Saani Kaayidham review: Keerthy Suresh excels in this predictable revenge drama

Keerthy Suresh as Ponni in the violent revenge drama 'Saani Kaayidham'. (Image: Screen grab/Amazon Prime Video)

Given that this movie is directed by Arun Matheswaran, who directed Rocky, there are many similarities in its visual presentation and the violence depicted as critical to the story. Saani Kaayidham revolves around a young policewoman named Ponni (Keerthy Suresh) who lives in Pardesapattinam, a coastal village, and the movie begins with a scene of her torturing a woman to get information from her as to whereabouts of four absconding men. Sangayya (Selvaraghavan) patiently waits for her, and eventually the two drive off in a van in search of the four culprits while the woman burns alive after the confession. A seemingly fitting end for crimes committed by this woman. And the revenge drama begins.

As the movie runs on, one distinctly gets a feel of Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill in the way Saani Kaayidham has been captured cinematographically - the shots, the colours, the chapters, and so on. Director Arun Matheswaran also has his own unique additions here, like in his earlier film Rocky, the frames within frames and the brother-sister relationship. The combination of these is the end result, Saani Kaayidham, a tale of violent revenge driven by caste discrimination.

Ponni is a constable in the village married to Maari who works in the village mill owned by upper-caste men. Maari is fired from the mill for speaking up against the owners and the upper-caste mill owners take it further by killing Maari and Ponni’s daughter Dhanam, while Ponni herself is left to die after being gang-raped by these men. The upper-caste men in the village treat the lower caste like scum and have no respect for women either. It is Sangayya, Ponni’s half-brother, who comes to her rescue and we see the two of them hunt down the culprits like animals for the irreparable loss she suffered. During this course, we also learn the emotional story of Ponni and Sangayya and their brother-sister relationship.

The film does have its flaws and primarily, the antagonists don’t have much of an impact on the audience. The four men commit a crime and are punished for their crime - there are no layers to explore or unravel, making the film highly predictable. The director has spent more time on the different ways in which each of the men meets his end but it doesn’t hit you as hard as one might think. Having said that, the cinematography by Yamini Yagnamurtrhy and the music by Sam C.S. are definite highlights of the movie.

Keerthy Suresh has excelled as the angry, vengeful Ponni who wants justice for what has happened to her and her family. Taking on a performance-oriented role like this, the actor has proved her mettle - yet again - with her fiery eyes and sans makeup look in this tale of revenge. She spits fire in the scenes where she expresses her anger and you feel her emotions every step of the way through the film - be it love, fear or sadness. Director-turned-actor Selvaraghavan, as Sangayya, has proved he has got the acting chops and the evolving brother-sister relationship is brought to life thanks to him. Saani Kaayidham rests firmly on the shoulders of Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan and works to a great extent only because of them.

Saani Kaayidham released on Amazon Prime Video on May 6.