Telugu films are unlike any other. The movies in this industry have constantly tackled social issues and they add a heroism element in it that takes up against the system. Only this time, Satyabhama was all about a female police officer taking things into her own hands to find a missing person and several other incidents connected to the case.
Spoilers Ahead
How did Satyabhama meet Haseena?
Satyabhama was one of the most ruthless police officers in Hyderabad. She ran the special task force SHE Teams that handles crimes committed against women in the city. She was visited by Haseena, who filed complaints of domestic violence and drug consumption against her tattoo artist husband, Yedhu. Initially, Haseena was scared, but Satya’s encouragement made her file the FIR. Yedhu, however, attacked Haseena, while the injured woman had Satya on the phone complaining of her drugged-up raging husband. By the time Satya could reach the scene, Haseena was almost dead, and all she could catch of Yedhu was a glimpse of his tattoo and a necklace he had worn. Haseena eventually died, and Satya was filled with the guilt of being unable to help a woman. The debacle in the Haseena case also caused the termination of the SHE teams, as it managed to put many civilians at risk. Satya also got married amidst all the chaos to Amar, her partner of many years and an author who loved and respected her for who she was. Their marriage seems to be a healthy one, and Amar seems to use her life as a reference for many characters in his book.
How did Satya connect Iqbal’s missing case to Rishi?
Satya kept in touch with Haseena’s father. A while after Haseena’s death, Iqbal, her younger brother, went missing, and his father filed a report. He was also joined by Iqbal’s childhood friend, Divya. Iqbal and Divya were studying to be doctors when the young man suddenly disappeared. The suspicion fell on Divya’s boyfriend Rishi, who was running a gaming company that was all about interactive games where players would join and chat with each other’s avatars. On his arrest, Rishi claimed to have talked with a woman named Neha and ATS officer Vijay. ATS Officer Vijay claimed Rishi was honeytrapped by Neha, who was a radicalized woman. Vijay assigned him the task of following Iqbal, making him believe Divya’s best friend was a terrorist. Rishi was forced to sedate and kidnap Iqbal and he threw the young man at a nearby forest for Vijay’s arrest.
Was Iqbal found?
Rishi was released on unconditional bail because of his influential political father. Iqbal, however, was found, with him having survived the attack by Rishi. Since Iqbal’s sister Haseena was killed, Satya was under the impression that Yedhu had a connection to Iqbal’s disappearance and tried to find leads that would take her to Haseena’s killer. Rishi was still a suspect. Satya was keen to find out who Neha and Vijay were and why they trapped Rishi.
Who was ATS officer Vijay?
As Iqbal was recovering at the hospital, Satya’s hunt for Vijay was still on. She had a great team by her side who was able to get all kinds of digital information available on the gaming software. The photo from Vijay’s ID shared through chats with Rishi resembled the picture of Iqbal’s uncle Riaz, who, under the guise of offering a job to Haseena, was planning to sell her to a prostitution racket. On pursuing the man who claimed to be working for a construction company, Satya found many helpless women, and her team rescued them. Riaz was arrested, but he claimed to have no idea who Vijay or Neha were. This further confused Satya, as she was hoping to find a connection with Yedhu.
Who was Neha?
With Riaz behind bars, Satya wanted to follow the woman, Neha, and find out her connection to any terrorist organization. Just using the image of Neha, Satya’s team found out about her digital footprint, and pieced together her real name, Maya. Neha’s angle was a dead end, as it did not lead her anywhere. However, Neha, who was Maya, was seen in Haseena’s flashback about her husband, Yedhu. Maya was the woman Yedhu brought home in the presence of Haseena. This move was part of his emotional abuse of Haseena. However, since Neha had not committed a crime, she was not reprimanded.
Where was Yedhu?
Satya had hired a colleague to trace Yedhu, who had absconded ever since Haseena’s death. The man, after searching for the accused for a long time, located Yedhu in a remote place in Maharashtra. Satya was obsessed with Yedhu and had been on a mission to nab him. On reaching him, her colleague learned that Yedhu was bedridden after an accident and had gone mute. Yedhu also suffered severe blisters and injuries all over his body. Satya recognized it was him because of the tattoo, but the necklace he had worn was missing. Yedhu was in no position to be arrested as he was already suffering for his crime, and he had recognized Satya.
Was Iqbal the culprit?
Satya doubted if Iqbal’s terrorist angle would work, and to find out more about his connection to radical groups, her tech team cloned Divya’s phone, as they were sure he would want to inform her of what happened up until his disappearance. Satya’s boss was forced to retire, and they were given three days to find answers regarding Iqbal and the connection to his radicalization. It was during her research that she and her husband concluded, while reading the chats on the gaming platform, that the pattern of conversation Rishi had with Vijay and Neha was the same. It wasn’t very hard to conclude that the person trying to trap Rishi was one person impersonating two. Satya had a hunch, Iqbal could be the culprit when she had found Yedhu’s prominent necklace in his possession. There was a lot of confusion, but slowly portions of the mystery were unfolding. As Iqbal was the only brother of the woman she genuinely tried to help, Satya had hoped Iqbal and Haseena’s father would not suffer if Iqbal was caught being the person who orchestrated a web to trap and hurt everyone who hurt her sister.
Did Satya arrest Iqbal?
Iqbal had reached Divya’s home to share all the details of what he had done so far. The man was not happy to see Rishi and her still together and attempted to murder him. This indicated that Iqbal had something to do with the chain of events that took place after Haseena’s death. He finally reveals that he treated Divya like his sister Haseena. Iqbal was traumatized by the way Yedhu treated Haseena, and that was the reason he went after the abuser and made sure he remained like a vegetable for the rest of his life. He also made sure his uncle Riaz and the woman Maya were trapped, as they were responsible for hurting his only sibling. Iqbal was attached to Haseena from a young age, and he could not recover from how she passed. He was not sure if Satya would be able to help him, which made him formulate a detailed plan so that no police could trace him. Iqbal was sadly wrong, as he had confessed to this crime in front of Satya, who had reached Divya’s home, as she suspected the young boy would be there.
Iqbal was massively triggered by Rishi’s dominating behavior towards Divya, which made him wonder if he would be like Yedhu and torture her to death. To make sure there was no repeat show, he orchestrated another plan using Rishi’s games to trap him. Iqbal turned out to be smart, and everyone underestimated his skills. He created the narrative of him being a terrorist because people would believe it. However, the makers should have refrained from presenting a Muslim guy taking advantage of islamophobia to make his plan work. This was rather insensitive, keeping in mind the current social climate of the country. Iqbal’s end goal was to avenge his sister’s death and keep Divya away from Rishi, whom he believed would become an abuser. Satya sadly had to ask him not to commit this crime, as his sister would not have wanted that. Divya, too, was not sure how to make him stop, as Iqbal was in a rage.
Satya had to convince him, as she had already lost Haseena, and she was not keen on making their father go through another bereavement. Technically, Iqbal has so far not killed anyone and only punished them for hurting Divya and Haseena. It could give him a lesser sentence in the wake of his confession. Iqbal was finally arrested, and Rishi was saved. Satya was glad she could help one person get away from the curse of the man, Yedhu, who was suffering because of his past mistakes.
Satyabhama ended with Amar, Satya’s husband, dedicating another book to his wife. Satya was on her way back to meet him when her boss assigned her another case to look into. This portion never made sense as her boss had retired, as shown in the film. This detail was forgotten by the makers. Satya was now pregnant, but she was contemplating whether she would take the case. As shown in the film, Satya and Amar had been wanting kids, but it was her stressful job that was not helping them conceive. Satya being pregnant would mean she had taken a break from work or was not taking up heavy-duty cases. The last shot of Satyabhama ended without disclosing if Satya took up the new case. We believe Satya may have taken the case as she would never stop doing her job or let her pregnancy stop her.
