BOTTOM LINE
Painfully Boring
RATING
1.75/5
Story, Screenplay, Director: Nishanth Doti
Cast: Shiva Kumar Kasaram, Swetha Lakshman, Vrajana Pandya
Music Director: Shekar Chandra
DOP: K. Karunakar
Editor: Dinesh Peddi
Producer: Teja Velpucharla
Presented By: Sumaira Studios
Production Company: Sumaira Studios
U.S. Distributor: Prathyangira Cinemas
Related Links: Trailer
What Is the Film About?
Sanjeev, aka Sanju, has had a crush on Sahasra, aka Sahaa, since childhood. He has followed her since school, and it continues in college. They eventually marry, despite their respective families.
Sahaa-Life of Sanju tracks the couple’s (Sanju and Sahaa) journey after marriage. It also shows a current-generation young girl in a similar situation and contrasts their choices.
The movie’s basic story is how Sanju and the new girl connect, and whether his life lessons help her.
Performances
Shiva Kumar Kasaram plays the main lead with three distinct looks in the film. As far as looks go, they get progressively better with the present one, suiting him the most, to put it mildly, in the order they present them.
The same goes for the acting. Shiva Kumar looks at ease and puts on a decent act in the current timeline sequences. He is okay in the post-marriage parts, although the effort is visible. And forgettable in the portions representing the school and college-day romance. All said and done, it’s the ending where he gives his best shot, though.
Swetha Lakshman also starts off on the wrong foot with a constant, irritating expression throughout the first half. In the post-interval sequences, when the post-marriage events are shown, she shows different emotions. She handles them well and does her job.
Analysis
Nishanth Doti writes and directs Sahaa-Life of Sanju. It is presented as a realistic-looking slice-of-life coming-of-age tale involving a couple from school days. The focus is on situations and moments, and how the lessons from them shape choices later in life.
With such a vast premise, which can bring multiple aspects of life into the storyline, a writer and director’s job becomes harder: picking and writing events that are impactful and meaningful, while also providing entertainment and drama.
It also means easily losing focus, assuming things are necessary and getting lost from the main goal. Sahaa-Life of Sanju is a perfect example of how things turn out with such premises.
The entire first half (barring the sequences involving the present timeline) drags and bores. A connection is made to the present, but it comes across as mechanical rather than organically woven into the narrative.
Jumping across timelines and covering various life events is fine, but it only has impact when the events do. In this case, they don’t, and what makes it worse is how predictable the whole thing is. We can see where things are headed from a mile away.
The utter predictability and banal, nonexistent writing make the movie a miserable watch in the first half. It wouldn’t be a surprise if someone wants to leave things midway and not be bothered about the movie. That’s how things are at around the interval mark.
However, the narrative does get a little bit better during the post-interval sequences. The drama involving the couple in the past and a young girl in the present does bring a semblance of hope.
Again, what hurts the movie is the individual moments. The scenes chosen and situations the characters are put through to generate drama have zero bite and originality. We have seen them countless times before. The long flashback stretch, while better than the opening hour, still doesn’t show anything new.
When there’s nothing fresh, the writing and performances should make up for it and make you forget about it. But that’s not an option with Sahaa either.
Finally, despite all the predictability and banality on offer, a few moments in the pre-climax and climax get the intended effect right. The ‘message’ given to the father in the current timeline works well, and the drama leading to the ending gets that ominous feeling.
Sadly, the ending itself feels forced and deliberately crafted to evoke particular emotions, rather than the characters making choices that tug at the audience’s heartstrings.
Overall, Sahaa-Life of Sanju is a decently intended effort in its approach, but the content and execution leave a lot to be desired. Barring a few moments during the second half, nothing works. It’s a forced emotional tearjerker that doesn’t earn its emotions. A forgettable affair.
Performances by Other Actors
Apart from the main lead, Vrajana Pandya has a decent role, and she is fine in whatever little is given to her. Apart from them, the world of Sahaa is filled with regular stock characters who have nothing much to do and remain stereotypes.
Music and Other Departments?
Without any doubt, Sekhar Chandra’s music is the movie’s highlight. Without his BGM, it would have been impossible to sit through the movie. Leaving aside the musical aspect, the movie is a disaster technically. The cinematography is terrible and doesn’t warrant a big-screen watch from any angle. The editing should have been ruthless, allowing for a shorter, crisper narration. The writing is poor, given the intended effect.
Highlights?
BGM
Pre-climax and Climax (In Parts)
Message Around Pre-climax
Drawbacks?
First Half
Writing
Cinematography
Utterly Predictable Narrative
Forced Emotions
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
Sahaa Movie Reviewed by Kalyan
