Sakuni Movie Review : 2.5/5

Kamal Krishna [Karthi] makes a cool entry who has just come down to Chennai city from his town Samarlakota, to seek the help of politicians in a bid to save his ancestral home that is scheduled for demolition to build a Railway track. Kamal faces many negotiations from the leaders, especially from Bhupathi [Prakash Raj], who is the corrupt and cruel Chief Minister. Dejected Karthi decides to gain political powers, knowing that is the only way to save his property. In the mean time Kamal happens to meet Rajini [Santhanam], a local auto driver Rajini, who helps Kamal in achieving his objective. Meanwhile, Kamal also meets Sri Devi [Praneetha] along with his mother Aunty [Roja], who lives in Chennai.

Kamal starts implementing his ideas to gain political powers and in the process, he first meets Ramanakka [Radhika], a local money lender cum Don and turns her the Mayor of Chennai. How will Kamal manage to survive from the evil attacks of Prakash Raj? What ideas did he cherish to make Radhika and Nasser popular? Is Kamal able to save his property forms the Saguni story.

Karthi delivered a natural and controlled performance and he looked handsome in the film. Unlike his earlier movies he played a different role and he carried the film on his shoulders in a convincing manner. Karthi himself dubbed for the Telugu version and it’s appreciable.

Praneetha is glamorous but she has nothing for performance in Sakuni. Her role is limited to songs and just a bunch of scenes.

Prakash Raj as evil CM is perfect and the role is a cakewalk for him, Santhanam steals the show with his good comic timing, Radhika as Ramanakka is impressive, Anushka, Andrea have done cameos, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Nassar are at their usual best.

Cinematography is an asset and quite appealing. All the songs are colorfully picturised though GV Prakash’s music was mediocre. Background score was alright. Sreekar Prasad’s editing could have been much better trimming down the unwanted scenes in the initial half. Dialogues are good and entertaining. Direction by Shankar Dayal is not upto the mark. Production Values are rich.

Sakuni is a political drama and few of the episodes are targeted on the current happenings in politics which makes an interesting plot. But Shankar Dayal could not make it much exciting with quite slow paced narration. Though the first half had a good entertainment in parts, the narration is slow and the actual story begins only before 15 minutes of the interval with Radhika entrance. Few of the scenes like the satires on the current political systems and the schemes the parties offer will gel well with the audiences. However, there are major loopholes in the script and director has taken too many liberties. Despite the appreciable story, the faltered screenplay and the confusing narration with an abrupt climax plays the spoilsport for Sakuni. Karthi, Sanathanam, Radhika’s performances, the storyline are the positive points while the weak screenplay and slow paced narrations becomes the negatives of Sakuni.

Impressive plot executed with weak screenplay