Saithan- Review

Some posts back had marveled at Vijay Anthony, the music director turned actor, for his knack of picking the best script that suit his limitations yet are intriguingly good. Saithan, his latest movie, impressed right from the trailer, with its scenes reminding of Sujatha’s AAH novel and the movie posters only added to the mystery. Was eagerly awaiting its release and the reviews were more or less similar to his other movies – being predominantly positive and credit for his improving performance. Decided to take the risk and saw the movie on second day.

Storywise, its about a newly married IT guy, who solve complex issues with his obsessive dedication and concentration,  when he suddenly starts hearing voices. What starts as a jumbled incoherent mix of noise soon starts taunting him, forcing him against his will and almost driving him to suicide. The voice keeps telling him to kill some lady named Jayalakshmi who murdered him. It even makes him create an accident in which he loses his friend. Considering the escalating nature of his situation, he visits an psychiatrist who hypnotizes him to learn about his past. When one expects the story to be that of re-incarnation, where like all stories of similar theme, we are shown a library which has newspapers from that very year carrying news of the very death of the very person whose death the voice is trying to avenge. Till the interval block, the story moves at break neck speed, with an interesting twist, yet expected one as to who Jayalakshmi is. The BGM which croons “Jayalakshmi” adds to the eeriness. Once the story on the previous birth is revealed, the plot losses all sense and gets dragged into commercial masala mode, with hallucination inducing drugs and mad doctors, organ farming on hapless victims and of course, our hero being super human to withstand all the side effects of the super drug. Ending is similar to the Anegan movie, where the audience are left to wonder, whether the story is really about re-incarnation or is it all designed by the delirium of the lead character.

Vijay Anthony, has taken what is possibly his most heavy duty roles in his 5 movie career as an actor. But for him, no other character has hardly any screen space as he hogs the screen time from start to finish. As the music director, the songs were pretty sumaar but the BGM was rocking. Like all his other movies, the heroine looked way too older and probably wouldn’t find a movie to repeat in her career, but is solid in her performances.

Gils verdict – Considering the crap that established heroes churn out, Vijay Anthony has been pretty decent in his efforts to bring out different stories to screen. With the ghost of marketability and profit already eating into his decision making, which are evident by the way the movie has ended, hope sanity prevails and overcomes any such decision by him in future.