police is trying to bust a crime syndicate from the futuristic city of Wajii. They rope in undercover officer Saaho (Prabhas) and crime specialist Amritha Nair (Shraddha Kapoor) to hunt for a box containing two lakh crore rupees hidden by the gang’s murdered leader, Roy.
Review:
Apart from capturing the black box with the moolah, at the crux of the movie is also Saaho’s relation with the dead gang leader Roy. Too many plots and action sequences make it a painfully long watch.
Prabhas enters the screen quite late and the anticipation fizzles out with a long-drawn fight sequence.
The first half tries to set the pace but gathers no momentum. The story only picks up in the second half. Shraddha and Prabhas’s love angle comes across as forced and there is hardly any chemistry between them. He struggles with Hindi diction and it still has a room for improvement. The film suffers from one cameo too many!
Jackie Shroff as Roy has a minuscule role and despite that, he makes a sound form. Chunky is surprisingly good as a mean, no-nonsense, power-hungry guy, who can go to any extent to execute his plans — a welcome break from his Akhri Pasta image. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjrekar and the rest of the cast try to play their part but their characters are badly written. The script has too many flaws. Shraddha’s turn as a cop is also confusing and apart from the songs, she hardly has anything to do.
Sujeeth’s direction is all over the place and there are too many action sequences for no rhyme or reason and they sometimes defy logic. The climax drags with one fight sequence after another. Apart from Pshycho Saiyaan, the songs don’t take the story forward and one wonders why they are there in the first place. The focus is only on showing exotic locales around the world. There is also an item song featuring Jacqueline Fernandez (Bad Boy), which sums up how clumsy the film is.
The action and chase sequences do match international standards and, in a way, complement the Baahubali actor well. The outing has Prabhas written all over it. He is the only shining light but badly let down by a sloppy, chaotic screenplay and juvenile direction. In the end, you are sincerely praying for the film to end and that is never a good sign.
Verdict:
Saaho is a rank disappointment and an opportunity missed. Watch it for Prabhas’s patches of brilliance but you will need loads of patience!
