Sathya is a mystery thriller directed by Saithan fame Pradeep Krishnamoorthi. This remake of super hit Telugu film Kshanam features Sibiraj, Remya Nambeesan and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in the lead roles.
An NRI, returns to India to find the daughter of his ex-girlfriend who gets kidnapped or does she really have a daughter in the first place? Anymore said about the movie might end up being a spoiler. Hence, let’s move on straight to what worked and what didn’t in Sathya.
When you are remaking a successful film, comparisons are bound to arise. Justifying the original, all the central actors in Sathya have delivered pretty well. Sathya is a film that looks aptly made for Sibiraj, who has been thoughtful in selecting his recent films. He gets to play an ordinary man who ends up in the middle of a mysterious situation. Unlike his previous hyperactive characters, Sibiraj keeps his emotions more subtle in Sathya, which mostly goes well with his character description.
The love portions between Sibiraj and Remya Nambeesan are well-sketched. The screenplay is very cleverly designed in a way that the love story doesn’t mellow down the core content in any way. The romance part is intermittent but doesn’t distract or reduce the intensity of the suspense factor.
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s presence adds an extra colour to the film. Sathish has better scope to score than the other supporting actors. Anandraj deserves a special mention for pulling off his role with grace and style. Yogi Babu has little screen space but scores high with his comedy punches.
The main plus in Sathya is the intriguing storyline that keeps you guessing as to what will happen next, making up for a good whodunit. Storywriter Adivi Sesh needs to be applauded for creating a watertight script as such. But one feels the overall execution could have been a tad better with such a strong story in hand. Some of the supporting actors' lip-sync are out of place in a few scenes, which could have been paid more attention to.
Coming to the technical aspects, music director Simon K King has already proved his worth with the ‘Yuvvana’ number, which seems to be topping the audio charts. His background score is a huge support for the film, contributing mightily to the suspense elements and thrills. Cinematographer Arunmani Palani’s stylish visuals make an impact.
All that said, the film is kept crisp at two hours, but it could have been a bit more gripping especially towards the end. It is undoubtedly a well-woven mystery tale but could have been a little racier.
[Review based on a special preview show to the press members on December 7th. Catch the film in theatres, from the 8th of December]