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The most lovable actor, Venkatesh, has teamed up with HIT fame Sailesh Kolanu for the action drama Saindhav. This is the 75th film of Venkatesh, and it boasts an ensemble star cast. Versatile actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is making his Tollywood debut. Let’s see how the movie is.

Story:

Set in a fictional city, Chandraprastha, the movie is about Saindhav Koneru, a.k.a SaiKo (Venkatesh). He works as a crane operator in the customs department. Saindhav has a daughter named Gayathri (Baby Sara Palekar), who is taken care of by Manogya (Shraddha Srinath), a cab driver. One day, Gayathri faints in school. Upon taking her to the hospital, the doctors reveal that Gayathri is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Gayathri needs to be given an injection worth 17 crores. What did Saindhav do next? Did he save his daughter? What is the connection between him and Mitra (Mukesh Rishi), who leads a cartel dealing in drugs and weapons? This is what the movie is about.

Plus Points:

Victory Venkatesh is one actor who can portray any role with immense conviction. Venky is the heart and soul of the film without an ounce of doubt. He carries the entire film on his shoulders from start to end. The actor’s screen presence is amazing and he packs a punch in the action scenes. There are a couple of good emotional scenes, and Venkatesh is at his usual best here.

The last half an hour of Saindhav is engaging with good action scenes and Venky’s action avatar. The Bujjikondave song is appealing on screen. Nawazuddin Siddiqui tries to bring fun element into the movie, and he evokes a few laughs here and there.

Through Saindhav, the makers tried to create awareness about the genetic disease SMA and the contributions being made by NGOs, which is good. The fight sequences are well composed, and they are neatly captured by cinematographer Manikandan. The interval action set piece stands out among all.

Minus Points:

Though the idea of Saindhav is good and has a lot of potential, the director couldn’t come up with an interesting narrative. The screenplay is flat for the most part. The world-building isn’t done well, and the first half an hour is slow and unexciting. There are many dull moments in the first hour.

Saindhav has a bunch of terrific actors, but none of them make any impact due to the way their characterizations are written. Even a terrific actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui is wasted in a generic role. Nawazuddin Siddiqui tries his best, but the script doesn’t let him shine. Andrea Jeremiah, Shraddha Srinath, Ruhani Sharma, Jisshu Sengupta, Arya, Mukesh Rishi, and Jayaprakash deserved much better roles. There are logical errors in the story as well.

For any action film, the background score is very vital in enhancing the impact. Unfortunately, the background score provided by Santosh Narayanan is pretty bad and hardly adds any value to the film. In fact, the impact of neatly designed action blocks was brought down with the background score. In a few important moments, it was almost non-existent.

Technical Aspects:

The production values are solid, and the fictional city has been neatly depicted by cinematographer Manikandan. The art direction team did an impressive job. Had the background score been good, the movie could have been much better. The editing is decent.

The direction by Sailesh Kolanu is underwhelming. The young director presented Venkatesh in a good manner, but he couldn’t do the same with other artists. The idea is good, but the movie doesn’t deliver the necessary highs and lacks the gripping narrative.

Verdict:

On the whole, Saindhav has a good concept, but the narrative is underwhelming and flat for the most part. Venkatesh’s dashing performance and the last half an hour are the biggest assets of Saindhav. Despite having talented actors by his side, the director didn’t provide them with good roles. The background score is one more biggest drawback, which brings down the impact considerably. Venky’s performance and a few emotional moments make the movie an okayish fare. Hence, it is advised to keep your expectations in check.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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