Sathriyan Review - Old wine in an older bottle with a new cap

Yashwanthy Kanniyappan

A movie coming with the title of a yesteryear blockbuster itself sets a considerable amount of expectation amongst the audience. Adding to it, the success of the director S.R.Prabhakaran’s first movie, Sundara Pandian, music director Yuvan Shankar Raja and actor Vikram Prabhu’s thirst for success appends more responsibility to the movie. Let us see if Sathriyan meets the expectations below.

The Plot, Script, Screenplay, Engaging Factor, Direction:

The movie is about a gang war between two parties, the hero serves loyal to one gang and ends up falling in love with the daughter of the his gang’s head, who had been assaulted by the head of the opposite gang.

Hero, though being loyal to the gang, is denied of his love by the gang and the girl’s family. Does he win over his love or falls prey to the phrase “Kaththi eduthavanukku Kaththiyaala dhaan saavu” forms the crux of the movie.

There isn’t anything new about the story or the screenplay. And one would wonder what made the cast and the crew accept the script. Only refreshing part of the movie could be the subtle love between Hero’s friend (Kavan) and his love interest (Aishwarya Dutta).

Neither the stunts are engaging nor the songs or cinematography. Editing deserves a special mention in the category of super snail-paced edits. Looking at the climax, it is evident that the director S.R. Prabhakaran had placed his confidence totally on the final knot, which falls flat on his and all our faces.

Casting & Technicalities:

Vikram Prabhu has tried to deliver what was expected out of him, unfortunately, his facial expressions do not support the role as much as his body does. He emotes one standard reaction at all scenes and it looks like a photograph that plays with different coloured clothes.

Manjima on the other hand has tried to do justice and fairly passes. Due credits to the actors who have done a neat job as the gangsters. Kavan and Tara does a neat job and looks pleasant and convincing on the screen. VJ Rio, Yogi Babu and Aishwarya could have been utilized better or removed completely.

Yet another proof that Yuvan has been losing his touch consistently. Except a couple of BGMs and an absolutely Yuvan’ish song, nothing much lingers in your mind. Your eyes must have been bored of seeing Madurai and Tirunelveli as the backdrop for a gangster story thus the director has given you Trichy which is actually the Grand Mall in Velachery and other places in Chennai (except for the shots that has MalaiKovil as the backdrop to garner your trust).

Passable cinematography, pathetic and unconvincing stunts are few other drawbacks to name. Forget everything, it still surprises me how even the action block could give you that yawn.

A couple of dialogues and few minuscule performances (like the one scene where Vikram Prabhu, Tara and Manjima’s brother meets) is the consolation prize.

Verdict:

Old wine in an older bottle with a new cap. Alas, even the cap fails to deceive as it is a misfit!

Rating: 2/5