Cast: Mahesh Babu, Trisha, Irfan Khan, Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Kamna Jethmalani, Ajay, Ravivarma, Raghunatha Reddy, Malladi Raghava, Narasimha Raju, Narsing Yadav, Duvvasi Mohan, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, MVL Narasimha Rao, Lakshmipati, Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao, Telangana Shakuntala.
Credits: Dialogues – Paruchuri Brothers, Cinematography – Balasubramanyam, Music – Harris Jayaraj, Action – Peter Hain, Editing – Srikar Prasad, Presenter – C Dharmaraju, Producer – C Aswini Dutt, Story, screenplay and direction – Guna Sekhar.
Banner: Vyjayanthi Studios Pvt Ltd.,
Telugu film industry is second to none in using the most advanced technology. The films produced by Tollywood producers use sophisticated equipment, whether it is camera or equipment in the laboratory.
Guna Sekhar is known for employing lavish sets in his films and 'Sainikudu' cannot be an exception to it. Producer C Aswini Dutt is already very popular as a maker of heavy budget films. He never compromises on the quality and in erecting huge sets. The audiences cannot forget the Meenakshi Temple set erected for one of his films.
Now, for his latest film 'Sainikudu' he has spent money lavishly on a big village set for the flood shot, the Warangal Fort and other architecture sets and the specially erected bridge with sticks. The film has been shot with a very expensive Super 35 digital camera and the colour grading of some scenes and the songs were made by using Hollywood technology. The Digital Intermediate technology was used for certain scenes in colour grading and at the same time, the work was entrusted to an expert who worked for 'Lord of Rings' and other Hollywood films, from Germany. The Arriscan technology by Utsi has made all the difference and it has given a new experience to the audiences.
Siddhartha (Mahesh Babu) is a medical college student. He and his friends believe in serving the society like soldiers. They come across a goonda-turned-politician Pappu Yadav (Irfan Khan), who is robbing the society. Siddhartha decides to teach him a lesson and abducts his bride Varalakshmi (Trisha) when his marriage is about to take place. Siddhartha starts blackmailing Pappu and gets all the promises made in elections fulfilled. Siddhartha also proves how bad a guy Pappu is and how he implicated him and his friends in a blast case, with the help of his brother-in-law Mondi Nani and Varalakshmi. The film ends with Mondi Nani killing Pappu as the latter ditched him and tried to kill him.
Mahesh Babu has done complete justice to his role and Trisha looks pretty and has come up with a good performance. Debutant villain Irfan Khan has also performed neatly. The dubbing though, lacks the punch and power. Prakash Raj plays another villain. As far as fights are concerned, they are picturised in a very stylish way, while the choreography of songs is excellent. With the use of Digital Intermediate technology in colour grading, the songs look pleasing to the eyes. The production values of Vyjayanthi Movies are excellent. The conversation with the judge before the climax where the hero claims that the country needs youth and selfless politicians like Puchalapalli Sundaraiah, Abul Kalam Azad and Guljarilal Nanda, is worth watching. However, the director could have avoided the crude satire against TV channels.
Guna Sekhar-Mahesh Babu combination has always aroused lot of curiosity among the audiences and media. The picturisation of songs and stylish action scenes vouch for attention. Indeed, the duo has lived up to their names.
Photography: Photography of the film is terrific. The camera angles, shot framing, lighting effects and camera movements are appropriate to the respective scenes. A tint is used for the first half an hour of the film which made this film appear like the Hollywood films made with Mexican backdrop. Cinematographer KV Guhan deserves a pat on his back for his fine work.
Fights: Fights by Peter Hynes are excellent. All the fights in this film are powerful and natural looking. Only for the fights in climax wires and threadwork was used. Two separate fights involving Tanikella Bharani and Brahmaji have lots of humor injected in them. It is very difficult to make the fights appeal to Andhra audiences when shootout (pistol) is involved. But the shootouts in this film are an exception.
Dialogues: Trivikram is known for his punch comedy dialogues. This film has limited punch dialogues compared his earlier film, which is understandable because this story does not allow more comedy scenes. Still, the comedy dialogues written for Dharmavarapu and Brahmanandam are good. The way Trivikram compared how things appear beautiful when you watch them at the right moments by comparing formation of love to a beautiful moonlight is very thoughtful. His satire on using Sumos in killings is good.
Music: Music by Mani Sharma is good. The picturization of the first song (title song) which comes as background song for titles is wonderful. 'Pilla gaali allari' is a teasing song between the lead pair in house set with other artists participating in. Neetho Cheppana song has got typical Mexican music that is shot in abroad. Lots of bleaching shots were used in this song. The last song 'Pilichina Ranantava' has something for fans to cheer about. However, the songs in this film (except for the 1st song) form as the speed breaker to the narration. Background music and rerecording of the film is good.
