Sankham – Review

It has been once again proved that all combinations would never be hit always. The combination of director Siva and hero Gopichand was a hit for Souryam. However, Siva has disappointed the audiences in general and Gopichand in particular with his latest flick 'Sankham". The story has nothing novel and it is a routine subject with factionalism in its backdrop. Had the film concentrated only on action and faction as the elements, it would have impressed the audiences, but the comedy tracks that have been kept in gaps have spoiled the mood of the audiences, as they appear to be too nagging and boring.

Chandu (Gopichand) is the son of the landlord, Sivayya (Satyaraj). However, he was brought up by his maternal uncle (Chandramohan) abroad and doesn"t know his parents. His uncle had bluffed that Chandu"s parents died when he was too young. However, Chandu"s uncle sends his photographs to Sivayya to show him that his son has grown up as per his wishes. Chandu learns martial arts but never gets an opportunity to fight with anyone.

Once Chandu falls in love with a girl called Mahalakshmi (Trisha), but she never reciprocated. Later she decides to reveal her love. But, by that time, her aunt (Telangana Sakuntala) takes her away to India. Somehow, Maha calls up Chandu and expresses her love and pleads with Chandu to save her as her aunt wants her to marry her son. Learning this, Chandu too reaches India. The twist here is that Maha is the daughter of Sivayya"s bitter rival (Kota Srinivasa Rao), who was responsible for the death of Chandu"s brother and mother Parvati (Sita) in a faction rivalry. As per Parvati"s last wish, Chandu was kept off from these factional feuds and brought up abroad.

Maha"s father who recognizes Chandu as the son of Sivayya, tests Chandu and asks him to bring his brother (Katraju) as he feared that Sivayya would kill him. Maha"s father promises to get them married, if he passes the test. Chandu successfully passes the test and safely brings Maha"s paternal uncle (Chinnanna). But he still refuses to perform their marriage claiming Sivayya is keeping obstacles. Chandu decides to settle score with Sivayya and suffers grievous injuries at the hands of Sivayya"s followers. At that juncture, Sivayya recognises that it is his son and calls up Chandu"s uncle who reveals the truth to Chandu that Sivayya is his father. They both become one.

Sivayya, being a gentleman, decides to perform Chandu"s marriage with Maha and invites Maha"s father for the marriage. With vengeance, Maha"s father hatches a plan and kills Sivayya. Being the son of a factionist and born with Seema blood, Chandu kills Maha"s paternal uncle and leaves Maha"s father to the villagers, who lynch him in the climax.

PLUS:
It is the lead pair, who have made the film enjoyable to certain extent. Gopichand and Trisha share the honours and their performance remains a highlight of the movie. But for the two, the film has nothing much to offer. Gopichand, with his muscular body, has proved once again that he is the best action hero and all the action scenes are quite impressive. Popular Tamil actor Sathyaraj has played a special role in this film and in fact there is no need for him in this film as he could have been replaced by many other artistes like Suman, Srihari, Mohanbabu etc. However, Sathyaraj has given some freshness to the role. Regarding the music, only a couple of songs are good to listen. Action scenes have been choreographed well keeping in view the mass audiences.

MINUS:
Siva"s direction, screenplay and age-old storyline plays the spoilsport. Neither the story nor the screenplay has anything novel to offer. Moreover, the comedy track penned for the film appears boring as they have been stretched beyond limits. Stalwarts like Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Venumadhav, Srinivasa Reddy have failed to tickle the funny bone of the audiences. Moreover, Gopichand too has failed in presenting comedy in an impressive manner as he could not keep up the comedy timing. It appears that the director has lost his way in moving the story in a proper direction with a view to give relief in an action film. But it has boomeranged as the comedy scenes have been stretched beyond limits.

REMARKS:
The film has all the ingredients to entertain the masses. Some of the songs have a fast beat and could enthuse the fans of Gopichand to dance. Trisha fills the glamour slot. However her costumes and make up in some songs fail to suit her. However, there is a good chemistry between the hero and heroine. Sathyaraj played a decent role a la Mohanbabu in 'Pedarayudu". Kota Srinivasa Rao, Katraju play the routine villainy, while Krishna Bhagawan plays the sidekick to the villains. Srinivasa Reddy who appears in the beginning, vanished in thin air in the latter half of the movie. Chandramohan is okay in his role. Camera work by Vetri is impressive especially in the action scenes. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh should have been a little more crisp as the length of the film has been stretched beyond two hours and 45 minutes. He should have used his scissors to cut short the comedy scenes.

Cast: Gopichand, Trisha, Sathyaraj, Chandramohan, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Katraju, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ali, Venumadhav, Krishna Bhagawan, LB Sriram, Raghunatha Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Benarjee, Prasadbabu, Fish Venkat, Sita, Rajita, Telangana Sakuntala and others.

Credits:
Dialogues: Aril Ravipudi
Music: Thamas
Camera: Vetri
Art: Vivek
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Producers: J Bhagawan and J Pulla Rao
Story, screenplay and direction: Siva.

Banner: Sri Balaji Cine Media

Released on: September 11, 2009