Movie : Shirdi Sai
Banner: Sri Sai Krupa Entertainments Pvt. Ltd.
Cast: Nagarjuna, Srikanth, Sneha, Kamalini Mukherjee and others
Cinematography: S. Gopal Reddy
Art: Sri.Bhaskar Raju, Srikanth
Editing: Shravan
Music: Keeravani
Producer: A.Mahesh Reddy
Screenplay- Direction: Raghavender Rao
Dialogues: Parchuri Brothers
CBFC rating: U
Synopsis:
There have been several prior depictions on the life and times of Sadguru Sai Baba on celluloid in quite a few languages. This version is one more approach using latest technology and quite a few cinematic liberties. But the underlining concept is the preaching of equality of Sai in a line – Sab Ka Malik Ek.
Performances:
Earlier, there is Vijay Chander who portrayed the role of Sai Baba and lived up to the perfection. There many temples and household which have his getup as the real god picture. His impact as Sai is just as Legend NTR’s Krishna Avatar. But Nagarjuna had given a good performance in the role. He moulded his personality to get in to the skin of the character and the make up suited perfectly. But the walking style and the depth in the voice made the difference. Whenever, Sai says some thing the real Nagarjuna flashed for a moment.
But his acting in the last 20 minutes in the movie is immaculate. He excelled in the role during that time and created a divine magic with his eyes itself. I can confidently say he is the best in the current generation to portray the role.
Rest – Srikanth as Dasaganu, Sri Hari as Wales, Brahmanandham as Sandeham, Kamalini as Radha Krishna Mai, Shiyaji Shinde as Bhatia, Sharath Babu as Mahalsapathi contributed their parts in limited space.
Technical Performances:
Raghavender Rao is undoubtedly the only director who can deliver Devotional movies near to perfection in the current generation. He had done good job in extracting performances. But the script could have derived more emotions. Somehow, the divinity is not a full meal.He took certain liberties to induce comedy in Dharamavarapu – Shiyaji Shinde episodes but that did not click.
Keeravani’s Back Ground Score and music is the best and is certainly an asset to the movie. And added depth to the movie. Inspite of taking some cinematic liberties, the script work and the dialogues by Parchuri Brothers are good.
Cinematography suited the mood of the story. Graphics work could have been better.
Final Word:
The movie may not be a classic like Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Charitra but is certainly the best remake and portrayal of Baba life the current generation can get. Inspite of few glitches, the makers should be commended for their noble effort to give a devotional movie to this generation with out caring the commercial liabilities involved.