Salute Movie Review

Vishal, Nayana Tara starring Salute, directed by Rajasekhar and produced by Vikram Krishna, does not stand up to the expectations. The trailors and promo assure a good movie but the film turns out to be filled with illogical sequences, unnecessary songs and half a dozen fights. Most disappointing factor in the film is how there is no link between scenes.

Satyam (Vishal) is a sincere police office who goes by the book. Law is above all for him. He handles a case of three murders of political leaders. He is astonished to know that the murderer is none other than his role model ex-cop Pratap Rudra (Upendra). Pratap Rudra challenges that he is doing the role of cops while Cops are sticking to the books. Satyam experiences a bad taste after arresting the goons and they walk out free. Does Satyam still stand by the law and book or does he take the law into his hands to eradicate the evil?

Vishal is perfect in his role. His physique gave him all the more macho look. His body language, styles etc aptly suited his role. Nayana Tara is pretty much restricted to songs. Even though she had plenty of scenes, none of them really contribute. Mayuri Sudha played mother to Vishal. She did not have much scope either. Ravi Kale is good in the negative role. Ali, Brahmanandam, jeeva, Thanikella Bharani, Hema and others are content in their roles. But the highlight is Upendra, who did a good job as ex-cop. the scenes between Upendra and vishal came out very well.

This is the first film for debut director Rajasekhar. Even though story is old, the point brought in is good. However, screenplay is not tight. To fill up the gap, several unnecessary and unrelated scenes are added. Also, songs pop at the wrong time. First half of the film tests the patience. Second half turns decent after the entry of Upendra. When the film falls into a serious track, hero remembers heroine and pops a song. The songs are not that great to watch either.

Music and background done by Harris Jayraj are content. Shashank Vennelakanti's dialogs are typical translations. Dialogs like Demudu chattam okkate.. demudu chachipodu.. chattam chachipodu is just an example. Cinematography by R.D.Rajasekhar is good. Editing by Anthony could have been better. Actions scenes composed by Stunt Siva are good. In fact, he should be appreciated for bringing in some novelty in every fight. Because the film is filled with fights, if they did not impress, the film would have turned out a squib. Production values are good and the feel is seen on the screen.

Overall, Salute might be a big film so far for Vishal but might not impress the audience. Vishal, Nayana Tara glamor, fights and second half are good.