Savyasachi
Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Nidhhi Aggerwal, Madhavan, Bhumika, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Satya, Bharath Reddy
Director: Chandoo Mondeti
This small film starring Naga Chaitanya comes on the back of a string of successes for its makers — Srimanthudu, Janatha Garage and Rangasthalam for Mythri Movie Makes and Chandoo Mondeti’s first two films.
Vikram Aditya (Naga Chaitanya) is an ad filmmaker and has a rare condition — he is the surviving sibling of a ‘vanishing twin syndrome’. His left hand appears to have a life of its own. When he is returning from the US with girlfriend Chitra (Nidhhi Aggerwal), he sees an explosion rip the house of his sister (Bhumika), his brother-in-law killed and his niece abducted. Vikram is not certain of the fate of his niece when he gets a call from a unknown person (Madhavan) about her. That sets the stage for the rest of the film.
Director Chandoo Mondeti tries to peg his film to the ‘vanishing twin syndrome’ which he gets a doctor to explain — one of the twin foetuses vanishes into the other one or the uterus. To this he gives a twist — that the surviving sibling gets some special power. In Savyasachi, Aditya gets a unique power in his left hand where the vanishing twin has merged.
Therefore Naga Chaitanya’s character has two shades — as Vikram and the special power of his left hand called Aditya his ‘vanished’ twin. While this can be the basis of an interesting story, Chandoo Mondeti loses track. His narration goes awry, and at the end, Savyasachi is neither an entertainer nor a thriller. Somewhere along the way, he largerly forgets about the left hand.
The first half is devoted to some college scenes and the lead on-again-off-again love story. The film picks up in the second half once Madhavan enters. But his talents are not used well. Madhavan is confined to a room mostly, and his character falls in the category of Aravind Swamy in Dhruva and Arjun in Lie, where they talk more on the phone and guide the protagonist. Also, Mondeti inserts an unrelated Jabardust skit like Subhadra Parinayam. In the Mahabharata, Arjun can shoot arrows from his hands and is called Savyasachi. The film takes its title from this tale as the protagonist can use his both hands equally.
Naga Chaitanya is good, but he looks the same as a college student as an ad filmmaker and at home with the family. Madhavan steals the show but his character is not designed well. Vennela Kishore provides a few laughs, Shakalaka Shankar not quite. Nidhhi Aggerwal as the female lead is just okay. Bhumika’s talents are wasted. Music by Keeravani is nothing special, the dialogues are average. The action scenes are well choreographed by Ram Lakshman.
