T-Series Films and Vishesh Entertainment’s Savi (UA) is the story of grit and determination of a woman to save her husband who has been framed for a murder he never committed.
Savi (Divya Khosla) is a simple housewife who lives in England with her husband, Nakul (Harshvardhan Rane), and child, Aditya (Mairaj Kakkar). Their lives turn upside down when the police arrest Nakul for a murder he never committed. When all legal remedies fail, Savi meets Paul (Anil Kapoor), who guides her in what her strategy should be to save her husband. How Savi manages to do that forms the crux of the story.
The film is a remake of French film Pour Elle. Parvez Sheikh and Aseem Arora have adapted the screenplay reasonably well. They maintain a fast pace throughout the drama, not giving the viewers even a moment to think. The pre-climax and climax are pretty engaging as the tension is built well and doesn’t loosen its grip on the audience right till the end. Aseem Arora’s dialogues should’ve been better.
Divya Khosla acts convincingly in the title role. She is able to effectively convey her helplessness and emotions in a foreign land with no help from any legal quarters. Harshvardhan Rane is good in a role which gives him limited scope. Anil Kapoor makes a fine mark as Paul. Mairaj Kakkar is cute as Aditya. Himanshi Choudhry is pretty earnest and equally impressive in the role of investigating officer Ayesha Hassan. M.K. Raina has his moments as Nakul’s father. Raageshwari Loomba Swaroop lends fine support as Simrit. Supreet Bedi (as Anu), Alex Dower (as detective Stevens), Adrian Stretton (as detective Lucas), Ollie Booth (as detective John), Promila Thomas (as Simrit’s mother), Jane Horn (as Stephanie Fowler), Assad Raja (as the drug-hoarding prisoner), Jacob Medows (as Slim Jim), Ackeem Gibbs (as Rox), Ravi Multani (as the airport security staff), and the others provide decent support.
Abhinay Deo’s direction is nice. With his effective narration, he has been able to sustain the audience’s interest in the proceedings. Music (Halla halla, Khol pinjra and O yaaram by Arkadeep Karmakar, Humdum by Vishal Mishra, Paas tere main by Javed-Mohsin, and Vaada humse karo by Piyush Shankar) is nice. Lyrics (Vaada humse karo and Paas tere main by Rashmi Singh, Humdum by Raj Shekhar, Halla halla by Kunal Iyengar, and Khol pinjra and O yaaram by Ritajaya Banerjee) are alright. Song picturisations are okay. Arkadeep Karmakar’s background music is quite impactful. Chinmay Salaskar’s cinematography is eye-filling. Action scenes (choreographed by Raymond ‘Razor’ Nicholas and Javed Karim) are thrilling. Sunil Nigwekar’s production designing, and Ameya Sunil Dharve, Sharanjeet Kaur and Sam Hayes’ art direction are appropriate. Shaan Mohammad’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Savi is a well-made thriller but lack of promotion and face value will come in the way of realisation of its full box-office potential.
Released on 31-5-’24 at Inox (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: weak. Opening: alright (due to low cinema admission rates because of Cinema Lovers’ Day today). …….Also released all over. Opening was average to good-average everywhere.