Sarathi - Movie Review

Challenging star Darshan's fans were very upset with his arrest following his alleged assault on his wife Vijayalakshmi. But his latest release Sarathi surely makes them forget the tragic incident. It definitely lifts up their spirits with its crispy dialogues and action packed sequences.

Darshan-Dinakar's latest movie Sarathi is a revenge drama and Darshan's performance dominates every frame of the movie. The other attractions of the film are V Harikrishna's music, punchy dialogues, Ravi Verma's action, dance sequences, graphics work, costumes and beautiful locations.

Sarathi, which features Darshan as auto driver, has been released on Shankar Nag's death anniversary (September 30, 1990) and is a rich tribute for the late director-cum-actor. The movie features auto raja Shankar Nag through the graphic representation in the first song.

Director Dinakar has done a tremendous screenplay, which is fast and has rich production values. The first half of the film shows Darshan as an auto driver and there are enough amount songs and action scenes to keep the audience to hook up to their seats. But the second half reveals the interesting part of the story.

Raja (Darshan), whose real name is Krishna, is an upright and honest auto driver and is a messiah for the poor. He falls in love with a girl named Rukmini (Deepa Sanidhi). The story takes a new dimension when he visits a village to rescue his damsel in distress. What happens in the village will form the interesting part of the movie, which should watched on screen.

Darshan is the showman in the movie and he rocks the viewers in action, sentimental and romantic sequences. He also wins the heart of the audience with his wonderful dialogue delivery. This is the first film for Deepa Sannidhi and she has tried to live up to her role. As Darshan's father, Sarath Kumar has delivered superb performance. Rangayana Raghu and Bullet Prakash provide much-needed comic relief. Sharat Lohitashwa, Pratap, Lohitashwa have also done justice to their respective roles.

V Harikrishna has composed three lovely songs for the film, which are good to listen. Krishna Kumar has done brilliant camera work. Ravi Verma choreographed stunts are one of the major highlights of Sarathi. Editing, selection of costumes and locations are also commendable.

In a nutshell Darshan's films will not have much importance for story, but what matters in them is the masala elements. Sarathi is not an exception to his formula based films and it has all the regular ingredients of Darshan movies. It is a great treat to his fan for this Dasara festival.

Producer: KS Sathya Prakash

Director: Dinakar Toogudeepa

Cast: Darshan, Deepa Sannidhi, Sarath Kumar, Rangayana Raghu, Bullet Prakash, Pratap, Sharath Lohitashwa, Lohitashwa and Seetha

Music: V Harikrishna