Savi (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Savi a simple housewife attempts a daring jailbreak to get her husband out of one of England’s high security prisons With 400 inmates, 75 armed guards, 60 surveillance cameras.

My Take – The Hindi film and TV industry are one of the few landscapes in the world which celebrates the resilience and strength of a wife on a regular basis with a no holds barred approach. Irrespective of how comical or unimaginable or irrelevant the situation or portrayal might seem, when the need arrives the better half always transforms from an ignorant homemaker to a determined savior, showcasing their capability in challenging situations.

Such is also the case of this latest from director Abhinay Deo (Delhi Belly, Force 2), a gender-reversed adaptation of the jailbreak thriller The Next Three Days (2010), which itself was a remake of the 2008 French film Pour elle (Anything for Her), that sees its titular homemaker fights tooth and nail to get her convicted husband out of a high-security Liverpool prison.

While the concept of an ordinary woman determined to give her husband a new lease of life because she believes he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice might sound familiar, surprisingly, the screenplay, written by Parveez Shaikh and Aseem Arora, manages to weave together an unexpected tale of thrills and emotions.

Set as a modern-day take on the myth of Savitri and Satyavan, the narrative manages to resonate both metaphorically and literally.

Yes, the film is mostly predictable, yet it deserves a watch for sincere attempt at being a clutter-breaker and for Anil Kapoor whose enigmatic presence adds intrigue and injects fun into an otherwise intense drama. Once again proving his ability to make any film watchable simply by being present is evident once again.

Set in Liverpool, England, the story follows Savi Sachdeva (Divya Khossla), who has been living a bliss life as a housewife with her husband, Nakul Sachdeva (Harshvardhan Rane), and their young son, Aditya (Mairaj Kakkar). That is until, Nakul gets arrested for the murder of his boss, who has been regularly humiliating him, leaving Savi shocked and Aditya desolate.

Though Nakul consistently pleads not guilty and insists that he had bumped into the actual murderer, but could not see him clearly due to the rain, and the latter’s button had come loose, but with evidence in hand, he is handed a 12-year prison term, leaving Savi to fend for herself and her son. To complicate matters further, inside the prison, Nakul becomes the target of a group of inmates who he refuses to help in their nefarious activities.

And with only a few days left for the assailants to be released from their month long solitary confinement after attacking him, fearing for his life, Savi hatches a daring plan with the assistance of Joydeep Paul (Anil Kapoor), a reclusive ex-convict turned author, who provides the necessary knowledge to help her carry out a prison break.

Here, director Abhinay Deo wastes no time and nosedives into the crux of the narrative early on and hardly ever digresses from it through the inclusion of peripheral songs. While the film maybe less of a suspense drama and more of a thriller, he deserves praise for telling it earnestly and even with a dash of panache. His knack for style and thrill shines through, although the execution could have been more polished.

The film captures well how a woman can go to any length to get justice for her husband and the father of her child, even if she must get to the wrong side of the law herself. She doesn’t abruptly transition into a weapon-wielding action heroine and engage in high-octane action sequences to prove her physical prowess.

In fact, her feminine instincts become her biggest weapon. Even as she needs assistance to bring out the beast within her, she never for once loses her empathy and compassion.

The adapted script makes several modifications to the original, perhaps necessary in the Indian context. While it maintains key elements, like Savi drawing a mind map on the wall of her house and later throwing these pictures, text, and notes into a dumpster or trash can outside her house when Aditya and she leave it for good, it makes enough changes to not feel like a blatant copy.

However, the music seems to be missing the usual Vishesh Films touch. Known for backing their films like Aashiqui (1990), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), Kasoor (2001), Gangster (2006), Awarapan (2006), Jannat (2008), the Raaz and Murder franchises, among many others, with chart buster soundtracks, this one doesn’t has even a single memorable song.

Performance wise, Divya Khosla Kumar aka Divya Khossla in the lead role is decent this time around and manages to pull off the role to an extent. She has definitely worked on herself and her minimal makeup look works well for the narrative. Harshvardhan Rane, despite a limited screen time, portrays Nakul’s tumultuous journey well. Raageshwari Loomba makes a surprise return to the screens, and manages to leave an impact.

Unsurprisingly, Anil Kapoor walks away with the best scenes. He brings his own interpretation to a character earlier portrayed by Liam Neeson, and is effortless throughout. On the whole, ‘Savi’ is a decent thriller that is both gripping and enjoyable.