Firstly, let me get the bad vibes out of the way. The music in Saroja is not particularly good as Yuvan’s fixation with hip-hop takes a predictable turn. And before anyone questions the logic behind the storyline, let me burst your bubble…there isn’t one, at least not a very coherent one. There are loopholes that could irk some viewers, especially those unwilling to suspend their imagination. Having said all that, I thought Saroja was a fantastic film with oodles of charisma and enough wisecracking one-liners to make Crazy Mohan dizzy with delight. The story is a far-fetched one, as it chronicles the series of events that coincide the lives of ruthless kidnappers, rich businessmen and ardent cricket fans.
Four friends – Ajay, Ganesh, Jagapathi and Ram – plan a road trip to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match and things get all cute and funny until bad decisions, worse haircuts and messed-up luck threaten to send them crashing headfirst into a nightmare.
On the other side of city, a crime is in motion as unknown assailants have abducted the daughter (Vega Tamotia) of a wealthy businessman. Prakash Raj and Jayaram play a distraught father and veteran cop respectively…nothing extraordinary, but really solid. As far as I’m concerned, brothers Jagapathi (SPB Charan) and Ram (Vaibhav) steal the limelight with their rib-tickling jabs at atypical Telugu behavior; Charan, in fact, also does a neat role of playing the portly guy in distress. The absurdly romantic Ganesh brings in the laughs…Mr Premji Amaren seems to have a good chance of replacing Santhanam as the next comedian likely to smash through the glass ceiling. Radio Mirchi’s Shiva, who plays a sitcom actor dealing with cowardice and megalomania, throws in his two cents with a fine performance too. Most of all, major props to director Venkat Prabhu for watching British gangster films (I am quite sure that he did)…the cinematic influence seems to have done Saroja wonders.
A few years ago, Ayutha Ezhuthu had Mani Ratnam exciting our senses with his take on the Rashōmon effect. It was visceral, poetic and powerful. This year, Venkat Prabhu has given the local audience a crash course in quirky British crime thrillers.
Funny. Entertaining. And most definitely bang for your buck.
