The Adventurous Remake Saagasam
Saagasam is a remake of a 2012 Telugu action comedy called Julai. It was originally going to be titled Saahasam but was re-titled a week before release. The film is Arun Raj Varma’s directorial debut and it is also the return of screen legend Prashanth after a long absence from film. It also features Australian singer and model Amanda Rosario as the love interest to Prashanth. The film was shot in many exotic locations including Chennai, Malaysia and Japan. The locations were scouted by Prashanth and his father, Thiagarajan who also wrote the film. The film was produced by the Staar Movies Company and it was distributed by Sri Thenandal Films.
The Plot Of Saagasam
The film follows the lead character Ravi as he tries to impress his father who has no faith in him. His father sends him out to make some money and prove his worth, giving him a sum to increase tenfold. Bittu immediately decides to go bet on the Indian Premier League cricket match, on the way to the bookies he runs into the villain Bittu, who is on his way to rob a bank. Unfortunately when Ravi gets to the bookies, it is raided by the police and Ravi is arrested. He tries to convince the police to let him go as he knows about Bittu’s plans to rob a bank. He convinces the police and they make him come with to the scene. Bittu however has already successfully robbed the bank and sent his brother away to hide the money. From here the movie become a rip roaring ride of love, murder and money. The musical numbers keep the pace of the film high and the comic relief provided by the trio of Thambi Ramaiah, John Vijay and M.S. Bhaskar keeps the tone light and of course if you are a fan of Prashanth, you will not be disappointed. His unique dancing style and high energy delivery is always a pleasure to behold.
The Film Production
Saagasam started production in 2013 with little press coverage until the first press release in February 2014 revealed the director to be Arun Varma in his first feature film. The music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad, an established name in Teluga films but he was eventually replaced by Thaman, who wrote an original soundtrack for film. The popular actress Nargis Fakhri was also announced in May 2014 that she will be appearing n the film to perform a musical number written by Madhan Karky. Raju Sundaram choreographed Nargis Fakhri’s performance with a huge dance number of a hundred extras.
The Film Soundtrack
The actress Tamannaah was original cast as the female lead until she was replaced by Amanda Rosario, an Australian model spotted by Prashanth and his father Thiagarajan while they were location scouting in Australia and Kuwait during business trips. Lakshmi Menon eventually did all the female vocals in the film, with Anirudh Ravichander filling in the male lead vocals. Arijit Singh and Andrea Jeremiah also did further work on the soundtrack that was not included on the film soundtrack album.