Director: Sivashankar Dev
Producer: Ajay Srinivas
Music Director: Aneesh Solomon
Cinematography: Ganganmoni Shekar
Editor: Amar Reddy
Starring: Aadi Sai Kumar, Misha Narang, Nandini Rai, Tarak Ponnappa, Vasanthi, Sanjay Reddy, Madhusudhan Rao, Ali Reza, and Khayyum.
Amartya Smaran
Sanatan (played by Aadi Sai Kumar) is this dutiful crime scene investigator with a swagger. He’s got his eyes transfixed on solving Vikram’s (played by Tarak Ponnappa) murder mystery.
Vikram heads VC Finance Company along with business partners Divya (played by Nandini Rai) and Raj Vardhan (played by Madhusudhan Rao).His death under mysterious circumstances after a wild night’s party at the company acts as an anchor.Sanatan and his team investigate the crime scene and try to crack open the puzzle.
In the course of the investigation, we begin to learn through the accounts of the five suspects that Vikram was a womanizer and an arrogant businessman. Vikram’s widow accuses him of having indulged in an entanglement with Divya.Guess what? One of the five suspects is Sudeeksha(played by Misha Narang), Sanatan’s ex-girlfriend! The idea of squeezing a romantic angle and songs into a screenplay irrespective of its relevance is a topic for another elaborate discussion.
Sanatan examines the crime scene in the most generic way possible and solves them. At one point he spots a lipstick mark on Vikram’s shirt and remarks, “He must have definitely had sex last night!” He even takes up his brother-in-law’s (who’s also a cop) unsolved cases. The lean muscular Sanatan fights several goons on multiple occasions with ease. He’s a genius who has mastered the subject of criminology and he has the capacity to solve the trickiest of the problems thrown at him.
Filmmaker Sivashankar Dev reveals key background information about the characters by switching the screenplay between the past and present. While the present focuses on the investigation, the past reveals important character traits of the protagonist. Like most complex human beings, Sanatan is a product of his past. Aneesh Solomon’s music makes you ponder at times but the lackadaisical style of lighting and framing (cinematography by Ganganmoni Shekar) of the scenes snaps you out of it and so does the editing.
Throughout the film, the audience stumbles across a variety of medical and investigation-related jargon. The characters carefully explain the terms and it does help to understand the meaning behind these complex terms but it often comes in the way of the pacing of the film.
For the most part, Aadi SaiKumar as C.S.I Sanatan is consistent when it’s needed the most. Aadi is on another level when it comes to starring in one film after the other. He is in a phase where he’s trying to figure out his voice as an actor. C.S.I Sanatan is a sincere effort from his end to do something unique.
Ali Reza, who played the role of police officer Rudhra, shines in the film as he shows great restraint in some of the scenes. The lens lingers around our protagonist for the majority of the film and this doesn’t give enough scope for other supporting actors. However, the character of Divya is the one that looked like it could’ve been written with a lot more conviction but nonetheless, it still manages to partly impress us.
Nandini Rai’s effort to capture the true essence of Divya is appreciable. Other characters look stiff but the stiffness should at all costs be conveniently blamed on the writing.All in all, director Sivashankar Dev packs C.S.I Sanathan with a bunch of interesting ideas and themes. The film is now playing in theatres.
