Saripodha Sanivaram ( Surya’s Saturday) is the fourth film of Vivek Athreya, second with Nani post-Ante Sundaraniki. Saripodha Sanivaram is a high-octane mass masala commercial cinema from a guy who made a simple sweet heart-warming Ante Sundaraniki. There are very few Masala Done Right films and Saripodha Sanivaram, to understand Masala Done Right you need to understand the beauty of Masala cinema it is not over-the-top action or melodrama what makes masala is the emotion that it carries and makes a mass audience feel a ton of emotions from lust to loss in 3 hours.
Most filmmakers can’t crack this I was Sceptical about Vivek Athreya because neither Mass nor Masala or commercial cinema was his forte but boy was I wrong. Vivek Athreya showed the industry how to write a masala commercial entertainer and I hope people get inspired and write proper bounded script ( which has become a rarity in Telugu Cinema these days ) at least before getting into sets. Vivek Athreya is the kind of filmmaker who has his whole film in mind before shooting it. Vivek writes and gives his everything thinking this would be his last film in that genre and then since he got too much material he edits stuff in the script this makes both the director and editor’s job easy and gives a proper plan to shoot the film.
The basic premise of the film goes like The Protagonist’s mom makes a promise to him that he can only choose one day to show his anger to control his anger issues and that day happens to be Saturday how the Protagonist Surya and the antagonist Daya meet what role does Charu play in between the both and motives of every single character.
The premise might seem easy to write but it is next to impossible to take those many characters to write a backstory and every scene and every character should make sense and move the plot forward on the other hand giving high to the mass audience. If Vivek ever gives writing lessons I’ll be the first in the line to attend.
Mostly in all Nani films, Nani does the heavy lifting in Vivek Athreya’s films Nani doesn’t get to do that, in Ante Vivek’s writing outdid Nani and Nazriya was on par with him but here in Saripodha Sanivaaram everyone got an important role and the film doesn’t even try to fall on the shoulders on Nani, of course, we also have Vivek’s screenplay.
Should commend Nani for his script selection since Shyam Singha Roy each role different from the other, Shyam Singha Roy had two roles then followed that with Ante and followed that with the most rooted and contrasting role he ever did Dasara and following that with his forte Hi Nanna and back with Saripodha Sanivaram which is technically a part of his forte and a part of new genre for an actor like Nani. Nani doesn’t believe in Tier 1 or Tier 2 and let’s keep it that way if considered Nani is more consistent and bankable than half of Tier 1 stars atm and if an actor like Nani is put in this position he’ll become like the rest of them let him fly and make Telugu Cinema proud.
Priyanka probably is the cutest Police officer role I’ve ever seen. Not limiting her role just to glamour in an industry where 90% of female leads are just cast to dance and glamour. Vivek Athreya would never do that we all know that he wrote Charu with utmost detail because she has to connect two forces Surya and Daya and has to face of consequences of all the backfires, Priyanka pulled it off exceptionally.
SJ Surya as Daya has been rediscovered by the audience why he is one of the greatest actors working currently. SJ Surya has done many Cop roles in a similar template most of the stuff he does lately feels the same so everyone was skeptical about Daya but when Nani was telling Pre-release SJ Surya would be the first thing you would talk about after watching the film which eventually turned out to be true. Daya is not just another cop role he chose, Daya is a ruthless violent cop who has no rules if he wants something. Inspector Daya can be considered one of the top 3 performances ever by SJ Surya. To all the interviewers asking for his revival as Director let him be he is terrific as an actor don’t want to ruin it.
The rest of the ensemble has been cast to the point Murali Sharma, Ajay Ghosh, Ajay, Harshavardhan, Sai Kumar, Subhalekha Sudhakar, and Aditi Balan everyone was given a prominent role and a purpose in the film to move the narrative forward.
Jakes Bejoy set the drums on fire. Jakes Bejoy was considered after King of Kotha considering the mood Saripodha carries Jakes Bejoy is technically a better choice than Vivek Athreya’s old collaborator Vivek Sagar or any other composer from the industry. If the film is 60% Jake Bejoy made it from 60 to 100. The songs and score made the people crazy that they’re posting stuff a star was born on 29.08.24 and they’re not wrong but I’d like to correct A Star has been discovered to the audience that devotes their lives to star so Jakes got some lifelong slaves with this film and more fans than combing all his films before.
Anger is the most misunderstood emotion and this film does the best job in addressing that. Nijamaina Kopam ante Enti (what is real anger) is the question that follows Surya throughout the film. To control Surya’s anger Surya’s mother takes an oath that will make him rethink whether he is worth showing anger which will stop him 80% of the time from showing unnecessary anger. On the other hand, Daya picks a guy from Sokulapalem and shows all his anger on him. The Anger of the people of Sokulapalem is submerged under their fear.
Vivek Athreya as Director this time overshadows the writer in him with tiny details like when it’s time that Surya has to pick a day and his mom doesn’t stop him when he asks Is today okay and it starts to rain all the other get the drops of rain falling on the letters except for Saturday and the date is shown on the calendar as 9-1-04 and at the end when it is D Day final show off between Surya and Daya the same date is shown. Violence against women is not shown on screen but felt by the audience.
Kurmanand’s wrong judgment is introduced in his first scene where someone tries to kill him in the airport but he picks the wrong guy who tries to save him and thinks he’s the guy who tried to kill him although this incident is not mentioned again in the film this string of wrong judgments gets him killed by the end. The criticism towards Ajay Ghosh’s character is more but if it is removed then the film will not only lose the best mass moments (clock in pub, house fight rampage) but also the screenplay will fall apart.
What I feel is before telling Vivek what can be trimmed think twice what will be the consequences of trimming that particular part or character, Vivek gives the screenplay his life he knows what’s best for his film. Saripodha Sanivaaram’s success has paid off all the hard work Vivek and the team did (shows on his face and body how much he gave to this film). Vivek Athreya redeems his crown of Greatest Tollywood Filmmaker at the moment and hope he keeps it till he stops making films. For Mental Madhilo, For Broche, For Ante, For Saripodha, and many more masterpieces, he writes and directs.
Nazeef is a cinephile in the truest sense of the word. While his devotion to Martin Scorsese is unparalleled, his love for cinema knows no boundaries. He explores films from every corner of the world with a deep curiosity and a critical eye. Every movie he watches opens up new perspectives, and his reviews always bring fresh insights, making him an essential voice in the global film community.