Saani Kaayidham Movie Review

Arun Matheswaran’s first film in Rocky was a half-hearted revenge tale that had impressive action sequences. In his sophomore attempt in Saani Kaayidham, the director holds onto the theme of revenge again and pulls in an even harder and violent approach towards the same.

Saani Kaayidham is based on the straightforward story on how Ponni (Keerthy Suresh) is raped by a group of men in her village, with her husband and daughter being burnt alive. This horrific incident questions her inner strength, as she sets off on the road of revenge along with Sangaiyya (Selvaraghavan), a man who had formed a friendly relationship with Ponni’s daughter. The film’s extremely simplistic storyline only gains its momentum from its on-the-face presentation, use of profanity and the amazing aesthetic value that it possesses along with the overdose of bloodshed and gore throughout. While the first few scenes are good in setting the tone of the film and opening the plot, the rest of the film is a road drawn with a scale with blood, blood and more blood.

Arun Matheswaran’s Rocky at least had a decent amount of emotional beats that it landed well at many occasions, but here, the film is too basic for anybody to process any kind of a connect with the characters. While exaggerating the action sequences, Arun forgets to employ more heart into the most important emotional core of the film, which then makes the film lose steam in the process.

The big plus points of the film are undeniably both Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan. Keerthy is so efficient in a never-seen-before role of troubled mother/wife who goes the long lengths to grab her revenge. Selvaraghavan, in a total opposite to Beast, unleashes his complete acting chops and delivers a knockout performance.

The rest of the cast also have important parts to play, with a special mention to Kanna Ravi who does a fine job at the start.

The music by Sam CS complements the film well, while sticking to a single theme as always. The cinematography by Yamini Yagnamurthy is super impressive, with many handheld shots and single takes throughout.

On the whole, Saani Kaayidham is a decent action drama for those who have a liking for violent cinema. Arun Matheswaran’s filming style is impressive for sure but he can spend more time on the writing table for better effect.  Saani Kaayidham Movie Review by Only Kollywood

Saani Kaayidham Movie Review Rating: 2.75/5