Bold and the beautiful: Sa-Ro-Ja

Chennai 600028 was not a fluke hit. Venkat Prabhu has a proved this point with his thriller Sa-ro-ja and has clearly shown how to make films with a fraction of the amount budgeted for a Superstar or a Universal Hero film.

With no big names in the lead roles, Venkat Prabhu has given life to the thriller script with his Chennai 600028 style comedy woven into some of the most serious junctions. The story happens over a couple of days when four men from Chennai drive down to Hyderabad to cheer for India in a cricket match. Lost on the way, they stumble upon a gang armed with weapons and waiting to make a 9 digit deal with a business man in Hyderabad.

The four men are the people we meet in our daily life, they are no heroes, yet they carry the story. This thriller movie is a lough riot of sorts. Premji and Shiva seems to have taken a vow to keep the audience in splits and they very well fulfill their vows. Premji’s take on Superstar highlights his potential which has never been properly tapped. Shiva’s accent and his geography knowledge makes you laugh even when the four guys are being chased by the gang. SPB Charan and Vaibhav too have tried their hand in humour and they have pulled it with ease. Prakash Raj of course rocks but the only disappointment is Jayaram’s characterisation – from the very beginning, by the way things happen you very well know that this man is upto something else.

Sakthi Saravanan’s cinematography leaves you spellbound. Three fourth of the movie happens in the night and this cinematographer has played with the lights. You would never believe it was the same guy who gave bleached out visuals for Saroja saaman nikalo song (Chennai 600028) giving the perfect night effect and the slow transition to the morning light towards the end of the film. Yuvan has undoubtedly disappointed with his songs. But the script carries the movie forward inspite the not so interesting songs.

The movie is definitley not to be missed. Venkat Prahu is the real hero here.