Savi

Savi is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Abhinay Deo and produced by Mukesh Bhatt, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the banner of Vishesh Films and T-Series Films. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Divya Khossla and Harshvardhan Rane. it is a remake of 2008 French film Anything for Her, whose 2010 Hollywood remake The Next Three Days with Russel Crowe shares the same story. Inspired by the tale of Savitri and Satyavan, Savi tells the story of a simple housewife who attempts to jailbreak her husband from a high-security prison in England. Unlike the French original and its American remake, the Bollywood film has a female protagonist.
Savi was released on 31 May 2024.
== Plot ==
Nakul Sachdeva (Harshvardhan Rane) and Savitri Sachdeva (Savi, Divya Khosla Kumar) are an Indian couple living in Liverpool with their son Adi (Mairaj Kakkar). They lead a happy and peaceful life, with Savi being a housewife, while Nakul works as a construction worker. Nakul has a bad relation with his boss Stephanie Fowler (Jane Horn) who is a racist and often humiliates him due to his Indian background.
One day in the morning, when Nakul is about to leave for work, police raid their house with an arrest warrant for him. They accuse him of murdering his boss Stephanie, which Nakul denies. Nakul is arrested and later found guilty by the court and sentenced for life despite pleading not guilty. Savi believes he is innocent.
The evidence against Nakul is strong: his fingerprint is found on the murder weapon at the crime scene (a fire extinguisher), and Stephanie's blood is found on his clothes. Stephanie had also humiliated Nakul again the day she was murdered. Nakul narrates a different story: he was just passing by the crime scene when he bumped into an unknown man, whom he believes to be the real murderer. The blood of Stephanie was all over the murderer's clothes and the bump left a few drops on Nakul's coat. He then saw the fire extinguisher on the road so he picked it up to place it back, leaving his fingerprint on it. Nakul also claims he remembers he heard a clothes button falling on the ground when the two bumped into each other, so if the button can be found, his narrative shall be proved. However, no evidence that supports his claim was found, including the button.
Savi keeps visiting Nakul in the jail, along with their son Adi. Despite knowing they have a very weak case, they remain hopeful for their appeal attempt. His lawyer Anu, who is also a long-time friend of theirs, implies that she actually believes Nakul is guilty and she indirectly persuades Savi to accept the truth. Later, the appeal is rejected due to lack to sufficient evidence to prove his innocence.
Hope diminishes with time going by. Savi also enters financial difficulty as she has no source of income and cannot find a job. She then decides to break Nakul out of jail. She visits Joydeep Paul (Anil Kapoor), a notorious criminal who has successfully escaped from jail seven times, to ask for suggestion. Paul suggests her to do the following: arrange for fake passports, prepare some money, choose a destination that has no extradition treatywith the UK, make a detailed plan to bring him out and then flee. Savi begins her research and planning.
Meanwhile in jail, Nakul is bullied by a drug smuggling ring. They assaulted him and are put in solitary confinement for one month. They threatened to kill him once they get out unless Nakul withdraws his complaint against them. Nakul is too stubborn to give in, so he refuses. Nakul's attackers are about to be released from solitary confinement in three days, making Savi realize she has only three days to execute her plan.
Savi has no other choice to arrange for money in such a short time, so she robs two drug dealers, during which a gunfight breaks out that results in the death of two drug dealers. After investigating the crime scene, police quickly find out that Savi is the suspect, and begin the search for her.
A medical team visits the jail everyday to collect the blood sample of all prisoners to monitor their health, and then delivers their reports back to the jail. This day on the way to the jail, Savi manages to sneak into the medical team's truck and switch Nakul's report with a fake one that says Nakul needs to be hospitalized. The jail then sends Nakul to the hospital, where Savi then forcefully takes away Nakul at a gunpoint. They then manage to escape from the hospital, and police begin their search for them.
Police search Savi's house and find papers detailing Savi's jailbreak plan. After reading the papers, police conclude that they are about to fly from Manchester Airport to Marrakesh with fake passports. Police then rush to Manchester to stop them. However, at the airport, police find out that there is no flight to Marrakesh and the two never showed up in the airport. A leaflet advertisement there makes the police realize they have left by ferry. The clue that made police think they would left by airplane was placed by Savi to mislead them.
Impressed by Savi's determination and ability to make and carry out such a big plan, Officer Ayesha Hassan decides to revisit the crime scene of Stephanie's murder, to know how Savi could be so motivated. At the scene, Officer Hassan does find a button in the sewer, indicating that Nakul is indeed innocent.
In Chandigarh, India, Nakul’s father (Savi’s father-in-law) receives a visit invitation from Savi in Bulgaria, revealing that they escaped to Bulgaria and are now settled there.
== Cast ==
== Release ==
===Theatrical===
The trailer of the film was released on 21 May 2024, and the film was released in theatres on 31 May 2024.
===Home media===
The film was premiered on Netflix from 26 July 2024.
== Soundtrack ==
The music for the film is composed by Vishal Mishra, Piyush Shankar, Javed-Mohsin and Arkadeep Karmakar; lyrics are written by Raj Shekhar, Rashmi Virag and Ritajaya Banerjee.
The song "Vada Humse Karo" is the last song sung by singer KK, who died a week after recording it.
The first single from the album, "Hum Dum", was released on 10 May 2024.
== Reception ==
A critic for Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Savi works due to the plot, performances and an engaging second half."
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated 2 stars and wrote "Anil Kapoor manages to be one of the bright spots of Harshvardhan Rane, Divya Khossla's Film."
== External links ==
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== References ==
Category:2024 films
Category:Indian action thriller films
Category:2020s Hindi-language films
Category:2024 films
Category:2020s Indian films
Category:Films about marriage
Category:Films shot in London
Category:T-Series (company) films
Category:Indian remakes of French films
Category:Films about prison escapes