A gender reversal of The Next Three Days (2010), which was a remake of the French film Pour Elle (Anything for Her, 2008) influenced by Indian mythology, Savi tells a story of a housewife who passionately fights to get her partner out of a high-security Liverpool prison sentenced for murder.
Savi doesn’t lack technically. Cinematographer Chinmay Salaskar and editor Shan Mohammed give the movie continuous sheen and pace. Director Abhinay Deo’s base screenplay is written by Parveez Shaikh and Aseem Arora, he does more than that and enlivens the movie with hyper-gloss effects.
The problem with Savi lies in the plot. It is spoiled by numerous clichés. All the polish that is seen in Savi is just an exterior one. However, there is something missing at its core.
As a modern day re imagining of Savitri and Satyavan myth where Savitri believes her husband has been wronged by fate and as a story about an average woman wanting to give her spouse another chance in life, Savi doesn’t deliver any punches that would catch viewers unaware.
In terms of narrative movement things proceed at even tempo but refuse to go beyond drab repetition. Indeed while Rane’s performance appears rather basic given his character’s limited scope Khossla is quite impressive when it comes to emoting on screen.
These two actors have some shoes to fill the original French film had Vincent Lindon and Diane Kruger playing these roles while Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks starred in Paul Haggis’ American adaptation not an easy task given how poorly written this script feels at times.
Rane plays the part of Kular, who finds himself entangled in charges that he murdered his boss a lady supervisor who was notorious for bad temper by bashing her head with a fire extinguisher; it is up to Rane and Khosla to carry the entire weight of the movie. They do get some help once Anil Kapoor shows up in Savi, and this also makes the film a little better.
Nakul Sachdev (Rane) is declared guilty but pleads not guilty and gets a 12-year sentence. Savi Sachdev (Khossla) is left with Adi their son to bring up on her own with assistance from Joydeep Paul (Anil Kapoor), an ex-convict living alone in a mansion in the woods with only his pet pit bull for company, who writes books about his many escapes from jail and plots a daring scheme to free Nakul.
Inside the prison house, Nakul has gotten into trouble with a crew of inmates involved in drug trafficking. Nakul manages to survive an assassination attempt. On account of which the offenders are thrown into solitary confinement for one month. The action picks up pace when these brutal goons have just three days left before their release. As far as Savi is concerned it’s now just a matter of time running out.
None of Savi’s actions have the desperation of someone who is pushed against the wall and therefore, within few junctures in the film can one feel how acute her agony becomes.
In one instance, she tells her dad (M.K. Raina) during a video call that she won’t be available for many days. On another, she pleads with a friend to take care of her son if she is delayed in returning home. The protagonsit’s acts are stuck on a loop while it is clear as day that her choices are laden with danger.
Savi gets sucked into Liverpool’s underworld where, as Joydeep Paul warns, you may have to shoot people down there to defend yourself. She does not believe she would pull the trigger when required. Although she may qualify as one because of various reasons, but does that mean she has got any other option? As a consequence things get out hand for the heroine as she walks through dangerous path.
Both In The Next Three Days and Anything For Her feature wives who are imprisoned while their husbands attempt to free them. Here it is the husband who requires saving. It is up to the woman to prove how deeply she loves him. Would not have been wiser on her part simply wait till he served his term or go through legal procedures just to convince everyone that he was innocent?
Even assuming that it wasn’t completely ridiculous, still why should we question anything about Savi’s fundamental premise? With everything else dependent mostly on actors doing all they can in order not let film fall apart numerous times, floundering just come up short in this regard. Anil Kapoor plays an amusing smug role devoid of any seriousness which contrasts with gloominess associated with dying lead star.
He certainly does. However his wise cracks somehow do not fit well into the overall story line. To Kapoor’s credit though, he remains one of those few redeeming features in the movie. Savi has few, if any, redeeming features and she mostly stumbles along in the dark.
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