Saindhav

Disappointing experience with the movie "Saindhav." It seems like the film tried to emulate the style of "John Wick" with an Indian twist but fell short in several areas.

Direction and Execution: Despite the director Sailesh's previous success with "HIT," "Saindhav" didn't live up to expectations. The action-packed approach lacked the depth and storytelling that audiences appreciate.

Acting: Victory Venkatesh's performance seemed one-dimensional, with the same expressions throughout the movie, which detracted from the overall impact.

Storyline: The movie's pace was too fast, making it difficult for the audience to engage with the story. It seemed like the focus was more on action rather than developing a compelling narrative.

Positive Aspects: The appearance of Arya and the showcasing of luxury cars like Lamborghini, Mustang, and Bentley were some of the few highlights.

It's clear that a well-balanced movie needs more than just action sequences to be successful. Storytelling, character development, and emotional depth are crucial elements that resonate with the audience.

Saindhav (Victory Venkatesh) has temporarily retired his Saiko avatar to work as a crane operator, supporting his family consisting of a wife and a daughter. There is a cartel illegally training kids by giving them arms and trading them to terrorist outfits. Saiko used to work for this cartel before quitting. After knowing the cartel's dirty operation, Saindhav steals their containers and in the meantime finds out his daughter is suffering from a medical condition which requires an expensive treatment. The story is set up with the baddies wanting the containers and targeting the ailing girl to get it which only allows Saiko to come out of retirement. Bloodshed ensues and how Saiko serves up cold blooded justice forms rest of the story.

Saindhav has the right idea but it falters immensely with the weak screenplay that fails to engage till the end. I wouldn't say overstuffed but it has all the ingredients this particular genre demands to churn out a blockbuster action entertainer. The execution is simply not there as the flow keeps getting jarring and the scene transition end up having no impact. There are bunch of baddies and an over the top Nawazuddin Siddique who tries to entertain throughout but his character arc is messy, a casualty due to the hype lead character gets. For a thriller it's uneven and the baddies are shown to be no match to Saiko even with the setbacks he receives. The dialogues felt weak and too much bloodshed couldn't elevate the bland narrative.

A good attempt at blending action and emotion, but the execution could have been better! Venkatesh and Nawaz give good performances but the rest of the cast don't have much to offer. The action scenes are amazing and the cinematography is nice. There were a couple of emotional blocks that deliver, but due to no proper character development, it doesn't create a big impact. The background music by Santosh Narayanan is underwhelming. A better background score could have taken the movie a couple of notches higher. The climax gives a high with good performance from Venkatesh. Overall the movie is a decent watch but not as good as expected!

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. Fights were too violent.

Saindhav has a bunch of great actors, but none of them make any impact due to the way their characterizations are written. 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.

This movie feels like déjà vu with its overly simple storyline that brings nothing new to the table. We've definitely witnessed this plot somewhere before. The screenplay tries to be a trailblazer in Telugu cinema, but it's like trying to make a sandwich with just one slice of bread - not very satisfying. The first half-hour is a snoozefest, the last half-hour manages to redeem the film a bit, and the middle is just meh.

Venkatesh's character is like a well-cooked dish - written properly with a side of great looks and a dash of impressive performance.

Navazuddin as antagonist is the spice we needed; his performance is like a firecracker. Arya and Shradda are like those tasty appetizers you wish you had more of - limited screen space, but they deliver.

The child actor Baby Sara and the rest of the cast are like the supporting actors in a play - doing their job well without stealing the spotlight.

Cinematography and background score play nice, but the songs are like a bad karaoke night - better skipped. The action sequences are a rollercoaster of thrills, but it gets a tad too violent.

Sailesh's direction is a mixed bag - some scenes are like a chef's kiss, while others leave you wondering if they used salt.

Watching this in theaters might not be the best use of your time, but if you're patient, it could be an okay OTT watch.