Saguni review - FIRST ON THE NET

3 / 5

Saguni is a hilarious political game as expected. It is entertaining and gives your bucks' worth.

Kamala Kannan (Karthi) comes to Chennai to meet the concerned political honchos to save his ancestral home. He befriends Rajini Appadurai (Santhanam) and narrates his past to him. The first half moves with Kamal telling his flashback to Rajini. The way he woos Sridevi (his 'moraponnu') is a hilarious little part. The heroine doesn't have any work other than this small portion. She appears in few songs later in the 2nd half.

When Kamal comes to know that the politicians aren't going to help him, he decides to play the game himself. He becomes the kingmaker and singlehandedly helps Ramani Aachi (Radhika) to become the councilor and later the mayor as well. He doesn't stop at this. He also resurrects the flagging VTMK party and works his magic wand on this party as well. All he envisages, is a rule where the ground level people are involved and benefited.

In the process, he exposes the corrupt CM (Prakash Raj) as well. The kingmaker doesn't stop at the state level and in the end he is called for duty at the national level as well.

The numerous references to Kamal, Rajini, Sridevi and even Ajith, Vijay and Suriya, will give you adequate doses of laughter.

The film works big time and there is never a dull moment save some sagging scenes late into the 2nd half. Karthi works his 'boy next door' charm again and his comic timing and innocent smile are intact. Santhanam's chemistry with Karthi is another reason why the movie makes you laugh very often. His one-liners are terrific as always. Santhanam is a hero himself what with the loudest cheers reserved for him. The portions with Nassar as the God-man and Karthi's marketing / packaging mantra are hilarious as well. Good to see Nassar enjoying himself and entertaining the audience as well.

Karthi has worked hard on his dancing and he passes the mark. 'Kandha Kara Vada' and 'Pottadhu Pathala' lead the pack among the songs. The other 2 duets with the sweet Praneetha are just fillers. GVP's BGM scores as well with the Saguni rap leading the credits. At other parts, his re-recording is decent.

The dialogs are the biggest plus what with 2 huge comic talents at the helm. Politicians in this movie are either wicked or dumb. This cliche continues. Prakash Raj plays yet another villainous role. He must be tired of such roles now. Radhika has a small little part which she does well. Kotta Srinivasa Rao isn't the villain for a change. Kiran looks voluptuous as always as the side-keep of the CM.

Of course, it might be hard to believe how Kamal suddenly becomes a political expert overnight. But, this is commercial cinema and that's how it works.

VERDICT: An entertaining ride with a street-smart kingmaker.

Rowdy Rathore review

2.5 / 5

Following the massive success of Housefull 2, Akshay Kumar is back in action with Rowdy Rathore, the remake of Vikramarkudu which was also made as Siruthai in Tamil. The trailers met with good response from the general masses. Whether this film directed by Prabhudheva (yes that is how he spells it now) and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in association with UTV, does provide the expected entertainment quotient? Read on to find out.

Shiva (Akshay) is a petty thief who is an expert conman along with his partner in crime, 2G. He makes a lot of money out of this and also succeeds in bowling a girl over (Sonakshi as Paro) with his dubious charm and antics. But after the entry of a little girl (Chinki) into his life who calls him as her father, things turn upside down for Shiva. Certain people are behind his life while certain people swear by his side. The reason for this is Vikram Rathore, a perfect lookalike and a daredevil, proud and larger than life cop.

We come to know of Vikram’s unfinished business in a village called Devgarh which is tormented by three goons, Baapji, Munna and Titla. How Shiva gets involved in finishing the job started by Vikram is the remaining part of Rowdy Rathore.

There is no point in comparing this movie with the original as it is more or less a faithful remake. The essence of the original is not lost though as comedy, action, sentiment and masala are there in correct doses.

Akshay Kumar is in home territory as funny antics, punch dialogs, clumsy body language, atrocious dressing sense etc. are so easy for him. He pulls it off convincingly though a proper mustache would have helped his looks much more than the artificial mustache. Sonakshi Sinha dresses properly as the mandatory eye-candy in a commercial movie though the scenes involving her waist give us doubts whether they are graphically enhanced. The villains are all loud, inclusive of the seasoned Nassar as Baapji.

Among the songs, ‘Chinta Ta’ is a universally likeable number with special appearances for Vijay, Kareena and Prabhudheva himself. They are all ‘blink you miss’ type cameos. The other songs will appeal to the masses though placement of these numbers has been done randomly. Costumes for the songs are pretty crude and could have been toned down. Action choreography by Arasu Kumar has the necessary punch what with Akshay’s proven prowess at martial arts.

The mother sentiment element in the movie might be laughable for the youth but, will appeal in the heartland of the country.  Ultimately, this is a movie that will give critics a lot of fodder to pan the fact that this is a mindless commercial movie. But, this is escapist cinema and it is meant to be enjoyed. Just switch off your analytical mind and you will find yourself clapping and whistling happily at many points in the movie

To conclude, Rowdy Rathore in all probability will join the list of blockbusters (Bodyguard, Ready, Singham, Wanted) remade from Southern super hits. This will also give that much needed solo hit for Akshay Kumar who has generally been riding on multi-starrer comedies for the past few years. This being another cop movie based on the South, after Singham, Force and Wanted is another coincidence.

VERDICT: Proper masala fest guaranteed to please the average movie goer