Satham

Partly kept promise

Perhaps having in mind that this film marks the direct entry of Vishal in Telugu (his earlier movies were just dubbed), Rajasekar, the director of Sathyam has apparently taken painstaking efforts to convince the masses of Andhra Pradesh, than those in Tamilnadu.

As a result, this much hyped movie becomes a mediocre show, thanks to stunt sequences that were dragged to show the prowess of Vishal and the so-called spicy dialogues which are again targeted at Tollywood fans.

In addition, many of the scenes remind you those from yesteryear blockbusters, with the comedy part (a straight sequel of Indian) and the climax (where the general public utter clichéd dialogues we have seen in many a movie) standing testimony to it.

However, there are other things which deserve a mention, including the hardwork of Vishal to position himself in a cop’s shoes, a couple of stunt scenes and some dialogues which throw light on the corrupt political system.

Coming to the story, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sathyam (Vishal) is asked to solve the mystery behind the brutal killings of Ministers. When he zeroes in on the culprit, the upright cop receives a rude shock as it is none other than a former police officer, who inspired him to wear the khakhi uniform.

Revealing the reason behind his killing spree, the ex-cop (Upendra) says he failed to set things right as a police officer and hence took a decision to bump off baddies after quitting the job. However, Sathyam, a staunch believer of law (‘sattamum samiyum onnu’), throws a challenge at him that he would put the wrongdoers behind the bars with the help of the long arms of law.

He also vows to end the atrocities of senior Minister Kondal Dhasan (Kota Srinivasa Rao), who wants to become the Chief Minister of the State. Had he succeeded in his mission is the remaining part of the movie which also has a romantic episode with Deiva (Nayantara), a reporter of a television channel.

As we already said, Vishal fits well in a cop’s uniform. Nayanthara fails to leave a mark except in the song Chellamay. Kota Srinivasa Rao, Ravi Kaalai and Upendra, the imports from the neighbouring States help the movie to maintain tempo.

There is nothing much to say about Harris Jayaraj’s music while R D Rajasekar’s camera work deserves special mention. To conclude, Sathyam, which has been simultaneously released in Andhra as Salute, has all ingredients to become a blockbuster in the Telugu land.

Sathyam – Truth never dies