Saani Kaayidham

Saani Kaayidham (transl. Muddy Paper) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action crime film directed by Arun Matheswaran.[1] The film stars Keerthy Suresh and director Selvaraghavan in lead roles.[2] Sundar Arumugam produced the film while the musical score and cinematography were handled by Sam C. S. and Yamini Yagnamurthy respectively.

Saani Kaayidham
Official release poster
Directed byArun Matheswaran
Written byArun Matheswaran
Produced bySundar Arumugam
StarringKeerthy Suresh
Selvaraghavan
CinematographyYamini Yagnamurthy
Edited byNagooran Ramachandran
Music bySam C. S.
Production
company
Screen Scene Media Entertainment
Distributed byAmazon Prime Video
Release date
  • 6 May 2022 (2022-05-06)
Running time
137 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Saani Kaayidham was released on Amazon Prime Video on 6 May 2022 and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

In 1989, Ponni was a hardworking police constable without real higher-life aspirations. Ponni aims to ensure that she raises her daughter Dhanam well and that she receives a good education. Ponni's husband, Maari, a mill worker, aspires to break free from rampant caste issues and poverty in their village by getting involved in local elections. It leads to a minor conflict with one of the mill owner's relatives, and Anbu soon gets fired after he was forced to clean the toilet. When he returns the next day to apologise and get his job back, the mill owner, Perumal, and his relatives, driven by their senseless casteism and misogyny, humiliate him and make derogatory remarks about Ponni to the point that they suggest that Ponni should sleep with one of them so Maari can get his job back.

In retaliation, Maari attacks and humiliates them in return. They feel shamed after a lower-caste person retaliates against them, whom they consider an inferior specimen. As a result, Perumal and his relatives burn down Ponni's house while her husband and daughter sleep inside. They assault and rape Ponni after her superior officer, Deva, leads her to them on false pretences. However, they leave Ponni alive since she is a policewoman; her death might lead to legal trouble for them. When Ponni seeks justice for Maari and Dhanam's deaths in court, the culprits use their influence and receive a minor sentence. After planning a scuffle, they leave to hide and escape with the help of Advocate Rani. Ponni, reeling from the incident, swears revenge on them. She teams with her half-brother Sangayya to seek vengeance against the upper-caste landlords.

Ponni was not on good terms with Sangayya due to a past conflict between their mothers, and they grew apart. Sangayya reconciles with Ponni due to a similar incident in his past (A group of people murdered his son and wife, and the villagers beat him) and how he formed a close bond with Dhanam. She tells them that they should feel the pain they felt and that she should hack them. Firstly, the duo find Advocate Rani in an abandoned building. Ponni stabs her in the stomach and shoulder. Rani eventually reveals the locations of the men. Ponni notes it down on paper. They then set her alight. The duo managed to hunt down, torture and kill the culprits. Firstly, they torture and stab Anbu. Then Sangayya pours acid on his penis to kills him since burning him would attact too much attention. During this time, Perumal is hunted by younger brother Giri due to an inheritance dispute and lost his life (Giri was also in charge of helping the group hide in different areas). Giri's blind son, Sudalai, whom the duo knew beforehand and was Dhanam's close friend, survived. Ponni and Sangayya find the man's body. Sangayya takes Sudalai, despite Ponni's adamant insistence that Sudalai had also assaulted her on that fateful night but Sangaya explains that he cannot rape or violate her since he is blind. Sangayya burns the lodge where another one of Perumal's goons, Vasu, is staying and kidnaps him. In a van, Sangayya puts his tied body inside a van. Ponni pours acid and brutally stabs him until he dies.

Ponni uses the van to run over Giri and his henchmen after one of the goons stabs Sangayya in the back, killing several men but Giri survived and escaped. The duo manages to find the last remaining target Maini and Deva at a cinema. Before killing Maini, he hacks off Maini's hand and then decapitates him. Maini's men seriously wound Sangayya after he singlehandedly held them off and successfully hacks Deva to dead. Sangayya insists Ponni to protect Sudalai since Giri will come to kill his nephew to eliminate the last remaining heir to the mill and the properties left by his grandfather. Ponni leaves him in the van to bring Sudalai, whom she had instructed to hide nearby. The reinforcements led by Giri arrive and chase after the vehicle, which Sangayya had anticipated. Sangayya sacrifices himself by blowing up the van after lighting up several gas cylinders, which he had stowed inside, killing the reinforcements as well as Giri and leaving Ponni devastated. After taking some time to recover and having her vengeance fullfilled, Ponni leaves with Sudalai. Sudalai was not involved in the assault and was innocent.

Cast

Production

The shooting of the film was wrapped up on 18 August 2021.[4]

Music

The music of the film was supposed to be composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, but he was replaced by Sam CS.[5]

Release

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on 6 May 2022 alongside its dubbed versions in Telugu and Malayalam, with the Telugu version titled Chinni.[6] The film's teaser was released on 22 April 2022.[7]

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV.

Reception

Critical reception

Saani Kaayidham received positive reviews from critics and audience, who praised the cast performances (particularly Suresh and Selvaraghavan), direction, action sequences and technical aspects but received criticism for excessive graphic violence.

M Suganth of The Times Of India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "It is ultimately the performances of Keerthi Suresh, who is terrific as the revenge-obsessed Ponni and Selvaraghavan, who superbly turns Sangayya into the film's beating heart, that hold the film aloft and prevent it from sinking into a mindless violent movie".[8] Ashameera Aiyappan of Firstpost rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Saani Kaayidham is a solid revenge drama that achieves its humble aspirations".[9] Janani K of India Today rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Saani Kaayidham is a neat revenge thriller which lacks depth in writing. If only Arun added more punch to the story, the film could have been flawless".[10]

Bhavana Sharma of Pinkvilla rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "This film is worth watching for the performances by the lead actors, and of course, a story that needs to be told.[11] Latha Srinivasan wrote in Moneycontrol that “Saani Kaayidam' rests firmly on the shoulders of Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan, and works to a great extent only because of them.” Haricharan Pudipeddi of The Hindustan Times stated "The film pushes Keerthy Suresh out of her comfort zone while Selvaraghavan contributes in not making the film end up as a blood-soaked tale of vengeance".[12] Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute wrote "Filmmakers need to stop, just simply stop using sexual violence as a cinematic prop. Normally, in Tamil films, a woman’s life is “over” after she has been sexually assaulted. Saani Khaayidham tries to deviate from that, but ends up reinforcing another trope - that a woman, who is otherwise primarily the wife, daughter, or mother, needs to go through something as traumatic as a sexual assault to become “stronger”.[13]

Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote "He (Arun Matheswaran) needs to direct his violence towards the audience and not be content with exploiting it for “shock” value. He needs to direct his violence towards making standout sequences".[14] However, Dinamani gave mixture of review and noted that "The work of many people can be seen in the way Sanik Kaitham was created. But what would the film have been if all this work had been accompanied by an interesting, mind-blowing story, emotional and innovative scenes!".[15] ABP Nadu gave 3 stars out of 5 and noted that " Apart from the shortcoming that all the pages written in Sanikakitham are in blood, Sanikkaitam is a ‛blood' bond story that travels with relationship and story!"[16] Dinamalar critic gave a mixture of review "It takes courage to see not one but two people who ruined his life take such murderous revenge. Only such people can watch this movie. Make sure children don't watch anything at home." and gave 2.5 rating out of 5. [17]

References
  1. "'Saani Kaayidham' Review - One Of The Most Compelling Revenge Thrillers In Recent Times - Film Fugitives". 27 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. "Keerthy Suresh plays Selvaraghavan's sister in Saani Kaayidham?". The Times of India. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. "Kanna Ravi on Twitter: "It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of this Film Saani Kaayidham 🎬 Thank you Director @ArunMatheswaran and team 🙏 can't wait to work with you again 😊". Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. "Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan wrap up Saani Kaayidham shoot. See pics". 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  5. "Sam CS replaces Yuvan Shankar Raja in Saani Kaayidham". The Times of India. 6 November 2021. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  6. "Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan Starrer 'Saani Kaayidham' gets a release date". The Times of India. 22 April 2022. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  7. "Saani Kaayidham teaser: Keerthy Suresh is out for vengeance in this thriller; fans say, 'she sets the screen on fire'". 22 April 2022. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  8. "SAANI KAAYIDHAM REVIEW : A HARD-HITTING BUT INDULGENT TALE OF VENGEANCE". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  9. "Saani Kaayidham movie review: Keerthy Suresh, Selvaraghavan excel in this straight-forward revenge drama". Firstpost. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  10. "Saani Kaayidham Movie Review: Keerthy Suresh, Selvaraghavan are in supreme form in this solid revenge thriller". India Today. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  11. "Saani Kaayidham Movie Review: Saani Kaayidham Review: Keerthy Suresh and Selvaraghavan's terrific performances". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  12. "Saani Kaayidham review: Keerthy Suresh's film is an exquisitely shot crime thriller but romanticises violence". The Hindustan Times. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  13. "Saani Kaayidham review: Cinematography, acting save a film obsessed with brutality". The News Minute. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  14. S, Srivatsan (6 May 2022). "Saani Kaayidham review: Keerthy Suresh, Selvaraghavan are terrific in this bloody, yet focused revenge drama". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  15. "கீர்த்தி சுரேஷ் நடித்த 'சாணிக் காயிதம்' எப்படி இருக்கிறது? விமர்சனம்". Dinamani (in Tamil). Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  16. நவநீதகிருஷ்ணன், பா ஸ்டாலின் (6 May 2022). "ரத்தத்தை லிட்டர் கணக்கில் உறியும் 'சாணிக் காயிதம்'... ஊறிப் போனதா... உறைந்து போனதா?". tamil.abplive.com (in Tamil). Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  17. "சாணிக் காயிதம்". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 7 May 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
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