SAROJA (2008) Tamil & Telugu Movie Review By Kalcha

STAR CAST: PREMGI, S P CHARAN, VAIBHAV, SHIVA, PRAKASH RAJ, JAYARAM (Tamil), SRIHARI (Telugu), SAMPATH, NIKITHA, KAJAL AGARWAL, VEGA
COSTUME DESIGNER: VASUKI BHASKAR
CHOREOGRAPHERS: KALYAN & SARAVANA RAJAN
STUNT DIRECTOR: SELVA
LYRICS:VAALEE, GANGAI AMAREN, YUVAN SHANKAR RAJA & VENNELAKANTI (Telugu)
MUSIC: YUVAN SHANKAR RAJA
ART: VIDESH
EDITOR: PRAVEEN K L & SREEKANTH N B
CINEMATOGRAPHER: SHAKTI SARAVANAN
WRITER / DIRECTOR: VENKAT PRABHU
PRODUCER: T SIVA
BANNER: AMMA CREATIONS

I won’t give any advice to Tamil audiences as the movie is a gift from Tamil Film Industry aka Kollywood to each and every movie buff among us.

ABBAS-MUSTAN should certainly Piss in their White Pants for making the SO CALLED THRILLERS copied from Hollywood that Bollywood is used to… which never are Stylish and Gripping. And can never compare to the original.

In Contrast (A Commenter asked me whether the movie is based on Judgment Night…), SAROJA while based on Judgement Night, takes the original to a whole new level. I personally feel that most of the THRILLERS by and large have wafer thin plots and the only thing that matters is how well the Screenplay is written and Directed. Both Saroja and Judgment Night start off and proceed with a group of men on their way to somewhere, end up in a violent atmosphere. Judgment Night stops there while Saroja takes the plot to a whole new level by cleverly mixing it up with Saroja’s Kidnap. It further proves the mettle of the Director VENKAT PRABHU… that given an engrossing plot, he can do wonders… Moreover, as Venkat Prabhu himself said, Saroja is meant to be just a Breezy-Entertainer and that’s what it is…

Another Commenter asked me an excellent question: “Whether SAROJA can be called an Intelligent Script?” My answer is quite simply… NO. When I review movies, I review them in Relative Sense. All I take in to account is how does a particular movie compares with its peers. In this case, Saroja is far superior to its peers in its genre in Tamil and Telugu as well. Let me give you an analogy… If THE USUAL SUSPECTS is an Intelligent Script in Hollywood as well as the world over… SAROJA is a very Entertaining Script which is NOT Original for the better part of the movie.

I would say a few things for Telugu movie buffs…

• SAROJA is certainly Heart-Breaking for movie buffs who enjoy Musali (old) Ravi Teja Youthful Love Stories.
• SAROJA is certainly injurious to anyone that enjoys Maha-Musali (Super-Old) Super Star Krishna’s Flying Fights.
• SAROJA is absolutely off-limits for anyone who enjoys a 100th Different Movie Involving Curved Weapons, Pats On Fat Thighs, & Tata Sumos/Safaris/Whatever.
• SAROJA is also not for those students expecting Fake Gandhian Preachy Messages From Their Non-Practicing Favourite Stars.
• SAROJA is definitely not for Family-Movie types who enjoy 100 Member Joint-Family Holding Hands Singing Crap.
• SAROJA is definitely not a 1000th Different Love Story With A Brand New C(R)APTION like ROMEO (A Different Lover).

Could say much more… but let’s call it a day here…

• FROM START TO END
• Screenplay of Saroja is a text book for any aspiring Writer/Director. I never knew that Comedy and Thrills could be mixed to so much Perfection. BABEL’s Butterfly Effect in narration is elevated to the utmost highs.
• Performances by each and everyone in the cast are exceptionally good and I have to say that SRIHARI (Telugu) was better than JAYARAM (Tamil). VEGA is an absolutely tremendous find. The great thing about the performances is that no actor or actress comes across as the dominant character. Everyone just behaves their self… and especially there is no hamming (via over-the-top screams or) which is very common in thrillers.
• Writer/Director VENKAT PRABHU is beyond my words for inspiring me. My Hats-Off Sir.
• Special Effects have never been done to such perfection in an Indian movie. No effect is unnecessary or disjointed. Every effect elevates every frame to the highest level possible. Special effects in this movie would put our Imitating-Super-Hero-Crap like KRISSH to an absolute shame. I just hope DRONA has something on this level.
• REAL HERO of the movie is BACKGROUND SCORE by YUVAN SHANKAR RAJA.  It is hauntingly thumpy.
• MUSIC is in tune with the movie… ABSOLUTE THUMPPP!!!
• And much more that I have missed to mention here…
  

• A minor hook is lifted from Beyonce & Shaun paul’s BABY BOY track for the song filmed on NIKITHA.
• A couple of minor BLOOPERS towards the climax that really could have been edited properly. But they took away probably just Half-A-Star.

Hmmm… that felt really good… Indian Filmdom have much more to say… but I am really pressed for time. Some other time… I was really appalled at the way our Telugu film industry breathes. It is almost on a Ventilator support. I hope some sensible Directors would save Tollywood from this slump. I am not writing this to satisfy my ego or to hurt someone’s feelings. I just have good intentions and feel really ashamed that I can’t do anything about it as of today. And I sincerely feel that there are ABSOLUTELY NO CREATIVE TELUGU DIRECTORS as of today. Yeah, not even Shekhar Kammula. He doesn’t have the depth that could propel him to the next level as of today. And more over he made a mockery of ANR’s ANDALA RAMUDU through GODAVARI. SHANKAR (Commercial Genius), MANI RATNAM, SASI KUMAR, VENKAT PRABHU, AMEER are just some of the Great Directors from Tamil Cinema. There are many more. That certainly doesn’t mean that Tamil Cinema has no CRAP altogether. But there is a balancing factor that gives some of the GEMS of Indian Cinema. And I definitely feel SAROJA is one of them.