Sapthagiri, the popular comedian hs turned into a hero with the inspiration of Sunil and Rajendra Prasad who started out as supporting actors and comedians. He is trying too hard to promote himself as a lead actor and he released his new movie, Sapthagiri LLB, today. The movie talks about the farmers and how do their lives have become so cheap for all of us.
Plot : Sapthagiri (Sapthagiri) is the only LLB graduate in his village Punganur, Chittoor. He wins hearts of his fellow villagers with his wit and sense of justice. He believes that he can do anything to let the justice win. But at district level he fails to exact same thing as the court needs proofs and he fails to bring them up at the right time.
As he is unhappy with his career progress, he is advised to take up a job at High Court. He opens his own practice and waits for people to notice him. He doesn’t get enough publicity and decides to take on Tejendra Rajpal (Sai Kumar) who is fighting an high profile case of Rohit Diwan. The youngster is accused of hit and run after being completely drunk. How Sapthagiri fights this case and if he can bring the truth out, forms the rest of the story.
Performances : Sapthagiri decided to use his fame as a comedian to establish himself as a hero. But to establish himself as a hero he needs to think about improving his expressions and also screen presence. No one could become a star hero by second or third film and Sapthagiri should understand this as well. He tries to hard to make everything run around him and also, the loudest possible BGM chanting his name doesn’t make him a mass hero. Hope he gives more importance to being an actor than a star in his next films.
Kashish Vohra is used for songs and she adds nothing to the story. Sai Kumar is one of the finest performers but him trying to act similar to what Boman Irani did in the original is a bit underwhelming. But the actor delivers in key scenes and doesn’t allow his on screen persona take over the scene at any point. He tries to keep the balance but when we compare him with Boman Irani, he doesn’t really stand in contention.
All others like LB Sriram, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Siva Prasad are wasted with some lazily written scenes.
Technicalities : The cinematographer of the movie, Sarangam tried to highlight Sapthagiri in every possible way but he forgot to give the film a tone or feel that helped the original to stand the test of time. We talk about the original still as one of those real and fun court room dramas not just because of writing but because of the rustic and realistic approach too. He should have kept that in his mind while framing the scenes.
Editor Gautham Raju doesn’t seem to have really concentrated on this film at the editing table. There are scenes that don’t sync in with the rhythm of the narration and some seem stitched up at the last minute to make the scene work some or the other way. That approach spoils the film further.
Music by Bulganin is loud and he needs to understand the importance of Back Ground score in a scene. Scoring for a movie doesn’t mean that you give loudest possible chant to hero or dilute the impact where silences needed to resonate. There is nothing to mention about his songs.
Writer and Director Charan Lakkaakula is more interested in making the movie as commercial as possible even though it is not entirely required. The story doesn’t ask for a fight but as the hero needs to fight some goons in the pre-climax or climax, we get a fight. In Telugu Cinema, established star heroes had to accommodate fights in some or the other fashion but for a two film old hero, Sapthagiri as the lead, we don’t need fights to be inserted just for the sake of it.
Also, writing department tried hard to insert the dialogues that elevate the hero even though it is not completely required. When we are saying that the story is off an unlucky loser turning into a hero who works for justice and triumphs there is no necessity of heroic elevations until the very last scene so that the heroic journey looks more organic. That is the principle in the original and the remake seems to be a plead by director and actor to accept their lead as a mass star and a hero than him earning it.
Analysis : Sapthagiri is not a popular comedian like Brahmanandam or Ali, who enjoyed great success as comedians over the years and then tried to become heroes. Even though they did become heroes, if they did get elevations like a mass hero, those induced great laughter than making audience believe that they are mass heroes. Sapthagiri and his team seems to have forgot this basic and they are indeed pleading audience to accept him as one than telling a story that establishes him as one.
Finally, films are more enjoyable when they are true to their story than when they become star vehicles. Even big stars have stopped depending on such films and are looking for more content oriented ones. If the writers and directors of Sapthagiri LLB, understood that may be they could have made a better remake than they did. This movie ends up beinga more lazy attempt than a worthy cinema.
Rating : 2/5
