Actor Prashanth was ruling the roost about 15 years back and he even had a 'Top Star' prefix. He paired up with all the top heroines including Aishwarya Rai, and had a sizable female fan following thanks to his boyish looks and onscreen energy. He returns after a small gap in Saahasam, with all his good looks, youthful charm and commercial skills intact. But at a time when new concepts and fresh scripts are the order of the day, a stale masala remake like Saahasam just doesn't fit into the scheme of things. The film has a few good moments driven by Prashanth's presence and the original's value but overall, it isn't a watch-worthy outing.
Prashanth plays Ravi, a street-smart bloke who looks for ways to make easy money, while his typical father advises him to be straightforward. Ravi crosses paths with Bittu (the villain Sonu Sood), who plans to loot a huge sum of money from a bank and settle for good. But Bittu's plans go awry and he also loses his brother, due to Ravi's interference along with the cops. What follows is a cat and mouse game between Ravi and Bittu, with many commercial factors added on, like a stupid heroine, some funny cops and family members. In the end, obviously it is the hero who comes up trumps and outfoxes the baddie, with his beyond ordinary brainy moves and brawn.
Thaman has given 5 peppy numbers, but the way they have been placed on screen is unimaginative to the core. You start to dread these song routines beyond a point, and sadly a lot of money has been spent shooting these songs in foreign locales and dressing up all the actors in glossy costumes.
Many scenes have directly been used from the Telugu original (Julai) and Saahasam becomes a tacky dubbed film in these parts. Some scenes involving both Sonu Sood and Prashanth have been sewed up with sub-standard CG work. The pre-interval car chase sequence is too frivolous (same case in the original). How can someone drive a car through a long office floor, breaking in and out of glass doors and windows. Baffling stunt choreography!!
The heroine Amanda has passed muster when it comes to the lip sync for her Tamil lines but her character is someone that is childish and believes all the tricks that the hero plays on her (like Genelia in her films). Nargis Fakhri is a glamorous presence in the 'Desi Girl' song, but while dancing she doesn't show any 'josh'. We have Thambi Ramaiah, John Vijay and MS Bhaskar trying to tickle our funny bones, but not to great effect. Nasser plays Prashanth's dad and the sermon that he gives him before the climax tests our patience. Sonu Sood looks handsome but there is nothing to talk about his performance, as it is basically what he had done for Julai, added on to Tamil dubbing.
We wish Prashanth chooses fresher scripts for his upcoming films as he still has all the credentials to pass off as a robust hero. But Saahasam is just a test of our patience.
Prashanth plays Ravi, a street-smart bloke who looks for ways to make easy money, while his typical father advises him to be straightforward. Ravi crosses paths with Bittu (the villain Sonu Sood), who plans to loot a huge sum of money from a bank and settle for good. But Bittu's plans go awry and he also loses his brother, due to Ravi's interference along with the cops. What follows is a cat and mouse game between Ravi and Bittu, with many commercial factors added on, like a stupid heroine, some funny cops and family members. In the end, obviously it is the hero who comes up trumps and outfoxes the baddie, with his beyond ordinary brainy moves and brawn.
Thaman has given 5 peppy numbers, but the way they have been placed on screen is unimaginative to the core. You start to dread these song routines beyond a point, and sadly a lot of money has been spent shooting these songs in foreign locales and dressing up all the actors in glossy costumes.
Many scenes have directly been used from the Telugu original (Julai) and Saahasam becomes a tacky dubbed film in these parts. Some scenes involving both Sonu Sood and Prashanth have been sewed up with sub-standard CG work. The pre-interval car chase sequence is too frivolous (same case in the original). How can someone drive a car through a long office floor, breaking in and out of glass doors and windows. Baffling stunt choreography!!
The heroine Amanda has passed muster when it comes to the lip sync for her Tamil lines but her character is someone that is childish and believes all the tricks that the hero plays on her (like Genelia in her films). Nargis Fakhri is a glamorous presence in the 'Desi Girl' song, but while dancing she doesn't show any 'josh'. We have Thambi Ramaiah, John Vijay and MS Bhaskar trying to tickle our funny bones, but not to great effect. Nasser plays Prashanth's dad and the sermon that he gives him before the climax tests our patience. Sonu Sood looks handsome but there is nothing to talk about his performance, as it is basically what he had done for Julai, added on to Tamil dubbing.
We wish Prashanth chooses fresher scripts for his upcoming films as he still has all the credentials to pass off as a robust hero. But Saahasam is just a test of our patience.
