Movie: Saptagiri LLB
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Sai Celluloid Cinematic Creations
Cast: Saptagiri, Kashish Vohra, Sai Kumar, Siva Prasad, Jhansi, Jayaprakash Reddy, Shakalaka Shankar, Gollapudi, LB Sriram, Ravi Kale, Parachuri Venkateshwara Rao and others
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Music: Vijay Bulganin
Cinematography: Saarangam S.R
Editing: Goutham Raju
Art: Arjun
Producer: Dr Ravi Kirane
Direction: Charan Lakkakula
Release date: Dec 7, 2017
Comedian Saptagiri debuted as hero in “Saptagiri Express” which was a huge flop. Despite bad start, the comedian is trying his luck with “Saptagiri LLB”, which is the remake of Bollywood hit “Jolly LLB”. Since the Hindi movie was good, the expectations on this remake are high.
Let’s see whether this remake is as good as the original or not...
Story:
Saptagiri (Saptagiri) who just graduates in Law never wins a case in his hometown in Chittoor district. On the advice of a well-wisher, he leaves for Hyderabad to gain more experience and get a good name as lawyer.
He watches famous criminal lawyer Rajpal (Sai Kumar) winning a hit-and-run case with his inimitable arguments.
However, next day he comes to know that Rajpal won the case without even calling in the prime witness into the court. So, he files a PIL to reopen the case and he takes up the case.
How this rural lawyer takes on the mighty Rajpal and turns a hero is the rest of the story.
Artistes’ Performances:
Saptagiri has played this role showing all kinds of antics like a regular mass hero, instead of being a simple ordinary lawyer. There is not much to say about the new actress.
Sai Kumar who has reprised Boman Irani’s role has done good job.
Shiva Prasad as Judge is no match to the original actor Saurabh Shukla but he has tried his best with an interesting dialect.
Kota, Gollapudi, LB Sriram in their brief roles make an impression.
Technical Excellence:
The film has pretty average technical and production values. Music is a huge let down. Veteran dialogue writers have written some solid punch dialogues in the second half especially about the plight of farmers.
Highlights:
Basic story
Drawback:
Outdated narration
Poor direction
No fun and entertainment
Analysis
Remake of Bollywood hit movie “Jolly LLB”, this comedy film talks about how rich are using their money power and how poor farmers are being cheated by all. This lofty plotline is coated with nice comedy and some solid dialogues in the original movie.
However, in this Telugu version, the fun quotient is completely missing. The emotional pitch is restricted to the final portion.
Charan Lakkakula the Telugu director seems to have not grasped the core theme of the original. He has packaged it to showcase comedian Saptagiri as hero material. This precisely is the huge flaw of “Saptagiri LLB”.
There is a scene in the first half where Gollapudi, a canteen owner in a Session Court, is shown as a guy who is the victim of injustice. His daughter was raped but due to lack of evidences, the accused goes scot-free. This scene was filmed in highly emotional way in the original. Here it comes like a regular scene in a masala movie.
While the original movie was full of fun in the first half, here it is totally dull. The romantic track between the lead pair is clumsy and the heroine lacks both glamour and acting.
There are also unnecessary heroic fights, song and dance numbers. And in the songs, Saptagiri wears dresses that even NTR and ANR in '70s would have shied to wear. Such garish dresses and dance steps.
“Saptagiri LLB” is like a cross between cheap comedy movie and badly made big hero’s masala movie.
As long as Saptagiri appears as ordinary lawyer in the courtroom, it is okay to some extent, but in other scenes he has tried to establish himself as a mass hero, which puts us off.
Much of the movie beats the audiences with its boring episodes and headache-inducing moments.
In this pale remake, the final minutes leading to the reveal of big twist and Saptagiri’s performance here, have worked out a bit. Rest of the drama is a huge bore.
With below average writing and taking, “Saptagiri LLB” completely gets it wrong. This remake is totally avoidable. It is better Saptagiri realizes that he is strong in comedy and not as hero.
Bottom-line: Saptagiri Fails Again
