Sardar

Fails to keep the audience engaged throughout the movie due to songs, dance, romantic scenes and too much fight scenes (that looks so Unnatural). The movie should have sticked to a single genre (ie, a thriller). But there are moments which deserved an overall better movie. Some scenes have logical errors that are too obvious for the viewers to notice. Anyone who doesn't want to waste 2.43 hrs can fast forward from 1:30:00 and still understand the whole movie.

Overall Sardar (2022) has a good message but misses a good Direction from the crew.

Rating: 6.8/10

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Despite being hampered by commercial roadblocks, Sardar still succeeds in carrying out such a mammoth project, thanks to the brilliance in the screenplay by P. S. Mithran. Backed up by some scintillating background score from G V Prakash Kumar, this Karthi starter has much more to offer than just being any other spy thrillers out there.

Note - Though I will be discussing the screenplay techniques used in the feature, I will refrain from any kind of spoilers, as much as possible. Happy reading!

Prelude - The man behind the (Iron) Screen

Usually, after witnessing any feature in a theatre, people flock out, in-order to flock to a different kind of medium - Social Media. However, after this particular feature, the way we see and use mobile phones, let alone social media, was changed. The feature is Irumbu Thirai (Iron Screen) and the man who created the change is P. S. Mithran. The way the seriousness of the theme was handled was commended by many.

Although his next feature - Hero - was as ambitious as his first, it did not just strike a chord with the audience and ended up with a lukewarm response. Nevertheless, the treatment was more than enough for P. S. Mithran to earn a spot on my list of "Screenplay writers to watch out for".

Yes, he is a commercial director. Yes, the initial 30 minutes will have a mandatory "love" portion for the lead character (aka Hero). And Yes, the lead character ultimately wins! In spite of having such a stereotypical storyline in both of his previous films, P. S. Mithran stood out with the way he presented them, in his different approach to creating such thrillers. This was purely the only motive for me to watch his next feature - Sardar.

Screenplay - The Game Changer

If there is one element that changed the fate of Sardar, it's the screenplay. Though it follows a three-arc structure on its base, there were other techniques interlaced to provide a brilliant structure to the grandeur nature of the project. The screenplay is fairly linear in nature but employs a kind of Double Journey structure, whenever an emotional/psychological high moment occurs. Sometimes it employs flashbacks and sometimes it's flashforwards, but the emotion and the adrenaline rush stay the same throughout such sequences. It reminded me of Godfather Part 2 (1974), which had parallel dramas running - prequel and sequel to the Godfather (1972), which shows the rise of both the son and his father in different timelines (co-incidental?!).

Let me tell you an example. There is this sequence, where Vijay Prakash (Karthi) imagines himself in place of a kid, striking an emotional chord with him. The whole sequence panned out brilliantly from script to screen, thanks to the amalgamating work from P. S. Mithran (Writer/Director), George C. Williams (Cinematographer), Ruben (Editor), and G. V. Prakash Kumar (Music). The use of flashback was crisp, quick and highly effective, and was also exhibiting the dual nature of the story itself!

Starting from the subtext of the film (Once a spy, always a spy), to how good a spy should be, the feature is filled with setups and payoffs which are well written and used at places in a striking manner. Along with effective uses of callbacks, the screenplay draws audience attention to details to just the right amount, refraining from creating complex sub-plots, and once such callback sequence hits the screen, it for sure delivers some pleasure hormones to our brain cells!

But, with the advent of OTT, most of us are aware of such spy thriller genre. Hence, I will not be exaggerating if I say that we all know what happens next. But, it's the how that matters! That's where the use of Fabula and syuzhet comes in, which was used effectively in the genre of crime thrillers/investigations. Fabula is the raw material of a story and syuzhet is the way it was organised, and it is one of the commonly employed techniques were one witness the result first and then to the "how" part, later. Employing the Flashforward technique in combination with the Fabula and syuzhet, P. S. Mithran created a hybrid one where the screenplay is pretty linear and non-complex, and yet flashforwards to offer a high point just before an emotional high point occurs - the Action Blocks.

Action Blocks - Compelling one

For any spy thriller, it is a taken that the protoganist can do anything out of ordinary. He could smash multiple persons at once, handle extreme machineries, and carry out stunts that may be impossible in real world, with Beast and Vikram being prime examples. However, Sardar sets something different. By employing the screenplay techniques that were discussed earlier, the action blocks were used as a medium of storytelling, than just being a reason to show the muscle power of the lead. The execution was more than enough to pump enough adrenaline into the audience, to sustain their attention until such sequence occurs next. Hence, one will forgo the illogical sequences that might pop up here and there. Still, there are certain misses that P. S. Mithran could've caught earlier.

The Misses

As the feature dives into the world of Vijay Prakash, we witness a certain conversation between a (supposed) IT wing and a politician from a certain political party, which sort of provides the introduction for the lead (Vijay Prakash). However, we see no closing act for these people, and not even callbacks at any point of time. For a movie that used callbacks such effectively, this sequence was certainly a disappointment.

The same goes for the dreamy song sequence between the lead characters, Vijay Prakash and Shalini (Raashi Khanna). What could have been a song with just montage sequences, imparted the unwanted sequences with costumes and set pieces that are no way connected to this earth, literally!

Is it worth it?

Unlike Vikram, which was filled with guns, bullets, blood and action sequences, Sardar shows you the other side of being a spy. It lets us explore the downside of it, the after-effects, the repercussion it could've on a person's life. Though sounding more like a family drama, Sardar is still a compelling watch in the genre of a spy thriller, which reminds us the famous quote from Alfred Hitchcock.

"To make a great film, you need three things - the script, the script and the script."

• Alfred Hitchcock, known as the "Master of Suspense"

A heavy-duty subject presented in a documentary style with a touch of spy-thriller elements sprinkled on it.

The old protagonist's character was the only one that was designed properly, everything else was just accessories. If the whole movie would've traveled with this old man's character, it might've become one of the decently made ones but the opportunity was spoiled with a useless heroine, and a baseless plot, especially with the main protagonists' characterization design.

There were a few emotional parts tried but nothing worked out

music/songs/BGM wasn't that enjoyable and didn't add much value to the film

the KGF style parallel story-telling kinda screenplay didn't work at all, it felt so artificial and didn't jell well with the content despite making revelations that both father & son have the same behaviors & mannerisms

and we cannot stop the thought of comparing it against Cobra with respect to the multiple getups of the protagonist

but overall it is a good enough one for a one-time watch for sure.

I've seen the movie with no expectations and I totally enjoyed the movie. From the start everything that was just required for the story was shown exept for the songs which seemed just as to be there in a commercial template movie. The songs are not great. But the screenplay and depiction of everything was nicely handled. The movie is surely an entertainer for those who like action. The hero's performance was definitely great! Even though the flashback seemed a bit off, it seemed necessary for the justification of sardar& Vijay's current emotions. No characters seemed to be unnecessary to the plot.

Mithran once again delivers a solid entertainer with Sardar. A pretty straightforward set up woven around the issue of "water mafia". Kudos to the research done behind the whole bottled water business as it presented a solid base for the spy story. With an entertaining first half, the characters and the conflict are well established. The songs did act as speed breakers but the captivating pre-interval scene ensured it ended on a terrific note.

The second half has the flashback about the titular character where the love story looked bit off considering the main focus was on a serious issue. Barring those few moments and the songs which simply didn't work, the movie got back on track post the flashback. Karthi excelled in both the roles and Chunky Pandey as a baddie was impressive too thanks to better dubbing in the third act.

Special mention to how effectively the water mafia angle is integrated to the commercial template. If the flashback was better handled, this would have ended up as a better entertainer than or on par Irumbu Thirai.

Definitely recommended.