The script of the film heavily depends on the three major characters: Nani, SJ Suryah, and Priyanka Arul Mohan. Despite a promising plot, it’s the way these well-written characters dominate everything that makes the story more engaging.
The film starts off strong, giving actual meaning to the title through a well-crafted protagonist, with a mother sentiment that sets the right tone. Although some follow-up scenes felt a bit dragged, the humor within them satisfies the audience. The screenplay then shifts focus towards SJ Suryah and Priyanka Arul Mohan. SJ Suryah, as Inspector Daya, immediately takes action and dominates as the antagonist. The “Aunty sense undi” scene is particularly hilarious, and for a moment, it feels like Nani has been sidelined. However, the director skillfully introduces an entertaining love story between the lead pair, temporarily sidelining the antagonist, which allows Priyanka’s role as Charulatha to shine. Her cute and innocent presence, along with her positive mindset, steals the show.
Special mention goes to music director Jakes Bejoy, who has been on duty right from the beginning and continues to impress.
So far, everything falls into place for the ultimate showdown between Nani and SJ Suryah. Let’s hope the film maintains this momentum.
The only negative aspect of the film is its runtime.
The film kicks off well with the balance of different characters falling into place together, and features an outstanding 20-minute “Sleeping Pill” action sequence followed by a pub fight that serves as the first intense face-off between Nani and SJ Suriyah. However, one could not have predicted that this would be the last good moment of the film, as the rest is just havoc created by Vivek Athreya, who forces the ‘Saturday’ sentiment into our heads, turning well-shaped characters into irritable ones.
“Saturdays are fun until unexpected storms ruin the plans”
Before getting into what went wrong with Vivek Athreya, let’s first talk about the positive aspects of the film. The ‘Saturday’ concept was initially well set up by the director. Protagonist Nani’s intentions are clear with his wild acts to serve justice, followed by SJ Suryah’s portrayal of his character’s wild nature in showing evilness towards innocent people, and Priyanka’s innocent mindset with a soulful heart. These scenes served as an introduction to well-established characters, from which one would expect crucial roles in shaping the latter half of the film. However, it falters and fails miserably.
Now, let’s discuss what went wrong. Initially, I thought the treatment of Sokulapalem Village was quite different. But when the director decided that he had given enough to the audience by turning a dominant character, SJ Suryah as Daya, into a comedian rather than an antagonist, it spoiled the thrill and affected the rest of the characters. We’ve seen many characters develop as the film progresses, but here it’s the other way around.
When SJ Suryah acts like he doesn’t know what he’s doing, we, as the audience, feel the same—like we’ve been tricked. It’s similar to the scene in ‘Kick’ where Ravi Teja keeps hitting Brahmanandam at a Shopping Mall without showing his face. The same treatment was applied here, with writing so poor that even Jakes Bejoy’s strong background score felt like a beating to our eardrums, forcing us to cover our ears.
Vivek has really lost his way by turning SJ Suryah into a joker in the film. What could have been worthwhile face-off scenes turned into a chaotic ride. When an antagonist fails to impress, there’s no reason to stay invested in the protagonist’s intentions. On the other end, Priyanka as Charulatha was completely sidelined by the makers, except for the climax sequence.
Overall Verdict: Saturdays seemed worthy only when the characters were balanced. Once they started to unravel, all you get is a frustrating experience from the makers. The last 40 to 50 minutes of the film are ignorable. Director Vivek Athreya has lost his touch.
