Saripodhaa Sanivaaram

ఈ సినిమా వివరాలు తెలుగులో చదవండి →

Saripodhaa Sanivaaram (transl. “Is Saturday not enough?”) is a 2024 Telugu action thriller written and directed by Vivek Athreya, starring Nani, S. J. Suryah and Priyanka Mohan. Produced by D. V. V. Danayya under DVV Entertainment, with music by Jakes Bejoy, it released worldwide on 29 August 2024 to generally positive reviews that praised the performances, music and action but criticised the length. Our record lists a running time of 175 minutes.

What the story is about

Surya is an insurance agent with a serious temper. When he was a boy, his mother made him promise that he would only act on his anger on Saturdays, so all week he writes his grievances in a journal, and every Saturday he decides who gets a visit before midnight. The habit has strained his family: his sister Bhadra has cut ties with him, and his father quietly warns Surya’s targets in advance.

Years later Surya gets to know Charulatha, a police constable at Sokulapalem station. The law-abiding people of Sokulapalem are stigmatised because their ancestors had criminal records, and they suffer the brutality of Inspector Dayanand, “Daya”, a sadistic cop who takes out his feud with his politician brother on them. A Saturday vigilante and a cop with no limits are bound to collide. The idea of a man who commits violence only on Saturdays comes from Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy’s novel Sanivaaram Naadi, which inspired the film.

Cast

• Nani as Surya “Chinnu”
• S. J. Suryah as Circle Inspector R. Dayanand “Daya”
• Priyanka Mohan as Constable Charulatha “Charu”
• Abhirami Gopikumar as Chayadevi, Surya’s mother
• Aditi Balan as Bhadra, Surya’s elder sister
• Sai Kumar as Sankaram, Surya’s father
• Murali Sharma as Koormanand, Daya’s brother
• Ajay as Govardhan, Koormanand’s right-hand man
• Ajay Ghosh as Narayana Prabha
• Subhalekha Sudhakar as Head Constable Kamalakar
• Harsha Vardhan as SI Sudhakar
• Ali as Surya’s boss

Making of the film

Nani and Vivek Athreya were reported to be reuniting after Ante Sundaraniki in May 2023. DVV Entertainment announced the project as Nani31, the actor’s 31st lead role, on 21 October 2023, revealed the title two days later and held the muhurtam puja in Hyderabad on 24 October. Priyanka Mohan and S. J. Suryah joined that month; G. V. Prakash Kumar and Anirudh Ravichander were considered for the music before Jakes Bejoy was signed, with Murali G. on camera and Karthika Srinivas editing. Shooting began in Hyderabad in November 2023, mostly in the city.

Jakes Bejoy’s 12-song soundtrack, his first with Nani and Athreya, was released by Sony Music India on 25 August 2024 after the singles “Garam Garam”, “Ullasam” and “Sa Ri Ma Pa”.

Reviews

Most critics liked it. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu credited Athreya’s “fine writing” for “a nuanced action drama”. Janani K of India Today (3/5) said Nani and Athreya “have a winner in their hands”, Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute (3/5) found it “largely a well-written film” that keeps widening its canvas, and Pinkvilla (3.5/5) called it “thoroughly action-packed”. Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express (3/5) saw a mass entertainer with “its fair share of lows”. The dissenters were BVS Prakash of the Deccan Chronicle (2/5), who called the plot “wafer-thin”, and Manoj Kumar R of Desimartini (2/5), who felt the genre did not play to Athreya’s strengths.

Box office

The Economic Times estimated its final worldwide gross at ₹94.80–100 crore and described it as a box-office hit. Opening-day figures quoted on Wikipedia are marked as needing a citation, so we have left them out.

Where to watch Saripodhaa Sanivaaram

Netflix bought the post-theatrical streaming rights (for ₹45 crore, according to The Economic Times) and began streaming the film on 26 September 2024; Zee Telugu holds the satellite rights. The film was also released in dubbed Hindi (as Surya’s Saturday), Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada versions. Our OTT record is based on the film’s Wikipedia article rather than a platform listing.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Saripodhaa Sanivaaram and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.