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Director: Sivaguru
Cast: Rishi, Rithika, Sriman, Charlie, Ramesh Khanna, Abhinayasri.
 'Sabdam' is the name of a music troupe, with members Rishi, Charlie, Ramesh Khanna and Abhinayasri. Their new singer is Rithika, and the one who runs the troupe is Sriman, the wealthy orphan, a sort of godfather to the gang.
The earlier scenes show some promise, and the director's intention to be different. But then the director seems to lose focus, the charecterisation goes haywire, with the script having quite a few loose ends. In a futile effort to take the audience by surprise, the director who begins it as a love story, suddenly turns it into a triangle, only to reveal in the end that there were four players in the game. He thrusts in a murder, only to reveal later that it was suicide. He characterises a hero, only to turn him into the villain of the piece later. It is like the director had after-thoughts as he went along, and kept changing his script, without bothering about what went on before.
 Rishi finds himself drawn towards Rithika and vice versa. But before Rishi could reveal it to best friend Sriman, the latter comes out with a shocker, that he loved Rithika. Rishi deciding to play martyr, persuades Rithika to marry Sriman. Sriman disappears on his wedding day, Abhinayasri is found murdered and Sriman is the suspect. Sriman's confession, some reels later, only confuses the whole issue and reveals the glaring loose ends in the script.
Rishi has presentable looks, but reveals little by way of expressions. Sriman's character is so ambiguous that he can do little with it. Rithika yet again gets to play the traditional, shy belle. Charlie and Ramesh Khanna are the seasoned hands and determined to make their presence felt. But the one who manages to impress despite the weak script is Abhinayasri, who does justice to whatever was given to her by way of role.
Malini Mannath
published on 21st March 2002
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