Saripodhaa Sanivaaram: A whacky tale of hot-headed men in a commercial format

Director Vivek Athreya talks about channeling anger in the right direction and not using it for futile reasons. The director brings his trademark quirks to a regular plot of good versus evil

  • Starcast: Nani, SJ Suryah, Sai Kumar, Priyanka Mohan, Aditi Balan, Abhirami and others
  • Director and writer: Vivek Athreya
  • Music and background score: Jakes Bejoy
  • Producer: D VV Dannaya
  • Production house: DVV Entertainment
  • Running time: 2 hours and 46 minutes

Vivek Athreya’s last Ante Sundaraniki was a simple rom peppered with a lot of situational humor, through the jokes he did a fine job in addressing our religious biases. In spite of a long winding screenplay the film has built a solid fan base over the years. Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is less indulgent, but the trademark Vivek Athreya’s touches are aplenty. On the surface Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is a regular vigilante story with a nod to Salim Javed’s angry young man. What makes the difference here though is the world building, a solid base for the hero villain conflict. The film also has interesting touches particularly the characterization of Sai Kumar, Sai Kumar’s character of an angry cop in police story doesn’t need a particular introduction, in a refreshing reversal Sai Kumar is seen as a peace-loving father constantly worrying about the consequences of his son’s anger. He is also seen cooking and cleaning, but Vivek Athreya doesn’t reduce him to a whimp giving the senior actor his own mass moment.

Building a solid base for the hero villain conflict

The broad storyline of Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is about an insurance agent Surya (Nani). Surya leads an ordinary life from Monday to Friday but on Saturday he unleashes his anger. The reason for the Saturday fixation is connected to the mother played by Abhirami, she was also aggressive in nature. The beginning portions establish how Surya’s sense of social justice comes from his mother. Even the sister played by Aditi Balan has her own temper and isn’t someone who cows down easily. On certain occasions Sai Kumar’s Sankaram feels like an odd one out trying to maintain balance. S. J Suryah ironically named Dayanand Daya also has anger issues, he shares a thorny relationship with the brother Kurmanand (a hilarious Murali Sharma). Since Kurmanand is an MLA Dayanand channels his frustration on the locality of Sokulapalem this colony is inspired from the famous Stuartpuram, their ancestors were thieves, and the present Sokulapalem people are the victims of a certain stigma. Whenever Dayanand wants to vent his anger, he comes to that place and inflicts torture on whomever he wants. It is just a matter of time before the worlds of Surya and Dayanand collide, this happens due to Priyanka Mohan’s Charulatha a newly appointed constable. The movie is divided into various chapters like the prologue, turn and knot among others.

A strong aspect of Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is the strong characterizations that Vivek Athreya gives to both the hero and villain. Both of them come across as two powerful entities. The director has also designed some interesting character traits. For example, S J Suryah’s character comes with shades of sarcastic humor, there are times where he goes from serious to jovial within a flash of second. These nuances add a lot to the role and the actor simply chews the scenery. His scenes with Nani though few in number are power packed. On certain occasions he even overshadows Nani with his powerful presence.

Nani’s Surya on the other hand is someone who suppresses his anger until Saturday and takes it out only when he feels the frustration is justified. For the father he is a tickling time bomb, and this leads to numerous laugh out loud moments. A certain warmth can also be seen at a crucial juncture when the father gives him an important advice. Nani as always does a fine job both in portraying both the boy next door and also the angry young man.

A certain warmth is also there

The romantic scenes with Priyanka Mohan are also filled with some fun moments. Particularly the meta references to Eega. Their love has been treated in a dignified matter. Priyanka Mohan’s Charulatha is someone who doesn’t like violence and stays away from confrontation. This trait comes across as an ode to Mani Ratnam’s classic movie Thalapathy.

The romance has been treated in a dignified manner

Mention must also be the portions involving S J Suryah and Murali Sharma. Their scenes again have undertones of humor, at the same time the viewers understand the origin of Dayanand’s skewed personality.Saripodhaa Sanivaaram also comes with a mythological reference to Krishna and Satyabhama ending Narakasura’s terror. There is an important message on how one shouldn’t rely on divine intervention, instead people must stand up for themselves. This has come out beautifully. The movie tries its best to not showcase Nani as the ultimate savior even though the climatic battle prominently features Nani and S J Suryah’s face off. At the same time, it has to be said that the people of Sokulapalem could have done with more fleshed out characters. At certain points they resemble a cliched helpless lot waiting for someone to change their lives. Similarly, no higher authorities keeping a check on Dayanand’s activities is hard to digest.

Jakes Bejoy’s background score elevates the drama on numerous occasions particularly the tense moments. Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is a good attempt a bringing some freshness within the good versus evil genre in spite of a few setbacks.

Ante Sundaraniki: An Entertaining Love Story Across Religions

Romantic comedies are one of the most sought genres in cinema worldwide. They fill you with a certain warmth and make you forgot about the troubles in everyday life. It is a genre which has lost some of its sheen given that you know what will happen at the end. The challenge therefore is what you bring to the table within the familiarity. Vivek Athreya takes a simple story line and peppers it with certain social topics. His non-linear style of narration works big time. The director is also helped by his in form leads Nani and Nazriya.

The film begins with an elongated background of both its lead characters. Sundar comes from a highly conservative Hindu family. You can gauge their nature from the fact that Sundar is not allowed to travel to the US. The reason being that they believe it is a sin to allow a man to cross the sea. This kind of superficial thinking makes Sundar’s growing up years very painful. Naresh plays the father of Nani (Sastri Garu). The mother is played by Rohini. In fact Sastri Garu gets his son a girl’s bike. The reason is he is worried that the horizontal crossbar would make him infertile. Sundar is also subjected to many rituals since his childhood; this makes the astrologer very rich. Like the rest of the family Sundar also comes with his own quirks. For example he stops watching movies for a silly reason. He also has a problem posing for photos.

Nazriya’s Leela on the other also comes from a very conservative family. The only difference is that they pray to a different god; Christ. Both families have a problem of mixing with people from other religious backgrounds. But that doesn’t stop the growing friendship between these two within the premises of the school. Their friendship soon grows into love. But the hitch is that neither have the courage to say it directly. What follows is a web of lies that leads to many complicated situations.

THERE IS A WONDERFUL BALANCE OF COMEDY AND EMOTIONS. THE FILM ALSO MAKES OTHER PERTINENT POINTS ON PREGNANCY AND FERTILITY AMONG OTHER ASPECTS.

A basic perquisite for any romantic comedy is that the lead characters should share a wonderful chemistry. The comfort level between Nani and Nazariya is visible throughout. As audiences you believe that their love would move heaven and earth through their barrage of almost never ending lies.

Vivek Athreya uses humor to address many of our religious biases, the jokes not only land but they make you introspect.

There is a wonderful balance of comedy and emotions. The film also makes other pertinent points on pregnancy and fertility among other aspects.

Out of the comic scenes, my most favorite ones are the interactions between Nani and Harshvardhan. They just bring the house down. Special mention must also be made of the scenes of Sundar and Leela tapping into their inner child whenever they make outlandish plans. It raises many chuckles.

THE ROLE OF SUNDAR IS PRETTY MUCH A CAKEWALK FOR NANI. THE ACTOR IS VERY MUCH IN HIS ELEMENT.

Naresh has the best role among the supporting players. The role of Sastri garu has a very good arc. He starts off as someone who is highly traditional but as we go along we see him slowly and gradually changing. Naresh does a splendid job in bringing out all these nuances. Rohini gets her one big moment in the pre-climax where she questions her husband and mother-in-law. The actress aces this scene.

The role of Sundar is pretty much a cakewalk for Nani. The actor is very much in his element. A special mention must be made of his comic timing which leaves you in splits. Malayalam actress Nazriya makes an impressive Tollywood debut. She fits perfectly into the skin of leela. Her screen presence combined with the performance stays with you.

In a nutshell Ante Sundaraniki is entertaining and emotional. It is a love story across religions without any bloodshed which is rare in these times.