Salaam Venky, a fictionalised rendition of a true incident that filmmaker Revathy deftly mines for all its heartbreaking potential without going overboard, is about a dying boy’s final desire and a mother’s unwavering struggle on her son’s behalf before life ebbs out of him.
When they overly excite our lachrymal cells, mawkish narratives of terminal disease frequently derail. Venky Salaam doesn’t.
Revathy fills what is essentially a socially relevant “conversation” film with innate emotional verve, ideational depth, and compelling dramatic highs. She works with a wonderful cast of actors led by the redoubtable Kajol, who is absolutely luminous as a mother swaying between despondency and despair on the one hand, and hope and resolve on the other. As a result, a story about a contentious personal and legal conflict emerges that may keep an audience interested in how it develops and ends.
There isn’t anything in Salaam Venky that could be categorically rejected as being overly gratuitous, even though some of it may seem a little basic and unsubtle. When the movie comes near to courting a hint of excess on a few instances, it successfully backs away from the edge. The actors must take some of the credit for that difficult-to-achieve balance.
The director, who also makes a brief cameo as a judge’s wife who quotes a Bhagvad Gita passage in which Lord Krishna addresses Arjuna, uses tried-and-true techniques to capture the agony and sadness of a single mother who is counting down to a tragic event. She does, however, succeed in giving Salaam Venky a false air of freshness.
Cinematographer Ravi Varman’s camerawork stands out in Salaam Venky because of lighting and perspectives that are obviously not taken from the playbook of traditional family melodramas. A stirring musical composition by Mithoon also contributes to the film’s power.
Salaam Venky, a journey that touches you with its intense emotions, and aspirations
Salaam Venky, which is based on the Srikant Murthy novel The Last Hurrah, depicts the tale of Venkatesh (Vishal Jethwa), a bright young chess player who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is dying slowly as his limbs and muscles deteriorate at a constant, irreversible rate.
In response to the boy’s request that he be given the option of euthanasia so that his organs could be donated to patients in need, Venky’s doughty mother Sujata (Kajol), first reluctant to modify the legislation banning mercy killing, shifts her opinion.
Thankfully, Salaam Venky doesn’t get lost in a sea of confusion because Sammeer Arora and Kausar Munir’s writing shows a keen grasp of the potential problems. The plot avoids them in order to provide a drama that tackles complex euthanasia-related themes while keeping discussions about its dynamics and implications pleasantly easy and uncomplicated.
The movie is worth watching for its bold attempt to present euthanasia related issues. Kajol, Vishal Jethwa, Rahul Bose, Prakashraj, Priyamani & Aamir Khan have played important roles and delivered their very best.
When the trailer was launched the viewers had one thing to say- Dear Kajol , What a beautiful trailer. I can’t control my tears. You are unique in roles like these. And when I saw Aamir at the end of the trailer, it gives you sense of peace and confidence.
Salaam Venky will strike a chord with the general public with a real-life story that made an up-and-coming chess star Venkatesh Kolavennu a legal cause celebre about a couple of decades ago. But it is easy to see that this is the sort of film that will find an audience far more readily when it hits a streaming platform.
This film should be viewed by all not only for its unique storyline but also because it is made without cheesy VFX which suddenly and disgustingly seems to be the flavour of the season.