Chandra Sekhar Yeleti is THE person who started a new trend in story-telling, and brought a breather to a Telugu Cinema which was stuck with formulaic story-telling. Aithe and Anukokunda Oka Roju were cult films, and Okadunnadu was also a very interesting tale. After a long hiatus of 4 years, Yeleti comes with the genre very rarely seen on the Telugu screen- Adventure. Sahasam is an action adventure treasure hunt.
Without beating around the bush, the movie starts with what the premise is all about. The plot then shifts to Hyderabad where Gautam (Gopichand) works as an ATM security guard. An incident makes him set on a journey to Pakistan to procure the treasure his grandfather has left. The rest of the movie is the challenges he faces from the highly-secured treasure land and the bunch of bad guys eyeing on the same.
The subject demands a gripping execution. Yeleti along with his writers succeed, by weaving the story into a neat, well-connected tale. If observed keenly, there is a second layer of thought applied for the characterizations in many scenes. Especially the benevolence of Gautam, and the selfish nature of Sultan are well written. The first half has absolutely no dull moments as it keeps unfolding into a very interesting story. There is some subtle and sensible humor in the first half. The post-interval portions suffer some monotony, but gets back to the real treasure hunt soon. The last 30 minutes is an absolute treat to watch with good number of nail-biting moments.
For a genre like this, it is vital for the technical aspects to be up to the mark. Yeleti and his team deserve a pat on the back. They leave no stone unturned in making it a splendid product. The cinematographer, Shyam Dutt does a fantastic job, for its very challenging to get the things right and perfect in such unusual locations. Beautiful locales of Ladakh were captured well. Sri gives a suitable background score, fits in very well in various sequences. However the songs are mediocre and one of the songs breaks the flow to an extent.
Gopichand enacted the role with élan. He was very believable in the role of a gullible and ambitious person in the beginning. Gopichand gets a breather with this film. Tapsee’s characterization is interesting and she cracks it well. Shakti Kapoor gets a role which he has good scope to display some antics, and he excels.
Though it might not be an another ‘Aithe’ or ‘Anukokunda Oka Roju’ for Mr. Yeleti, Sahasam is special in its own way for the well-written script and high-standard technical values. Overall, ‘Adrenaline rush accomplished’.
