Making an action-adventure on par with international standards in India comes with a lot of baggage to offer. There must be a mandatory track of romance and songs placed during the setup moments. Sujeeth-directed Saaho manages to utilize such trappings to the genre's advantage at the interval block, but the rest goes downhill from there.
Saaho deals with the syndicate of Waaji city, where gangsters are flamboyant and crime runs with corporate precision. Roy (Jackie Shroff) is at the helm of affairs, and there are rivals, like Devaraj (Chunky Panday) lurking around the corner to dethrone him. Roy gets assassinated by Devaraj, and the positon is captured by his son Vishwank (played by Arun Vijay) This mafia story crosses paths with the serial robbery in Mumbai and the case is handled by detective Ashok Chakravarthi (played by Prabhas), who is yet to come across a threat or challenge in his life.
The first half deals with Ashok's investigation into the robbery (which ensues through an amateurish setup involving unassuming people). Ashok doesn't seem interested in the investigation as much as he spends time posturing through needless fights. His co-worker in the operation, Amritha Nair (played by Shraddha Kapoor) appears smart at first, only to get condescended by our hero. The film gets distracted with its flabby writing that throws undue spotlight on its lead.
The film picks up pace only during the scene where the team inches close with the thief, and the interval block gives us a twist which we might have predicted miles ahead, but the way its presented in commendable. The kinetic editing in the sequence grips us much more. But the interval feels less of a cliffhanger due to its overbearing familiarity.
The second half of the film doesn't capitalize much on the stellar interval block, but goes downhill with needless amount of songs and fillers. The film introduces so many characters and setups in the first half that one can't keep track of the payoffs. The flabby writing adds more to the confusion by distracting us from the sprawling nature of the screenplay. Due to this, the payoffs come in hurried manner, without giving space to get registered.
Technically, Saaho is miles ahead of an average action potboiler. The cinematography adds more adrenaline to the action sequences and the pre-climactic chase involving monster trucks and crashes. Prabhas fits the role tremendously, with his casual demeanour. But the technical finesse does less to make up for its predictable and unfocused writing.
Saaho is well-directed with higher production values. Overall, Saaho is that kind of film where you wish you had a forward button, so that you can just watch the action set pieces and skip what's in-between.