Saina is just a mediocre biographical sports drama film, which couldn't entirely justify Saina Nehwal's life story.
The film opens in the year 2018 where Saina wins two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. The first half of the film begins from her childhood days and young Saina is portrayed by a ten-year-old Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye with ease. Although she hardly got any dialogues but she is so comfortable with badminton matches because in real life she is also one of India's brightest young prospects in the sport of badminton.
Amole Gupte's story is predictable and his direction is simple. He manages to narrate the 31 years of Saina Nehwal in 135 minutes runtime. But the storyline is highly predictable even for the viewers who don't know much about Saina Nehwal's achievements.
The screenplay is stretched in the second half and the downfall of Saina's life isn't executed well. The matches aren't choreographed well, more focused and compelling cinematography would have taken Saina to next level. The climax match of the film lacks the required intensity.
Parineeti Chopra delivered a decent performance. She looks quite convincing as a badminton player and manages to pull off this role with dexterity. Subhrajyoti Barat got an underwritten role. Meghna Malik got a well-written role in the first half and delivered a good performance.
Manav Kaul's character isn't well established, he tries to lift a poorly written character with his sharp dialogue delivery. Eshan Naqvi as Parupalli Kashyap, Saina's boyfriend (now husband) is just shown as her supporter. The makers could have shown that he too is a badminton champion who has won several medals for the country. Other supporting casts are just average.
Saina Movie Rating:
Direction 2/5
Acting 3/5
Editing 3/5
Story 2.5/5
Screenplay 2/5.
