'Sega' Review: Laudable But Missed Nativity

Film: Sega
Rating: 2.75/5Banner: Manadesam Movies
Cast: Nani, Nithya Menon, Karthik Kumar, Bindu Madhavi, Muthukumar, Shimmore, Jennifer and others
Music: Joshua Sridhar
Cinematographer: Om Prakash
Editing: Antony
Story, screenplay, direction: Anjana Ali Khan
Producer: Ashok Vallabhaneni
Release date: 29/07/2011

The hit pair of Nani and Nithya Menon are back and this time, they are seen in a rustic mode. Let us see how good the film is.

Story:Set on the backdrop of a lower class slum, the story begins with Balaji (Muthukumar) who hates his drunkard father Jothi (Shimmore) and leaves home along with his brother Karthik (Nani). Both grow up at their uncle’s place and Balaji ensures their father’s shadow never falls on Karthik who joins engineering.

Meanwhile, Karthik is in love with Revathi (Nithya) and has a very close friend Vishnu (Karthik Kumar). The story takes a turn when Vishnu joins hands with Jothi who becomes a pimp for earning quick money and he takes the help of Karthik for that. Vishnu wants to get his lover Vani (Bindu Madhavi), a prostitute, out of the brothel. However, what seems to be a snatch job changes the fate and destiny of each one involved. What is that incident? How the story turns after that forms the rest of the story.

Performances:Nani has given a subdued performance and it must be said that his presence is mild. He was good occasionally and shows his mettle.

Nithya Menon looks perfect like the girl next door and audience is advised to focus on her magnetic face only. She is expressive and looks natural in this role.

Karthik Kumar displays the wavering character in a good way. Though his performance is not that impact creating, he does his bit as required.

Muthukumar has got good screen presence but then he was stiff in many places and could not convey the required anger and intensity during critical situations.

Bindu Madhavi looks sensuous and carries her role effectively. Though her role was limited, she engages the viewer as long as she is on the screen. She needs to do something about her voice though.

Shimmore looks the perfect pimp and displays the apt histrionics. Jennifer was just okay. The others didn’t have much to offer.

Highlights

• Screenplay
• Background score
• Two songs
• Technical values

Drawbacks

• No entertainment or comedy quotient
• Climax action sequence has irrelevant background score
• Weak emotional intensity in critical scenes
• Overdose of music in few sequences

Analysis:First things first, Indian cinema is going through a transition and the new wave of lady directors are knocking the doors open. The likes of Nandini Reddy, Zoya Akhtar are creating a new genre and now Anjana joins the bandwagon. For a debutante, this is a challenging assignment to deal with dark psyches of human side and explore the lower strata of society in a realistic manner.

While her approach towards life in this practical sense is appreciable, there are few fundamentals which Anjana should have considered. A film is made for the conviction of the audience so it is important to keep their pulse in mind to score success at the box office. Here, the elements of formula are missing. Also, the lack of branded actors will go as a setback. Given the fact that it is a dubbed version, no efforts have been made to bring the Telugu nativity.

Overall, the film must be appreciated for the debut efforts but in terms of audience perspective and logical analysis, this may not strike a chord with the family audience. However, given the budget, the film will no doubt land into safe/profit zone.

Bottomline: Racy treat, one time watcher for non-formula lovers!!

(Venkat can be reached at venkat@greatandhra.com)