Akkineni Nagarjuna has won the hearts of audience with his brilliant acting as God-man in his previous movies like Annamayya and Srirama Dasu, which were directed by K Raghavendra Rao. After the success of these movies, the King has once again joined hands with the director for his latest outingShirdi Sai. Prior to its release, the film has created quite a buzz and the actor has made sure that his performance meets all those expectations.
Shirdi Sai is a devotional film, which depicts the landmark life episodes of Shirdi Sai Baba. Nagarjuna's excellent performance is the major highlight of the movie. MM Keeravani's music, S Gopal Reddy's beautiful picturisation and Paruchuri Brothers' heart touching dialogues are its other attractions.
A Fakir (Nagarjuna) enters Shirdi and starts rescuing people from evils and troubles by performing miracles. Within no time, the number of his followers increase and he becomes popular as 'Sai Baba'. He stays in a dilapidated masjid. One day, Sai Baba tells that he is leaving his physical body for three days and return after third day. The devotees keep the body safely. An English Officer (Srihari) objects the villagers' act of keeping the corpse and orders to remove it. But they do not allow to remove the body. After the third day, the soul reaches the body and Baba sits to everyone's surprise. His devotees begin to believe him as the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya. What miracles he makes and how he spreads spirituality will form the rest of the story.
Performance: Nagarjuna is a perfect match for the role of Shirdi Sai Baba and he has done a lot of homework to suit the looks and body language of the godman. He has proved that he is the true Shirdi Sai with his radiant eyes, subtle expressions, the pain and joy in his actions. Surprisingly, Sayaji Shinde has done a lighter vein comedy along with Ali and Anant. Srihari, Brahmanandam, Saratbabu, Saikumar, Srikant, Kamalini Mukherjee have given a wonderful performances.
Technical: Cinematographer Gopal Reddy has maintained perfect lighting and joined the VFX techniques at necessary places. Graphic works are also superb. Shravan's editing is very tight. Paruchuri Brothers' dialogues are good at places. Above all, it is Keeravani, who has scored more points in the film with his wonderful music. His background score is good and the DTS mixing is perfect. The choreography of the songs is excellent. The film proves that director K Raghavendra Rao has made a lot of research on Sai's history before penning the script. He never looses grip on the subject. He has proved that his combination with Nag is just memorable forever.
Remarks: You will definitely like the movie. Though you are not a Sai devotee watch the film. It is for sure that you will turn a Sai devotee soon after watching the film. The background score, songs, scenes, dialogues and direction will take to another world of devotion for a period of two hour and twenty minutes. Definitely, Nagarjuna would bag awards and rewards for his performance as Shirdi Sai. Sai Ram.
Cast: Nagarjuna, Saratbabu, Saikumar, Srikant, Srihari, Sayaji Shinde, Kamalini Mukherjee and others
Credits: Dialogues - Paruchuri Brothers; Cinematography - S Gopal Reddy; Music - MM Keeravani; Presents - A Sulochana Reddy; Producer - A Mahesh Reddy; Story, screenplay and direction - K Raghavendra Rao
Banner: Sai Krupa Entertainments Pvt Ltd
Release Date: September 6, 2012
.JPG)
