Movie: Saguni
Banner: Dream Warrior Pictures
Starring: Karthi, Pranitha, Santhanam, Prakash Raj
Direction: Shankar Dayal.N
Production: Antony Xavier
Rating:

There's a dialogue in Saguni that sums up the entire plot, the characters and their motivation rather nicely: "When the time's good, everything falls into place and success comes running; when the time's not, everything turns to disaster."

Produced by Studio Green/Dream Warrior Pictures/Vendhar Movies and directed by Shankar Dayal N, Saguni pretty much satisfies all elements of a mass masala entertainer. Which is to say that it has a lot of spice, humour, a pretty girl and superheroes, so you don't really care about all the minuses until after you've left the theatre.
That's not to say that Saguni doesn't have its good points – it does. It has as its protagonist, Kamalakkannan aka Kannan (Karthi, back after a break), who arrives in Chennai on a mission to save his ancestral home, and runs into pitfalls at every turn.

For the entire first half of the film, his journey combines with that of Rajini Appadurai (Santhanam) an auto-driver who drives him all over the city, buys him food and drink and eventually becomes embroiled in his affairs.
In the midst of this all is Kannan's cousin, Sridevi (Pranitha), who looks pretty, sings several duets in foreign locales but otherwise disappears into the woodwork. And then there is the antagonist, R K Boopathi (Prakashraj), chief minister who, naturally, creates as much anarchy and chaos as he can.

The first half is entertaining; Santhanam's hilarious one-liners and trademark verbal punches carry you through to the intermission when, thankfully, a mild twist occurs to make you sit up: you're introduced to Ramani (Radhika Sarathkumar), who manages to spice up the screenplay considerably.

The situation builds up neatly to an expected explosive second half. But though there are a few intriguing moments, it never does take off. You keep expecting Kannan (who suddenly seems to have acquired the brains and acumen of a political king-maker) to produce miracles and he does, except that none of it quite believable.
All Kannan has to do is talk to anyone and they willingly become his slaves for no reason whatsoever. This ability might have been an excellent weapon had Kannan actually produced fantastic, witty dialogues. It so happens that several instant role-reversals occur and plot-twists fall flat, with the result that you begin to look for Santhanam again, to enliven the proceedings.

For Karthi, this role is a cakewalk. He needs some practise dancing, but he emotes, talks, walks and fights very creditably. And though his considerable screen-presence and sly looks carry the film through, he does need to vary his roles.

Santhanam is, as usual, the second hero of the film, propping up the screenplay at appropriate moments. Heroine Pranitha is very pretty and looks a dream in modern clothes. It would have been nice if she had actually had something to do. Nasser, as the suddenly stinking rich Saamiyar is a hoot. Kota Sreenivasa Rao and Roja are wasted.
P G Muthiah's cinematography and Sreekar Prasad's editing have produced a sleek, neat film, but sadly, G V Prakash's numbers add no pep to the proceedings.

Director Shankar Dayal has a promising character in the protagonist – a man who has lost everything and seeks to address his wrongs with his only weapon, his intelligence. He does score sometimes, but the film doesn't really capitalise on these strengths and offers very little logic or common sense.

Still, Saguni bills itself as a commercial entertainer, a breezy film with funny one-liners that doesn't really take itself seriously. For a spicy mass masala, that's enough.

Review 2

Karthi's Saguni, billed as a political-satire, sets an example of an ordinary screenplay born out of a weakest story. What was expected to be as the edge-of-the-seat entertainer has merely turned out to be a loosely-made film with no logics whatsoever! The only silver line of the Tamil film is Santhanam's comedy.

The film begins with the death of CM played by Chandramohan, a political conspiracy hatched by Bhupati (Prakash Raj), thereby setting the tone of the film on a serious note. But it takes the next 40 precious minutes for the director to get into the main story. In the first half an hour, Kamala Kannan beats around the bush to tell his past towards auto driver Apparao Durai alias Rajini (Santhanam), who assume that the former is rich and driving him through the city is profitable for him.

As the story passes by, Kamal's past is revealed. The country boy is in the city to meet concerned politicians in order to halt a railway subway project, which could take away his property in his home town. He is the son of a do-gooder, whose house serves an unlimited food everyday for guests and the people of the region. This causes the hero to come to Chennai and settle the issue, as the ancestor's property is the living heaven for the family.
During the course, Kamal stays in his aunt's (Roja) house and the love blossoms between his childhood sweetheart with her daughter Sridevi (Pranitha). However, their affair does not go well with her aunt and their relationship breaks up. However, he gets an opportunity to meet the baddie (Prakash Raj), who visited during an election campaign and promised them of doing needful when required, shows opportunist side of him. This causes Kamal to teach him a lesson and safeguard his property. The remaining part forms their cast and mouse game.

Debutant director Shankar Dayal has miserably failed in his first attempt to make an impact. The narration or characterisation, the director fails on both the aspects to leave serious impression. Especially, his screenplay looks illogical at parts. However, the movie entertains the audience with some hilarious one-liners. Especially, the dialogues written for Santhanam stand out as the sole highlight. It is also noted that Anushka Shetty and Andrea have done guest appearances in the film.

Karthi has done decent job and shines with his comic timings most of the time. Pranitha, though she has less meat to her character, is good and does her best to impress the audience. But the real hero of the film and the lifesaver of Saguni is Santhanam. With his witty one-liners, the comedian shines all through out the movie. Prakash Raj has done a routine job and he has justified his role. Raadhika Sarathkumar, Roja, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Nassar and Kiran Rathod are okay in their limited roles.

Technically, 'Kandha kaara vaadai...', 'Manasellam mazhaiye', and 'Vella bambaram...', songs composed by GV Prakash Kumar are good. PG Muthiah's cinematography is decent and rest other departments are okay.