Savitri movie review: Vijay Raghavendra’s psychological thriller is bland and has no scares

2/5

Story: When Saanvi, a bright student who excels in academics and sports equally well, suddenly withdraws into a shell and begins to exhibit erratic behaviour, it is believed to be the handiwork of an ‘evil spirit’. But then, her parents, Prashant (Vijay Raghavendra) and Pooja (Urvashi Rai), seek the help of a psychologist Dr Jayaprakash (Prakash Belawadi) to figure out the cause of Saanvi’s depression. Is she really possessed, or is there a mental health issue at play?

Review: Savitri is the first Kannada film to release directly on YouTube. Led by Chinnari Muttha Vijay Raghavendra and Prakash Belawadi, the film explores the impact on the mental health of a child in a household that lacks stability. Directed by S Dinesh, Savitri is about how a young child, Saanvi, deals with parental neglect, as the father is buried in work and the mother finds solace in another man.

Saanvi, finds the love she’s missing at home in Savitri (Tara), a staff member at the school, but when the latter then perishes in a freak accident, it becomes too much for the young girl to handle. It is a fact that children from broken homes, facing neglect and/or abuse, tend to look for affection elsewhere, which can lead to more trouble, like sexual abuse at the hands of a ‘lover’ or a predator. Director S Dinesh, though, does not look at the potential harm that could befall a child. Instead, he focuses solely on the reason the child is depressed – neglect.

The film then drones on about the responsibility of parents to spend quantity and quality time with children, which is often sacrificed in the pursuit of professional success. No doubt, a pertinent subject, but Dinesh’s solution to this problem is to get Saanvi the attention she deserves from her parents by pretending she is possessed, which she pulls off with the help of a few pals. The filmmaker also establishes that Prashant and Pooja are the culprits here. As a homemaker, Pooja should have been there for her daughter at all times is the tone, while Prashant isn’t completely absolved of his role either.

As a working parent who has missed milestones and other important occasions in my child’s life because of work commitments, I’d say it is easier said than done to allocate quality time to loved ones, especially in nuclear families where there is no support from extended family, like, grandparents, for instance. Should parents be demonized for prioritising personal happiness and goals? Well, that’s just a personal thought.

In the time since Savitri became available to stream on YouTube, there have been technical glitches galore. The first time I tried watching it, at about 45 minutes in there was a massive lag in the audio and video sync, which did not resolve even after refreshing the browser. A comment on the same though, got the platform, SRS Media Vision to rectify some of this glitch and disable further commenting.

Verdict: Savitri has an important message for society that gets lost amid all the gimmickry about ghosts and evil spirits.