By Cinemawalah, Dubai

A tired yet enterprising hero, a fake heroine failing to match the charisma of her male counterpart, a weak plot, equally weaker subplots, childish VFX and unnecessary length- well, this is, in a nutshell, what ‘Saaho’ is all about. Even though it garnered much attention since its trailer launch, the lead pair never looked convincing or at ease with one another. Shraddha Kapoor may do good in one or two screenplay backed movies like Stree, but where the movie stands on flimsy grounds and rests totally on the glamour quotient of the lead pair, a non-dazzler like her is bound to fail the expectations.

Prabhas is far away from the Bahubali charm. Why do the Indian directors fail to understand that it is unnecessary to typecast a hero by the magnitude of the films, letting go the substance to the trash? Prabhash has been made to believe that he has to deliver another Rs.1000 Crore film right from the beginning of the shooting of the film. And there the film loses its ground. And Prabhas his natural charm. He looks lost, even though he is earnest in his efforts. His larger than life and unnecessarily glorified character does not do justice to the intensity this man has.

The fight sequences are pleasant enough if you are watching for the first time. However for a movie of its hype, touted as the biggest action thriller India has produced, had I been the producer I would have asked where the money has been siphoned off. The villains with horrifying complexions and larger than the ambition of the movie sized tattoos look caricaturish. Chunkey Pandey, Mahesh Manjarekar all are wasted by the comically written poorer than Pakistan economy script. The twists are predictable. The overhyped climax is where the producer gives the director a final warning- do justice to my budget. And the scared director relentlessly shots mindless shots to please the dumb fat man. And leaves us displeased. To a thinking moviegoer, such movies never generate any expectation. And only there it keeps the promise. My only advice to a good actor like Prabhas- select movies for the plot, not for the budget. You may even outscore Bahubali.