Rating : 2/5Cast : Gopichand, Regina CassandraDirected by : AS Ravikumar ChowdharyProduced by : V Anand PrasadMusic : Anup RubensRelease Date : 24 December 2015
You can interpret the whole experience of watching a Telugu film in a lot of ways. You could immerse yourself into it or stand back to watch it from a distance; however, the closest analogy I can think of is this – Watching a film is like playing a game of chess. The game is between the creator (in this case the director or a writer) and the audience. While you are expected to go easy on commercial cinema because it is watered down to cater to audiences from all sections of the society, many a times, for better or worse, you are part of the game. After all, how would you come to a conclusion that the creator got the better of you and surprised you with his or her moves on the chess board. The moment you realise the creator has won with the most unusual or smart strategy, you can’t help but applaud them and all the more so, because you end up learning something from them.
So, in this context, where does one place a film like Soukyam? Well, allow me to tell you this – It begins like every other game and there comes a stage where you are appalled by the moves of the creator because it doesn’t make any sense. And in the end, you find yourself sitting there wondering what in God’s name had just happened because the creator has just squandered everything and flung the chess board out of his view. You wonder why? And from a distance you hear an echo – “Naa Ishtam”/”Meri Marzi”/”My Wish”. Then, you ask yourself ‘Why did I even decide to play this game?’ and curse your own fate for plotting against you.
Let’s rewind the game from the beginning. So, we’ve Sreenu (Gopichand), a do-gooder, who falls in love with Sailaja (Regina), after meeting her in a train. He tells her that it was destiny that both of them met in the train. However, Sailaja doesn’t fall for him instantly and after couple of twists and turns, when they finally meet once again, they express their love for each other. Elsewhere, Sailaja’s father, a powerful politician in Kolkata, sends his henchmen to bring back his daughter. And to make things even more complicated, Sreenu’s own father doesn’t want his son to get married or fall in love with anyone who has a violent background. The rest of the story is about how Sreenu rescues Sailaja and impresses his father to marry her.
First things first, for a film which is so least bothered about setting up a high bar for itself, it’s little wonder that the first half comes across like a rehash of a lot of films you’ve seen in the past. The way ‘destiny’ is portrayed in the film has its roots in John Cusack starrer ‘Serendipity’ and the second half of the film takes inspiration from the first half of Sreenu Vaitla’s Ready. While there’s nothing wrong with any of these. After all, every idea or work of art is inspired from something else, what’s probably the biggest sore thumb in the film is the very approach itself to narrate the story, especially in the second half.
The film banks upon what has come to be known as ‘confusion comedy’, that has been a staple diet of Telugu cinema over the past decade or so. To put it bluntly, the foundation of ‘confusion comedy’ follows the template where “Aak is paak. Paak is aak. So, Aak Paak Karepak”. Confused? That’s precisely the point. It’s supposed to be funny, but only if you chew the ‘karepak’ along with the rest of the “full meals” that’s served to you. The problem with Soukyam is that the presence of this ‘karepak’ is so blatant in this “full meals” film that you know exactly what you are about to eat that it triggers a sensory reaction in your mind. And the voice in your head tells you loud and clear – Don’t do it.
In the film, we are expected to be in awe of Gopichand’s heroism and full credit to the actor for completely believing in his role. The action sequences are pretty good and to some extent, he plays the role of an anchor of this sinking ship. For someone of her calibre, Regina’s role is poorly written and that’s a pity. Soon, she gets lost in the proceedings and there is little that one can do when the film is like a porridge and you don’t know what you are eating. And then, there are a bunch of sidekicks and comedians and villains and everyone else who act as fillers to camouflage the banality in the script. Oh…there’s a film within a film, featuring ‘Reckless Star’ Prudhvi and those are the only 5 minutes in this 142 mins film that you convince yourself to laugh before its too late.
If all these elements test your patience, then the climax is a classic. We are told that hero is several miles away before he can rescue his lover and he needs someone to distract the villains till he comes. So, here comes Brahmanandam, who plays a deaf police officer. He stops the goons and in turn, asks them to explain their “avedhana” through songs. It’s supposed to be funny, like that antakshari episode in Gabbar Singh, but what it turns out is akin to a nail that’s shot through your skull and gets stuck there.
Quite early in the film, there’s a scene where Jayaprakash Reddy says, “Make a wish antu, meku dinchi poyadu’. And that’s precisely what I felt in the end. Soukyam ends up being a really really uncomfortable experience in the end. And the only song I can think of, to express my true feelings, is this :
