| Saaho | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Sujeeth |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by |
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| Cinematography | R. Madhi |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
Production
company |
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| Distributed by | AA Films (India) Yash Raj Films Phars Film (International)[2] |
Release date
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Running time
| 170 minutes[4] |
| Country | India |
| Language |
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| Budget | ₹350 crore[5] |
| Box office | est. ₹433.06 crore[6] |
Saaho (transl. May victory be yours)
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is a 2019 Indian action thriller film written and directed by Sujeeth. It was produced by Vamsi Krishna Reddy, Pramod Uppalapati and Bhushan Kumar under their respective banners of UV Creations and T-Series.[7][8][9] Filmed simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, it stars Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor, marking the former's Hindi debut and the latter's debut in South Indian cinema.[10][11][12][13] The film follows an expansive criminal syndicate engulfed in a power struggle following the death of their leader all the while intelligence agencies use this to their advantage to take them down once and for all.
Principal photography for Saaho began in August 2017. Filming took place in India, United Arab Emirates, Romania and Austria, and was undertaken with IMAX cameras.[14] Produced on a budget of ₹350 crore, it is one of the most expensive Indian films ever produced. The film's soundtrack was released under the banner T-Series.
Saaho was released in India in theatres and IMAX on 30 August 2019.[15]
Plot
Roy, the crime boss of Waaji City's underworld, is killed in a deliberate car crash. Devaraj, the son of a former crime boss, declares himself the next leader of the crime syndicate; he is supported by some members, but opposed by the rest. However, Roy's son Vishwank foils his plans by succeeding his father as the next boss. Vishwank is also determined to unmask his father's murderer and sets out to lead Waaji City.
Roy had to set up a hydroelectric plant in India but was opposed by the local minister of India. However, he managed to get the permission signature on a letter from him. Then, the gangsters' money is on a ship which gets destroyed in a bomb blast.
The story then turns to India, where a genius thief steals about two trillion rupees with ease. A nationwide manhunt ensues to find the culprit. Undercover agent Ashok Chakravarthy is assigned as head of the manhunt taskforce. Although he initially refuses, he relents after finding out that Amritha Nair, a woman whom he is infatuated with, will also be on the taskforce. The taskforce uncovers the whereabouts of the thief and traps him during his next robbery, after Amritha and Ashok fall in love. They let the thief take a black box that can open a locker containing treasures at a secure building in Waaji City.
Later, there is a chase in which Amritha, Ashok, and Officer David confront the thief at a bridge. It is then revealed that the thief was actually Ashok, and the officer pretender with them is Saaho, who is the actual person committing the robberies. As Saaho escapes with his partner David, Amritha, along with the entire Indian justice department, is stunned.
Afterwards, it is revealed that Devaraj killed Roy in order to gain power and that the money of the gangsters are with him and that he was the one who planned the blast. Amritha then tracks Saaho all the way to Waaji city and pretends that she is still in love with him but is actually helping Ashok. Meanwhile, Amritha actually falls for Saaho and betrays Ashok. While they are about to kiss, Amritha is shot and taken away by Devaraj. Saaho is forced by Devaraj to give him the black box but later betrays him as he strikes a deal and gives the black box to Vishwank. Saaho also destroys Devaraj's building and steals the money that he had with him. Amritha is then subsequently saved by Ibrahim, one of Vishwank's associates. Saaho is then chased by Ashok and the police, with Amritha in a helicopter with a sniper. As the sniper is shooting him, Amritha tries to save Saaho by distracting the sniper, but the sniper pushes her towards the very end of the helicopter. Saaho saves her with a jet pack but is later arrested by the police.
Kalki, the crime lawyer of the underworld, who was with Vishwank the whole time, is revealed to be on Devaraj's side. She accesses the vault with the black box and finds Saaho's pictures with Roy, thereby indicating that Saaho is Roy's son, she also finds a copy of the Bhagavad Gita thus revealing Roy's two most precious things in the vault, meanwhile Amritha locates and chases Alex, a man she met in a bar in Mumbai, and Ashok meets up with Vishwank.
Saaho is taken to Devaraj's village, where he battles with Devaraj's goons and defeats them easily. Devaraj arrives, and Saaho reveals to him that he is Siddhant Nandan Saaho, the real son of Roy. He also reveals to Devaraj that he did this to avenge his father's death. Vishwank and Alex also reveal this to Ashok and Amritha. Kalki also witness a portrait of Roy and Saaho inside the vault, thereby shocking all of them.
Ibrahim reveals Saaho's real identity to the gang members, and Saaho becomes the next kingpin of the underworld. Some months later, Saaho locates Amritha in Innsbruck, Austria and confesses his love for her, and they share a kiss and hug each other. In a distance, a sniper aims at Saaho as he opens his eye to the danger.
Cast
- Prabhas as Ashok Chakravarthy / Siddhant Nandan Saaho
- Shraddha Kapoor as Amritha Nair
- Jackie Shroff as Narantak Roy
- Neil Nitin Mukesh as Jai / Ashok Chakravarty
- Arun Vijay as Vishwank Roy / Iqbal
- Chunky Pandey as Devaraj
- Vennela Kishore as Goswami
- Murali Sharma as David
- Lal as Ibrahim
- Supreeth as Alex
- Tanikella Bharani as Telangana CM Ramaswamy Allagadda
- Mandira Bedi as Kalki
- Prakash Belawadi as Shinde
- Evelyn Sharma as Aisha / Jennifer
- Mahesh Manjrekar as Prince
- Tinnu Anand as Prithvi Raj
- Ravi Varma as Ajay
- Sharath Lohitashwa
- Sasha Chettri
- Girish Garladinne
- Damini Chopra[16]
- Kumar Raja Venati
- Naveen Varma Ganapathiraju
- Jacqueline Fernandez as an item number in the song "Bad Boy"[17]
Production
The film was produced on a budget of ₹350 crore.[5] The film was shot in Austria, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Romania, and other parts of Europe.[18][19] Principal photography began in August 2017. Arun Vijay, Jackie Shroff, Lal, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Mandira Bedi were roped in along with the leads, Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. A large part of the budget was spent to shoot the action scenes in the film. International stunt coordinator Kenny Bates was brought in to choreograph the action scenes.[20] Arun Vijay grew his hair out to portray his character in Saaho.[21]
The first schedule of the film, which was in Hyderabad, was completed by October 2017.[22] The second schedule of the film began in December 2017 at Ramoji Film City. According to the producers of the film, Shraddha Kapoor had shot action sequences in the film with heavy weaponry.[23] After a few days, they shifted to Dubai for a month where some of the major action sequences were shot with Prabhas and Neil Nitin Mukesh, while Shraddha Kapoor switched to her next venture, Stree.[24] After shooting half of the film in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Dubai, the cast and crew of Saaho began with the fourth schedule of the film in Abu Dhabi in February 2018 and ended within a few weeks. The fifth schedule of the film, also in Abu Dhabi, started in late-February. The sixth schedule of the film began in mid-March in Dubai and Romania. The final leg of film and romantic songs were shot in Innsbruck and in the Tyrol region of Austria.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
An action sequence, which features in an exceptionally long period of the screenplay, was shot extensively near the Burj Khalifa; 25 crores from the budget had been spent. Prabhas had gone under rigorous training, which involved cardiovascular and weight training, and plyometric obstacle races. Prabhas praised his co-star Shraddha Kapoor, stating that she was the best choice for her character. She holds a strong character in the film, while Prabhas' character is a grey-shaded fictitious role.[32] He plays the character of a cop which will keep the audience guessing until the end.[33]
The film features some underwater sequences with Prabhas, who had learned scuba diving in preparation.[34] Prabhas will be dubbing his own lines in the Hindi version, while a professional dubbing artist will dub for Shraddha Kapoor in the Telugu version.[35] The film features Neil Nitin Mukesh as the antagonist. Mandira Bedi, who is known for her grey roles on the small screen, will play an out and out negative role in the film also.[36]
Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant shot two romantic songs. The shoot initially began in Austria's Alpine city of Innsbruck, including the House of Music and trams in Innsbruck, Finstertal in Kühtai, and Adlers Hotel. Some scenes were also shot at the nearby town of Seefeld. Additionally, romantic songs were shot at the "Top of Tyrol" viewing platform on Stubai Glacier, the Restaurant ice Q in Sölden, the Swaroski Crystal Worlds, and the Highline179 suspension bridge at Reutte in the Tyrol region. The production also shot some parts of a romantic song at Redbull's Hangar 7 at Salzburg Airport. Robinville and Creative Creatures were service producers for the Austria schedule.[37][38][39][40][41][42]
Soundtrack
| Saaho | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by
Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah and Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
| |
| Released | 28 August 2019 (All languages)[43][44][45][46] |
| Recorded | 2019 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length |
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| Language | Hindi Malayalam Tamil Telugu |
| Label | T-Series |
The songs are composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Ghibran. The lyrics are written by Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah and Manoj Yadav in Hindi, Vinayak Sasikumar in Malayalam, Madhan Karky in Tamil, Sreejo and Krishna Kanth in Telugu.[47]
Track list Hindi
| Track listing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Psycho Saiyaan" | Tanishk Bagchi | Tanishk Bagchi | Sachet Tandon, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi | 2:46 |
| 2. | "Enni Soni" | Guru Randhawa | Guru Randhawa | Guru Randhawa, Tulsi Kumar | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Bad Boy" | Badshah | Badshah | Badshah, Neeti Mohan | 2:58 |
| 4. | "Baby Won't You Tell Me" | Manoj Yadav | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Alyssa Mendonsa, Ravi Mishra, Shankar Mahadevan | 4:22 |
| Total length: | 14:24 | ||||
Track list Malayalam
| Track listing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Psycho Saiyaan" | Vinayak Sasikumar | Tanishk Bagchi | Yazin Nizar, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi | 2:46 |
| 2. | "Ekaantha Thaarame" | Vinayak Sasikumar | Guru Randhawa | Haricharan, Shakthisree Gopalan | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Bad Boy" | Vinayak Sasikumar | Badshah | Badshah, Benny Dayal, Sunitha Sarathy | 2:57 |
| 4. | "Baby Won't You Tell Me" | Vinayak Sasikumar | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shweta Mohan, Shankar Mahadevan | 4:22 |
| Total length: | 13:18 | ||||
Track list Tamil
| Track listing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Kadhal Psycho" | Madhan Karky | Tanishk Bagchi | Anirudh Ravichander, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi | 2:46 |
| 2. | "Mazhaiyum Theeyum" | Madhan Karky | Guru Randhawa | Haricharan, Shakthisree Gopalan | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Bad Boy" | Vignesh Shivan | Badshah | Badshah, Benny Dayal, Sunitha Sarathy | 2:57 |
| 4. | "Unmai Edhu Poy Edhu" | Madhan Karky | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shweta Mohan, Shankar Mahadevan | 4:22 |
| Total length: | 13:18 | ||||
Track list Telugu
| Track listing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Psycho Saiyaan" | Sreejo | Tanishk Bagchi | Anirudh Ravichander, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi | 2:46 |
| 2. | "Ye Chota Nuvvunna" | Krishna Kanth | Guru Randhawa | Haricharan, Tulsi Kumar | 3:14 |
| 3. | "Bad Boy" | Sreejo | Badshah | Badshah, Neeti Mohan | 2:57 |
| 4. | "Baby Won't You Tell Me" | Krishna Kanth | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shweta Mohan, Siddharth Mahadevan, Shankar Mahadevan | 4:22 |
| Total length: | 13:19 | ||||
Marketing and release
The teaser of the film was released on 27 April 2017 along with the release of Prabhas' last film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.[23] The first look poster of Prabhas from the film was revealed on his birthday on 22 October 2017.[48] There was some controversy about the poster looking similar to the poster of Blade Runner 2049, with many fans and followers criticising the poster for the perceived plagiarism.[49] The following year, a making of the film featurette was released on 22 October 2018, on Prabhas' birthday. A second making of the film featurette was released on 2 March 2019, on Shraddha Kapoor's birthday.[50] A poster was unveiled on 21 May 2019 of Prabhas from the film.[51] A week later, another poster of Prabhas was revealed.[52] On 10 June 2019, the first look poster of Shradha Kapoor from the film was released.[53] Another poster of Prabhas was released on 12 June 2019. On 23 July 2019, UV Creations released new posters picturing Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor and giving a new release date of 30 August 2019, in Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil.[54][55]
On 13 July 2019, UV Creations and T-Series launched the official teasers of the film in Hindi,[56] Malayalam,[57] Tamil[58] and Telugu.[59] The teaser garnered more than 97 million views on YouTube from all languages.
On 10 August 2019, UV Creations and T-Series launched the official trailers of the film in Hindi,[60] Malayalam,[61] Tamil[62] and Telugu.[63] The trailer garnered more than 105 million views on YouTube from all languages.[3]
Games
Saaho - The Game, a First-person shooter mobile game created by the Hyderabad-based company Pixalot Labs, was released on 15 August 2019.[64][65]
Release
The film was released on 30 August 2019 worldwide in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Upon release, Saaho was dubbed in Kannada and Malayalam version was released on Amazon prime.[66]
Lawsuit
Outshiny India, a luggage and bag manufacturer, filed a complaint and lawsuit against the director and multiple staff members for fraud/cheating at the Madhapur police station.[67][68][69] The manufacturers alleged that the filmmakers signed an expensive deal with them that mandated their product would be shown in the film; they alleged the filmmakers defaulted on their promise.[70][71] They claimed that the marketing, advocate and contract fees, and amount paid to the filmmakers resulted in a total loss of ₹1.38 crore.[67][70][71]
Reception
Critical response
The film has received generally unfavourable reviews.[72] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 9%, based on 11 reviews with an average rating of 3.85/10.[73]
Lakshana N Palat from India Today has given one and a half out of five stars calling Saaho "a 350-crore disaster" and that it is a "laboured and exhausting watch". She has added that "the saving grace of Saaho are the visuals and the high-octane action sequences" and that "the makers got so carried away with crafting action scenes and Prabhas' starry presence that they forgot about the story and character development midway".[74]
Writing for The Times of India, Thinkal Menon rated Saaho two and a half stars out of five, praising the technical aspects while criticising the script. Menon additionally stated how the film was "largely dubbed in Tamil, leading to lip-sync issues".[75] Taran Adarsh gave the film one and a half stars out of five, commenting on its "weak story, confusing screenplay and amateur direction".[76]
A reviewer for Bollywood Hungama gave it two and a half out of five, opining that it "suffers from a lackadaisical script and a vacuous screenplay."[77] Rajeev Masand of CNN-News18 gave the film one and a half stars out of five; while he praised Prabhas for his "enormous presence and unmistakable sincerity", Masand felt the film had "all the depth and emotional wallop of a video game".[78]
Box office
Saaho made ₹130 crore (US$19 million) on its opening day worldwide, the second highest-ever for an Indian film, surpassing 2.0's opening of ₹117 crore (US$17 million), but lower than Prabhas's previous film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (₹212 crore), which holds the record for the highest-opening Indian film.[79][80] After the second day, the worldwide collection was ₹220 crore[81] The film made ₹294 crore (US$43 million) gross on its opening weekend worldwide[82] and ₹370 crore (US$54 million) on its first week.[83] On day 10 Saaho crossed ₹400 crore (US$58 million)[83] Net collection in India stood at around 295 crore by the end of week 4.[84]
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