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Saaho (transl. Let victory be yours) is a 2019 Indian action film[3] written and directed by Sujeeth, and produced by UV Creations.[6][7][8] It stars Prabhas in titular role, leading an ensemble cast including Shraddha Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Arun Vijay, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Lal, Murali Sharma, Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Prakash Belawadi, Tinnu Anand, Evelyn Sharma, Supreeth, Devan, and Vennela Kishore. Saaho marks the Hindi film debut of Prabhas and the Telugu film debut of Shraddha Kapoor. The film follows two covert operatives who are on the hunt for a thief who has stolen ₹2000 crore (US$284 million).[lower-alpha 1] Soon, they realise that the case is linked to the death of a businessman and an emerging gang war.

Saaho
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sujeeth
Written by	Sujeeth
Dialogue by	Hussain Dalal Abbas Dalal
Produced by	Vamsi–Pramod
Starring	Prabhas Shraddha Kapoor Chunky Pandey Jackie Shroff Arun Vijay Neil Nitin Mukesh Lal Murali Sharma Mandira Bedi Mahesh Manjrekar Prakash Belawadi Evelyn Sharma Vennela Kishore
Cinematography	R. Madhi
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Score: Ghibran[1] Songs: Tanishk Bagchi Guru Randhawa Badshah Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Production company	UV Creations
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films AA Films
Release date	30 August 2019 (2019-08-30) (India)[2]
Running time	170 minutes[3]
Country	India
Languages	Telugu Hindi
Budget	₹350 crore[4]
Box office	est. ₹439 crore[5]

The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi languages. Principal photography for Saaho began in August 2017. Filming took place in India, United Arab Emirates, Romania and Austria.[10] The film's soundtrack was released under the banner T-Series. Saaho was released in India in theatres and IMAX on 30 August 2019.[11] The film received lukewarm reviews from critics who praised the cast performances, VFX, cinematography, music, story idea and action sequences but criticism directed towards the screenplay, direction and length.[12][13] Despite lukewarm reviews, Saaho was successful at the box office, grossing over ₹439 crore ($62 million) against its budget of ₹350 crore ($50 million).[14][15][16]

Plot

Narantak Roy is an influential businessman and the leader of Roy Group, a corporate company which is the government of Waaji City, a fictional metropolitan city. One day, when Roy visits Mumbai for a business deal, he gets killed in a deliberate car crash. Devraj, the son of Roy's partner Pruthviraj, plans to declare himself as the next leader of Waaji City. Ibrahim, Roy's most trusted subordinate, reveals to Kalki, the legal advisor of the Roy Group, that Roy's family has been killed for decades, and has been hiding a secret for 25 years. The secret was that he had a son named Vishwank Roy. Vishwank foils Devraj's plans by succeeding his father as the next boss. Vishwank is determined to unmask his father's murderer.

In Mumbai, a mastermind steals ₹2000 crore ($284 million)[lower-alpha 1] with ease. Since he used random, unrelated people to rob the money who were unaware of their assistance in the robbery, it was proved near impossible to identify the culprit. A nationwide search ensues to find the culprit. Ashok Chakravarthy, a secret agent is assigned to head the search for the culprit with the help of crime branch officers Amritha Nair, Goswami, and David. They uncover a thief named Jai. Ashok meets Jai in a bar and the latter reveals the information on the black box – the key to the locker holding ₹2000 crore ($284 million) of all the board members of Roy's group located in Waaji City. Kalki, on Vishwank's command, travels to Mumbai and retrieves the black box, and deposits it in a bank.

During these incidents, Amritha and Ashok fall in love. After an intense chase to catch Jai red-handedly stealing the box, Amritha, Ashok and David (the official police hacker) confront Jai. However, It is revealed that the thief "Jai" is the real covert operative Ashok Chakravarthy all along. The lead officer, who had been with the team is actually Saaho, who is the thief. Saaho escapes with his partner David, who helped him disguise his identity in the entire operation. It is revealed that Devraj had killed Roy to usurp the city. Amritha tracks Saaho and pretends to be in love with him and wants a share in the robbed amount, but is working as a double agent for Ashok. However, she soon falls for Saaho in the process and betrays Ashok.

When Amritha is shot and kidnapped by Devraj, Saaho is forced to give him the black box. However, he deceives Devraj and gives the black box to Vishwank in return for Amritha's safety. Saaho destroys Devraj's building and steals the money in Devraj's lockers. He is chased by Ashok and the police, with a sniper in a helicopter aiming at him and a person in a jetpack chasing him. Saaho overpowers his opponent. Amritha, also in the helicopter, tries to save Saaho by distracting the sniper, but the sniper pushes her into danger. Saaho saves her with a jet pack but is arrested. Kalki is revealed to be on Devaraj's side. She opens the vault with Vishwank's fingerprint and the black box and finds pictures of Roy and his son, instead of the money. Saaho battles Devraj's goons in Karana village (a village previously protected by Roy) and defeats them.

Devraj arrives, and Saaho declares that he is Siddharth Nandan Saaho, Roy's original son, having camouflaged himself until then to seek vengeance for Roy's death. Kalki is shocked after seeing the portrait of Roy and Saaho. Saaho kills Devraj, Shinde, Prince and Kalki and successfully avenges his father's death. Ibrahim reveals to the board members of the syndicate that Vishwank was not in fact Roy's son, but Ibrahim's own son; his real name is Iqbal, and he was brought in to save Roy's throne. He reveals Saaho's real identity to the members, and Saaho becomes the next ruler of Waaji City. Months later, Saaho locates Amritha in Innsbruck, Austria and proposes to her, which she accepts. An assassin aims at Saaho to assassinate him. he opens his eyes, aware of the danger in the distance.

Cast

Production

The film was produced on a budget of ₹350 crore ($50 million).[4] Initially planned as a single film but later split into a franchise joining the G.Universe (G means Gangstar).It is a shared fictional universe and will produced by UV Creations and Hombale films similar to MCU.The second part is aiming to release in 2027. The film was shot in Austria, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Romania, and other parts of Europe.[19][20] Principal photography began in August 2017. Arun Vijay, Jackie Shroff, Lal, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Mandira Bedi were roped in along with the leads, Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. A large part of the budget was spent to shoot the action scenes in the film. International stunt coordinator Kenny Bates was brought in to choreograph the action scenes.[21] Arun Vijay grew his hair out to portray his character in Saaho.[22]

Saaho is shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages with many important scenes reshot in Tamil language as well.[23][24][25] It marks Prabhas' debut in Hindi cinema and Kapoor's debut in Telugu cinema.[26][27][28] Kapoor shot her portions in Telugu and Hindi languages only.[29]

The first schedule of the film, which was in Hyderabad, was completed by October 2017.[30] The second schedule of the film began in December 2017 at Ramoji Film City. According to the producers of the film, Shraddha Kapoor had shot action sequences in the film with heavy weaponry.[31] After a few days, they shifted to Dubai for a month where some of the major action sequences were shot with Prabhas and Neil Nitin Mukesh, while Shraddha Kapoor switched to her next venture, Stree.[32] After shooting half of the film in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Dubai, the cast and crew of Saaho began the fourth schedule of the film in Abu Dhabi in February 2018 and ended within a few weeks. The fifth schedule of the film, also in Abu Dhabi, started in late-February. The sixth schedule of the film began in mid-March in Dubai and Romania. The final leg of film and romantic songs were shot in Innsbruck and in the Tyrol region of Austria.[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]^{[excessive citations]}

An action sequence, which features in an exceptionally long period of the screenplay, was shot extensively near the Burj Khalifa; 25 crores from the budget had been spent. Prabhas had gone under rigorous training, which involved cardiovascular and weight training, and plyometric obstacle races. Prabhas praised his co-star Shraddha Kapoor, stating that she was the best choice for her character. She holds a strong character in the film, while Prabhas' character is a grey-shaded fictitious role.[40] He plays the character of a cop which will keep the audience guessing until the end.[41]

The film features some underwater sequences with Prabhas, who had learned scuba diving in preparation.[42] Prabhas will be dubbing his own lines in the Hindi version, while a professional dubbing artist will dub for Shraddha Kapoor in the Telugu version.[43] The film features Neil Nitin Mukesh as the antagonist. Mandira Bedi, who is known for her grey roles on the small screen, will play an out and out negative role in the film also.[44]

Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant shot two romantic songs. The shoot initially began in Austria's Alpine city of Innsbruck, including the House of Music and trams in Innsbruck, Finstertal in Kühtai, and Adlers Hotel. Some scenes were also shot at the nearby town of Seefeld. Additionally, romantic songs were shot at the "Top of Tyrol" viewing platform on Stubai Glacier, the Restaurant ice Q in Sölden, the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, and the Highline179 suspension bridge at Reutte in the Tyrol region. The production also shot some parts of a romantic song at Redbull's Hangar 7 at Salzburg Airport. Robinville and Creative Creatures were service producers for the Austria schedule.[45][46][47][48][49]

Music

Saaho
Soundtrack album by Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah and Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Released	28 August 2019
Recorded	2019
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	Telugu and Tamil versions: 13:21 Hindi version: 14:26
Language	Telugu Hindi Tamil
Label	T-Series

The songs are composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Ghibran. The lyrics are written by Krishna Kanth and Sreejo in Telugu, Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, and Manoj Yadav in Hindi, Vinayak Sasikumar in Malayalam, and Madhan Karky and Vignesh Shivan in Tamil. A bonus track, Bang Bang (Saaho Bang) was released after the film's release.

Tracklist Telugu

No.	Song	Singer	Music	Lyrics	Time
1	Psycho Saiyaan	Anirudh Ravichander, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi	Tanishk Bagchi	Sreejo	2:46
2	Ye Chota Nuvvunna	Haricharan, Tulsi Kumar	Guru Randhawa	Krishna Kanth	3:14
3	Bad Boy	Badshah, Neeti Mohan	Badshah	Sreejo	2:57
4	Baby Won't You Tell Me	Shweta Mohan, Siddharth Mahadevan, Shankar Mahadevan	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy	Krishna Kanth	4:22

Tracklist Hindi

Tracklist Tamil

No.	Song	Singer	Music	Lyrics	Time
1	Kadhal Psycho	Anirudh Ravichander, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi	Tanishk Bagchi	Madhan Karky	2:46
2	Mazhaiyum Theeyum	Haricharan, Shakthisree Gopalan	Guru Randhawa	Madhan Karky	3:13
3	Bad Boy	Badshah, Benny Dayal, Sunitha Sarathy	Badshah	Vignesh Shivan	2:57
4	Unmai Edhu Poy Edhu	Shweta Mohan, Shankar Mahadevan	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy	Madhan Karky	4:22

Tracklist Malayalam

No.	Song	Singer	Music	Lyrics	Time
1	Psycho Saiyaan	Yazin Nizar, Dhvani Bhanushali, Tanishk Bagchi	Tanishk Bagchi	Vinayak Sasikumar	2:46
2	Ekaantha Thaarame	Haricharan, Shakthisree Gopalan	Guru Randhawa	Vinayak Sasikumar	3:13
3	Bad Boy	Badshah, Benny Dayal, Sunitha Sarathy	Badshah	Vinayak Sasikumar	2:57
4	Baby Won't You Tell Me	Shweta Mohan, Shankar Mahadevan	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy	Vinayak Sasikumar	4:22

Marketing

The first teaser poster featuring Prabhas from the film was revealed on his birthday on 22 October 2017, which received criticism, alleging it was similar to the poster of Blade Runner 2049.[50][51] In July 2019, UV Creations announced the release date as 30 August 2019, in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam languages.[52][53]

Saaho – The Game, a First-person shooter mobile game created by the Hyderabad-based company Pixalot Labs, was released on 15 August 2019.[54][55]

Release

Theatrical

Saaho was released on 30 August 2019 worldwide in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil along with a dubbed Malayalam version.[56]

Distribution

Saaho was distributed by T-Series in North India while SPI Cinemas bought the distribution rights for Tamil Nadu.[57] The film was released internationally by Yash Raj Films and Phars films.[58]

Lawsuit

Outshiny India, a luggage and bag manufacturer, filed a complaint and lawsuit against the director and multiple staff members for fraud/cheating at the Madhapur police station.[59][60][61] The manufacturers alleged that the filmmakers signed an expensive deal with them that mandated their product would be shown in the film; they alleged the filmmakers defaulted on their promise.[62][63] They claimed that the marketing, advocate and contract fees, and amount paid to the filmmakers resulted in a total loss of ₹1.38 crore ($196,000).[59][62][63]

Reception

Box office

Saaho made ₹130 crore ($18.4 million) on its opening day worldwide, the second highest-ever for an Indian film, surpassing 2.0's opening of ₹117 crore ($16.6 million), but lower than Prabhas's previous film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (₹212 crore), which holds the record for the highest-opening Indian film.[64][65] After the second day, the worldwide collection was ₹220 crore.[66] The film made ₹294 crore ($41.7 million) gross on its opening weekend worldwide[67] and ₹370 crore ($52.5 million) in its first week.[68] On day 10 Saaho crossed ₹400 crore ($56.8 million).[68] Net collection in India stood at ₹302 crore ($42.9 million) by the end of its theatrical run.[69]

Critical response

The film has mainly received lukewarm reviews from critics who criticised the writing and length, though the cast performances, visual effects, cinematography and action sequences received praise.[12] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 8%, based on 12 reviews with an average rating of 3.8/10.[13]

Anupama Chopra Film Companion said "I know that a popcorn entertainer like Saaho isn't driven by logic or coherence. And I would have made my peace with it if the film delivered a good time. My biggest complaint is that it's a crashing bore. A lot of hard work has gone into creating the action and the extravagant sets. The budget is a reported 350 crores but for the viewer there's little bang for the buck."[70]

Lakshana N Palat from India Today has given one and a half out of five stars calling Saaho "a 350-crore disaster" and that it is a "laboured and exhausting watch". She has added that "the saving grace of Saaho are the visuals and the high-octane action sequences" and that "the makers got so carried away with crafting action scenes and Prabhas' starry presence that they forgot about the story and character development midway".[71]

Writing for The Times of India for the Tamil version, Thinkal Menon rated Saaho two and a half stars out of five, praising the technical aspects while criticising the script. Menon additionally stated how the film was "largely dubbed in Tamil, leading to lip-sync issues".[72] Taran Adarsh gave the film one and a half stars out of five, commenting on its "weak story, confusing screenplay and amateur direction".[73]

A reviewer for Bollywood Hungama gave it two and a half out of five, opining that it "suffers from a lackadaisical script and a vacuous screenplay."[74] Rajeev Masand of News18 gave the film one and a half stars out of five; while he praised Prabhas for his "enormous presence and unmistakable sincerity", Masand felt the film had "all the depth and emotional wallop of a video game".[75]

Notes

References

External links

• Saaho on UV Creations
• Saaho at IMDb
• Saaho at Box Office Mojo
• Saaho on Bollywood Hungama
• Saaho at Rotten Tomatoes

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