Review Roundup: Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar

Sajin Raghavan's directorial debut 'Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar' had generated a lot of curiosity prior to it's release.The movie was supposed to be a prequel to the 2005 Malayalam hit 'Udhayananu Thaaram'(which was later remade in Tamil as 'Vellithirai' and in Hindi as 'Shortkut-the con is on').With  Sreenivasan himself penning the script(and playing the title role of Saroj) 'PSK' was tauted as a sure shot winner.But it seems Sreeni and co have failed to recreate the magic of 'UT' this time.The reviews are mostly negative and the public opinion about the movie is also not very encouraging.
          Sify writes...

                       There are certain relevant issues that are being pointed out in Padmashree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar, in true Sreenivasan style. Like why should we make so many films in Malayalam when even the Russians make only around 30 odd films annually? Though it succeeds in raising such genuine questions, unveiling some of the ridiculous star tantrums and questioning some of the existing theories, the film fails to become an engaging watch.Just as he actually is, superstar Saroj Kumar’s antics and his life turn out to be too loud and simply boring, in the end 

          Ben(a blogger and film critic) thinks Sreeni & co have overdone everything.
                      Sreenivasan had come up with an interesting script along with Roshan Andrews in "Udayananu Tharam". Unfortunately, the same cant be said here as the film is just a mish mash of several real life events. Though it has been termed to be a satirical, I would rather term it as a distasteful take on the industry. Majority of the scenes were shot with reference to Lalettan be it the Lt.Col, Income tax raid, elephant tusk or his spat with Sukumar Azhikode, along with references to Prithviraj's English & Jayaram's Padmashree. However, there are a few genuinely humorous scenes such as Saroj's intro. With such a mediocre script on hand, I would term Sajin's efforts as decent while Deepak Dev's music was impressive in a rather pathetic film
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                 As it's often said,'Adhikam aayaal amruthum........!'

-nikhimenon