SAVI works due to the plot and performances. – MASHAHER

Savi Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating

Director: Abhinay Deo

Savi Movie Synopsis:
SAVI is the story of a woman trying to save her husband. Savi Sachdev (Divya Khossla) is a homemaker who resides in Liverpool with her husband Nakul Sachdev (Harshvardhan Rane), who works in a construction company, and son Adi (Mairaj Kakkar). Life is going fine until one day, Nakul is arrested by DI Ayesha Hassan (Himanshi Choudhry) for the murder of his boss, Stefani Fowler. Nakul pleads to the cops that he’s innocent. However, the evidence against him is tremendous. Stefani had humiliated Nakul in the past and this gave the latter a solid motive. Secondly, Stefani was killed after being hit with a fire extinguisher. Nakul’s fingerprints are found on the extinguisher. Also, his coat has blood stains, that belong to Stefani. The court awards him a life sentence. Savi’s life comes crashing down. Meanwhile, Nakul gets into trouble in Shrewsbury Prison. A notorious gangster, Razaq, asks Nakul to keep a packet of drugs safe. Nakul is beaten up when he refuses to do so. Razaq is kept in solitary confinement but only for a month. Nakul is hospitalized and files a complaint against Razaq for the assault. Razaq’s man warns Nakul to take back the complaint; or else, Razaq will teach him a lesson once he’s out of solitary confinement in three days. Nakul refuses to bow down. This is when Savi decides to get her husband out of jail. While researching prison breaks, she comes across the book written by Joydeep Paul (Anil Kapoor). He has escaped from jail a record seven times! Savi tries to meet him to get tips. But Joydeep is extremely reclusive. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Savi Movie Story Review:
SAVI is the remake of a French film POUR ELLE [2008]. The story is promising. Parveez Sheikh and Aseem Arora’s adapted screenplay works as it’s pacy and is peppered with engaging moments. The writing in the first half, however, could have been better.  Aseem Arora’s dialogues are fine and at places, the one-liners are dipped in black humour.

Abhinay Deo’s direction is decent. He keeps the duration in check (2 hours 6 minutes) and the use of humour in certain places adds to the entertainment value of the film. The second half can make or break the film and in the case of SAVI, the post-interval portions are much better, especially once the protagonist puts her plan into action. There’s a twist in the climax that will be unpredictable for most viewers.

On the flipside, the first half is weak and the interest dips at this point. The intermission point also comes at a not-so-exciting juncture. There are too many cinematic liberties; the manner in which Savi is able to get her husband out is very convenient. The same goes for the whole button angle. Also, the promos give a slightly misleading idea about Savi’s actual plan to save her husband.

Savi (Trailer): Divya Khossla, Anil Kapoor, Harshvardhan Rane

Savi Movie Performances:
Divya Khossla plays the lead part with panache and put up a fine act in the second half. Harshavardhan Rane, as always, is dependable and delivers a great performance. He also looks quite dashing. Anil Kapoor has a bit of a late entry. His screen time is limited and yet, he makes up for it with his entertaining act. Mairaj Kakkar is passable. Himanshi Choudhry leaves a mark. The same goes for Raageshwari Loomba Swaroop (Simrit) although her character is not well fleshed out. The others like Supreet Bedi (Anu), Alex Dower (Detective Stevens), Adrian Stretton (Detective Lucus), Jacob Medows (Slim Jim) and Ackeem Gibbs (Rox) are fine.

Savi music and other technical aspects:
The only track that stands out is the catchy song ‘Khol Pinjra’. Arkadeep Karmakar’s background score is appropriate. Chinamay Salaskar’s cinematography is neat. The locales of the UK are well shot. Priyanka Bhatt’s costumes are normal. Sunil Nigwekar’s production design is realistic. Shaan Mohammad’s editing is slick.

Savi Movie Conclusion:
On the whole, SAVI works due to the plot, performances and an engaging second half however the cinematic liberties play spoilsport. At the box office, it will be an average fare.