Sandakari
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Plot
Vetri is an ambitious young professional working in London, serving as the executive assistant to Maya, a formidable senior executive. He is a gold-medal engineering graduate with an app of his own to launch, but for now his days belong to Maya’s moods and demands.
When Maya faces deportation because her work permit has expired, she makes a desperate plan: she will claim Vetri as her fiance to stay in London. The pretence follows them from London to Vetri’s ancestral home in Tamil Nadu, where family, pride and unexpected feelings complicate everything.
The shift from London to Tamil Nadu is the film’s most enjoyable stretch. The contrast between glass offices and village homes gives the comedy new energy, and the family scenes there are the film’s warmest.
Performance
Vimal is comfortable in the lighter, comic portions, playing Vetri with his usual breezy charm. Shriya Saran brings poise to Maya, and the contrast between her authority and his easy manner is the film’s main engine.
Prabhu, Sathyan and K. R. Vijaya add warmth and humour in support, and the family portions in Tamil Nadu are where the film feels most alive. The ensemble keeps the film watchable even when the romance itself feels flat.
Sathyan’s comic timing is a reliable pleasure throughout. He understands the film’s tone perfectly, and his scenes with Vimal are among its funniest.
Screenplay and Direction
R. Madhesh directs a remake of the Malayalam hit My Boss, itself inspired by the Hollywood comedy The Proposal, and the film follows that familiar template closely. The London portions are polished, and the shift to Tamil Nadu gives the comedy a fresh setting.
The screenplay is predictable, and the film rarely surprises. Yet Madhesh keeps the tone light and the pace steady, and for a family audience that familiarity is part of the appeal rather than a flaw.
Madhesh also benefits from a strong technical team. The cinematography makes both London and Tamil Nadu look inviting, and the film’s polish is part of its charm.
Music
Amresh Ganesh’s music is pleasant and unobtrusive, with songs that fit the film’s romantic comedy mood. The score won recognition at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, where Amresh was named Best Male Playback Singer for the film.
The music does not dominate the film, but it supports its lighter moments well, and the London and Tamil Nadu settings give the songs a pleasant variety of backdrops.
The songs’ recognition at the State Film Awards is a reminder of the film’s unusual history. A film honoured before release carries a curiosity that no marketing can manufacture.
Themes
At its heart, Sandakari is about pride and pretence: two people who start by using each other and slowly discover that the act has become real. The film treats that shift with humour rather than drama.
It is also, unusually, a film with its own backstory. Shot in 2019, delayed for years, and honoured with State Film Awards before it ever reached cinemas, Sandakari arrives carrying a curiosity that no ordinary release can match.
The film also touches on the immigrant experience with a light touch. Maya’s visa troubles are played for comedy, but they reflect a real anxiety familiar to many who have lived far from home.
Conclusion
Sandakari is a light, familiar romantic comedy that coasts on its lead pair and its supporting cast. It will not surprise you, but it will not bore you either.
For a relaxed family outing, it does the job. Watch it for the London-to-Tamil Nadu journey, and for the odd pleasure of finally seeing a film that took seven years to arrive.
Sandakari is currently in theatres, with no streaming partner announced yet. It is a light family watch, best enjoyed without expecting anything new, and with an appreciation for its long, strange road to the screen.
What gives Sandakari its particular charm is the knowledge of how long it waited. A film shot in 2019, honoured before release, and finally arriving seven years later carries a story beyond its script, and watching it feels like opening a time capsule. The comedy may be familiar and the romance predictable, but there is pleasure in seeing Vimal and Shriya Saran’s long-delayed pairing finally reach the screen. It is a reminder that films, like people, sometimes take the long way home, and that the arrival itself can be worth celebrating.
Sandakari is not a great film, but it is a pleasant one, and its long road to the screen makes it a curiosity worth sampling. Light, familiar and easy to enjoy, it does what a family comedy should.