SA-RO-JA

The movie works and how! A brand Venkat Prabhu film -now, how does a director manage this with just his second film is a wonder by itself - but will save that for another post, now let's move onto the film.

Saroja is a lot of things...but Saroja is also all of this -

- A road movie, with tons of 'what will happen next even though I know what will happen in the end' kind of scenes'.

- A tale that begins yesterday and ends today with tons of great humor mixed with racy story telling.

- A mix of characters - all performed by real and endearing faces, who take you on a travel - their travel in this roller coaster of a night ride.

- A melange' of moments with the 4 lead players who ad-lib a la Monty Python, that's so new to our cinema.

- A film that spells entertainment with a capital E but is most certainly mind-full of the kind of entertainment served.

Attitude and panache rule Venkat Prabhu's Saroja - where nothing and noone takes themselves more seriously than what is required. This self parody of the characters is such a relief in a heroism driven market and to just drop down 4 normal, ordinary boys into a war-hole of extraordinary situations thus making them emerge as real life heros is a tremendous task and VP lives upto it in style! The interactions amongst the 4 guys, as raw as they are, lend a unique flavor to this speedy cocktail. An adventure comedy that keeps you glued to the screen, Saroja will make you come back just for the sheer laugh of it! And this is a step up for Venkat Prabhu, who has woven some very clever moments into the film, that makes it a highly worthwhile watch.

Not too much not too little but just right is Jayaram. The accident on the national highway is a wonderfully staged piece and so is the closeup frame of Prakashraj crying to himself, facing the mirror - one of the actors most honest to himself performances in recent times. Shiva stands out from the 4 as his Ajayraj is the character that crosses many emotions in this one night -Shiva getting the maximum onelines that keep us in splits anytime he even appears on screen. Premji is anyways funny and in this he is funnier. SPB Charan has greatly improved his acting skills as well and is so convincingly cast. Vaibhav shows great promise and screen presence - ditto for Sampath. The new girl Vega is a competent find, her voice on screen is Divyadharshini, who has done such a wonderful job of the same!

Still, if at all there is something missing - well, Saroja hardly gives you time to go look for anything else, so what's the point in searching for missing things anyways! Just one question for Venkat Prabhu though, will he ever make an all girl gang movie...giving them such dynamic moments as he has given the guys in a film with a girl's name?? Because if there is one director who can pull of a thriller comedy with women, it should only be Venkat Prabhu.

Watch Saroja and tell me you differ!