Movie: Sadhuram 2
Direction: Sumanth Radhakrishnan
Cast: Brihadish, Rohit Nair, Sanam Shetty, Suja Varunee, Yog Japee
Music: Girish Gopalakrishnan
Cinematographer: Sathish
Editor: Sai Arun
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ∗∗
What is it about: It’s a remake of the Hollywood slasher thriller “SAW”. The film revolves around a plot in which two strangers are trapped in a deranged room with no clue why and how they got there. What happens next forms the crux of the story directed by Sumanth Radhakrishnan.
Why it’s disappointing: First and foremost, when a creator is entering in to an artistic field, he/she has to make sure they make their mark with an original creation which becomes their identity. There’s nothing wrong in making remakes, but when it isn’t religiously made arises the problem. One such case is “Sadhuram 2”.
“SAW” is a film which majority of the Indian audiences have watched many times over the decade. And that’s a film which director James Wan made his debut in the film industry. When the posters and first look was out, everyone had reservations on how this will turn out. One main reason being, SAW had a vital element of gore, which is a hard factor to infuse in Indian Cinema and most definitely in Kollywood. So that factor took down the credibility of “Sadhuram 2”. The film had a CBFC rating of (U/A), and it was clear that this film will be a sanskari “SAW”.
This film inspired from James Wan slasher, had its scenes rightly sequenced. But the screenplay was jittered, and was trying hard to match up. I was expecting Sumanth to add in an element which could change the surprise and take us off guard. But was disappointed to see the same twist with no creativity added.
Then it were the actors, who could have saved the film. But unfortunately even a seasoned actor like Yog Japee was struggling to make a screen presence. The two actors trapped inside the room, had a great value to add in. But unfortunately they were just acting and failing to perform. As there’s a thin line between acting and performing.
What to watch out for: The cinematography by Satish, was good and that was pretty much well supported by Raja Sethupathy’s edit. And then it was the background score by Girish Gopalakrishnan which was quite grim.
Among the actors, Rohiet Nair tried better than the rest of the lot. Even though it wasn’t sufficient, managed to get through. And the most positive aspect of the film was its run time and more over no songs were forced in.
Verdict: Sumanth Radhkrishnan’s love for the genre and the film, has reflected in the making but execution was not. And that was supported with a meagre cast, as their performance was definitely not a strong suit. The film which could have been a cult in this genre when it came to Kollywood, loses out on the integrity of the subject. If you haven’t watched the original, can watch this adaptation. But if you have watched, then better keep off from this, as you will definitely not like it.
