''Saindhav'' is a 2024 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Sailesh Kolanu Sailesh Kolanu is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Early life and family Sailesh was born and raised in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where his father, Seshagiri Rao Kolanu, was a production manager ...

and produced by Venkat Boyanapalli under Niharika Entertainment. It stars

Venkatesh Venkatesh is a given name and family name from the Indian subcontinent derived from Venkateswara, a Hindu deity. Notable persons with the name include: * A. Venkatesh Naik (1936 - 2015), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India * A. Venkatesh (direc ...

, alongside

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

Shraddha Srinath Shraddha Srinath (born 29 September 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She is a recipient of two Filmfare Awards South and a SIIMA Award. Shraddha made her debut with the Malayalam film ...

Ruhani Sharma Ruhani Sharma is an Indian actress and model who primarily works in Telugu films. She made her acting debut in with the Tamil film '' Kadaisi Bench Karthi'' (2017) and received praise for her lead role in '' Chi La Sow'' (2018), marking her Tel ...

Andrea Jeremiah Andrea Maria Jeremiah (born 21 December 1985), known professionally as Andrea Jeremiah, is an Indian actress and singer who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of several awards including nominations for Film ...

and Baby Sara. The music was composed by

Santhosh Narayanan Santhosh Narayanan (born 15 May 1983) is an Indian film composer and musician who has predominately worked in Tamil cinema, while also having some Telugu and Malayalam films to his credit. He is known for his collaborations with Pa. Ranjith ...

, while cinematography and editing were handled by S. Manikandan and

Garry BH Garry BH is an Indian film editor who works in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an editor for more than twenty films. Career His friend, Ravikanth Perepu, who was directing ''Kshanam'' (2016), offered him to work on the production team. Abburi R ...

. ''Saindhav'' was released on 13 January 2024, coinciding with

Makar Sankranti Makar(a) Sankrānti (), () also referred to as Uttarāyana, Makara, or simply Sankrānti, is a Hinduism, Hindu observance and a mid-winter harvest festival in India and Nepal. It is typically celebrated on 14 January annually (15 January on a ...

, to negative reviews from critics and became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

Premise

Set up in the fictional port city Chandraprastha, Saindhav Koneru alias "SaiKo" has a dark past, leading a quaint family life with his daughter Gayathri and caretaker Manogna. However, SaiKo's life takes a drastic turn when Gayathri is diagnosed with

spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common geneti ...

and requires an injection of Zolgensma, which costs 17 crore. Saindhav goes back to the world of crime to extract money for

Cast

Production

On 23 January 2023,

and

announced that they would be collaborating for a new film tentatively titled ''#Venky75'', as it is Venkatesh's 75 film. The makers then on 25 January announced the film titled ''Saindhav'' by unveiling the title poster and also a glimpse of it. The film's many portions were shot across

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

.The team then on

Ugadi () or (), also known as Samvatsarādi (), is the first day of the year on the Hindu calendar that is traditionally celebrated by the Telugu people and the Kannadigas in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Na ...

confirmed the release date which is 22 December 2023. The film then immediately began production with the first schedule taking place in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

which was soon wrapped up. Then in April, the team shifted to

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

for the second schedule of the film. Some portions were also shot in

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

Release

Theatrical

The film was released on 13 January 2024, coinciding with the

Sankranti Sankranti () refers to the transmigration of the sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. In ''Saurmana'' ''varsha'' (Hindu Solar year), there are twelve Sankrantis corresponding with twelve months of a year. The Sankrantis can be broa ...

festival along with dubbed versions in Hindi and Tamil languages.

Home media

The digital streaming and satellite rights of the film were sold to

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

respectively. The film was made available for streaming on Prime Video from 3 February 2024.

Reception

''Saindhav'' received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics with praise for its plot, cast performances, cinematography and action sequences, but criticized its direction, script and music. Neeshitha Nyayapati of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' wrote "Sailesh Kolanu attempts to make a desi ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American media franchise created by Derek Kolstad. It centers on a neo-noir action thriller film series featuring titular character portrayed by Keanu Reeves. Wick is a legendary hitman who is reluctantly drawn back int ...

'' with Venkatesh as Saiko, but it’s Nawazuddin’s psychotic shenanigans that engage you." Raghu Bandi of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' gave 2.75/5 stars and wrote "This is a sort of ''John Wick''-meets-''

Drushyam ''Drushyam'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Sripriya and jointly produced by D. Suresh Babu and Rajkumar Sethupathi. It is a remake of Jeethu Joseph 2013 Malayalam film ''Drishyam'' and features Venkatesh, ...

'' with a touch of medical thriller in a mythical city that may be inspired by

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

. It seems to be the ''

Rana Naidu ''Rana Naidu'' is an Indian action crime drama television series on Netflix directed by Karan Anshuman and Suparn Verma. On 19 April 2023, the show was renewed for a second season. Premise Rana Naidu makes a living by fixing the messes lef ...

'' impact that Venkatesh has chosen a family-centric action thriller as his 75th project." Avad Mohammed of ''

OTTplay HT Media is an Indian mass media company based in Delhi. It has holdings in print, electronic and digital media. HT Media's flagship newspaper is the ''Hindustan Times'', the second most widely read English newspaper in India after ''The Times of ...

'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Venkatesh is superb and Saindhav is his one-man show as his new action-packed avatar is one of the reasons to give the film a shot." Paul Nicodemus of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Saindhav is an intriguing attempt at blending emotional depth with action. It has engaging moments, and serves as a testament to the evolving nature of Telugu cinema, where traditional storytelling is being melded with contemporary cinematic sensibilities". Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' wrote "Saindhav, directed by Sailesh Kolanu and headlined by Venkatesh Daggubati, is earnest in its world building and emotional family drama."

References

External links

''Saindhav''
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Rotten Tomatoes
{{Sailesh Kolanu 2024 films 2020s dystopian films Indian thriller films Films set in 2023 Indian action thriller films Indian dystopian films Fiction about medicine and health Films about arms trafficking Films about counterfeit money Films about diseases and disorders Films about Mexican drug cartels Films about smuggling Films about social media Films about terrorism Films about the illegal drug trade Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Telangana Films shot in Visakhapatnam Hospitals in fiction Films directed by Sailesh Kolanu Films scored by Santhosh Narayanan Films shot in Kakinada