This Sarvann can’t carry it off

Jasmine Singh

Nothing personal, it’s only business, says Amrinder Gill in his much –awaited film Sarvann. Exactly! Though we so wish that the director; Karaan Guliani had at least brought an iota of personal touch in his directorial venture. Starring Amrinder Gill, Simi Chahal and Ranjit Bawa, Sarvann is a film with a weak storyline and an equally weak direction.

 The film starts on a fast pace, with the director rushing through the scenes (read only scenes, not story), so much so, that he seems to forget that a film is defined by its story, and the story is nowhere to be found! Weak characterisation is another evident loophole of the film.

The film does move from point A to B to C, but we can’t figure out, why it is moving in the first place, better still why is it being dragged from A to B at all.

In the second half, after the interval, director Karaan Guliani decides to bring some sense into the film, which he was able to sustain only for 15-20 minutes.

The good news is that story of Sarvann is written by Amberdeep Singh, one of the well- known story and screenplay writers of the Punjabi film industry, the sad news is that Amberdeep has really written this!

Forcefully introduced punches and humour do nothing to save the film. There are so many scenes in the film which have been stretched for absolutely no reason, in fact one wonders why didn’t the director say ‘cut’. The taxi stand and train scene fall in this category.

Where on one hand, some scenes are stretched, others have been shot with no attention to detail, and they have been completely forgotten about. Like, in the first half you’d see Amrinder Gill’s sister, mother and father. Cut to a crime he commits, cut to Maharashtra, cut to Punjab...cut, cut... but where is Amrinder’s sister he so loved and hung out with all the time? How about a small pan, back on his family, at least show them crying for their son or something!

The only saving grace if we have to really look for one is actor-singer Amrinder Gill himself and the music. One is surprised to see that this Sarvann (Amrinder Gill) is the same actor who delivered outstanding performances in his previous films, especially Goreyan Nu Daffa Karo and Angrej. Sarvann is a perfect example of how a bad story and ill- execution can hamper an actor. Singer Ranjit Bawa makes his debut with Sarvann, again, a promising artiste is lost to weak characterisation by both director and writer. Nevertheless, it is a thumbs up for Ranjit Bawa’s acting. Actress Simi Chahal shows a lot of potential.

Despite a big name behind it (Sarvann is made under Priyanka Chopra’s production house), Sarvann fails to fulfil the promise of being a different and entertaining film.

With only good songs and Amrinder Gill, how do you expect Sarvann to carry the weight of broken, weak and disjointed script and direction on its shoulders? This one star is just for Amrinder Gill for trying to carry this weight, still.