Review: Sakuni - weak script spoils the plot

Political satires with strong content need a back up in the form of a strong director and if the content is just okay, then director's screenplay skills are the call of the hour which is what 'Sakuni' suffers, after a promising start.

In the process of saving his ancestral home from making way to a railway track, Kamal Krishna (Karthi) lands up in the city to meet Railway Minister. But things are not the same as expected.

His efforts to reach out to Railway Minister are not met with positive responses. However, a glimmer of hope arises as soon as he meets his aunt (Roja) who happens to be the family doctor of the Railway Minister.

She promises him to resolve the issue since she too is brought up in the same house. Meanwhile, he joins his aunt as a driver and does his bit to impress sister-in-law Sridevi (Pranitha).

On seeing his proximity towards her daughter, Roja asks him to vacate his house not before clarifying that she won't be helping him with the ancestral house too.

Dejected, an idea props in his mind, thanks to the auto driver Rajini aka Appalraju (Santhanam). Kamal meets money lender Ramanakka (Radhika Sarath Kumar) and convinces her to contest for the post of area Corporator.

With his schemes and polices, she wins the poll by defeating the other contestant (Kiran Rathod) who is handpicked by Chief Minister Bhupathi (Prakash Raj).

The next target for Kamal is opposition leader Perumal. Will he do the same to Perumal that he did to Ramanakka and save his property?

Writer- turned- director Shankar Dayal opts for a back and forth narration in the first half and his writing skills are at full display in the first half.

Punch dialogues and the camaraderie between Kamal and Rajini strike right chords in the first half. With tight writing, he keeps the plot interesting only to lose the grip completely in the second half.

Introduction of new characters should play a role in taking the story forward; instead the script loses the focus thereby characters remain mere spectators than artists.

Prakash Raj, Radhika Sarath Kumar, Nasser and Kota Sreenivasa Rao's characters are underdeveloped which in turn fails to give the film the serious dramatic punch that was needed the most.

Shankar Dayal's story takes too many cinematic liberties for granted. There's a Central Railway Minister who operates from the state capital besides the director going all out in presenting a CM who is upright bothered about making money than governing the state- too much of a pale stuff when media is out there in big numbers to question the government.

The CM hardly has an upper hand on Kamal throughout the film to make it more engrossing. Then Kamal's plan B of taking on CM unwinds only when he meets Perumal in jail. What if he was not jailed?

Of the cast, Karthi propels the narrative forward with his antics much to the dismay of Rajini.

He excels in sequences where Rajini and he are asked to pay fine to a mobile court after urinating in a prohibited area, where Sridevi compels him to sort a problem of her and where he's just a watchdog when Roja turns tables on him.

Rajini is another backbone of the film partly supporting Kamal partly disagreeing with his ideas. Pranitha has zero scope - to look pretty or to showcase her acting skills.

Summing up, 'Sakuni' couldn't live up to its promise after a promising start due to poor writing and screenplay.

The director proves his worth with the first half, but with the content in the second half, he fails to get the job done. Perhaps he was afraid that the film would have been more of a political drama than a satire.