Abhinay Deo’s film Savi is about a housewife named Savitri Sachdeva who goes to extreme lengths to get her innocent husband, Nakul, out of prison. Nakul has been wrongfully convicted of murdering his boss. And who helps her in this daring mission? An ex-con named Joydeep Paul. Joydeep is quite the character. He escaped from jail, surrendered later, and wrote about his experiences in his books, which made him even more fascinating. He also has the knack for dressing in different disguises every time he meets Savi, which helps him stay under the police radar. His multiple disguises let him lead different lives, which adds to his mysterious persona. But here’s the twist: Joydeep eventually gets arrested again at the end of the movie. Why did he help Savi in the first place? These are the questions we dive into as we explore Joydeep Paul’s character, brilliantly portrayed by the evergreen Anil Kapoor.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Joydeep Paul help Savi?
When Savi first met Joydeep Paul, she was a scared, helpless wife who didn’t know what to do or how to get her husband out of prison. She was out of options. Deep down, she knew her husband was not a murderer and tried to prove his innocence, but no one listened. That’s why she had to plan an escape for him—life imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit was just unfair. Savi started looking for clues about prison breaks and found out about Joydeep, a man living in Liverpool who had escaped prison and later surrendered himself. Joydeep had made escaping prison quite a habit. Initially, Joydeep thought Savi wouldn’t be the perfect fit for a prison break since she had too much to lose if she got caught. But eventually, he decided to help her. Savi’s determination and love for her husband struck a chord with him. Joydeep saw a reflection of his own past struggles and guilt in her. He knew what it was like to be desperate and to want to rewrite your story. Joydeep himself was in jail for counterfeiting antiques. His knack for deception and his daring prison escape made him a legend of sorts. But his help wasn’t just about breaking Nakul out of prison. It was about transforming Savi. When they first met, Savi was a devoted wife who was also scared and unsure.
Joydeep, with his multiple disguises and experience, taught her how to be brave, cunning, and resourceful. He showed her how to forge documents, gather money, and plan an escape. Through their interactions, Savi evolved from a frightened housewife into a determined, fearless woman willing to do anything for her family. Also, Joydeep’s actions were driven by a mix of guilt, a desire for redemption, and admiration for Savi’s courage. But why guilt? Because he might have done something that he shouldn’t have. What was it? Well, as I understand it, Joydeep is responsible for the murder of Stefanie Fowler, Nakul’s boss. Maybe that’s why he didn’t expect Savi to come and ask him for help. He felt ashamed and didn’t want to help her at first because of that shame. But from what I gathered about his character, Joydeep is much more than just an ex-con or a prison break survivor. If you noticed, he was very well-off, living in a mansion. I think he’s more of a writer who gets a thrill from escaping prison, committing crimes, and stealing for the excitement of it all—and then writing about it. In their first interaction, we saw him having writer’s block, unsure of what to write and how to make it interesting. But after Savi entered his life, he found the inspiration to write again. So, for the sake of his writing, he did these deeds. That’s why he helped Savi—to see her journey through, to save her husband, while also hiding from his own mistakes. In the end, as a form of repentance and asking for forgiveness, he dedicated his book to Savi, as she was the reason he finished writing it.
Did Joydeep Paul Kill Stefanie?
Remember at the beginning of the movie when Savi was pleading with the detectives to find a button at the crime scene? Her husband Nakul had mentioned that a button from the murderer’s coat had been torn off when Stefanie was killed. The police didn’t pay much attention, especially since it was raining that day, which made it impossible to find the evidence. But in the end, after Savi and her family managed to make a clean getaway with Joydeep’s help, the police finally went back to the crime scene and found the button. In the final scenes, we see Joydeep Paul getting arrested. And it was as if he was expecting the police, as if he was waiting to be finally caught, and was kind of shocked to see it took the police so long to come and get him. So, there’s a possibility that the police finally found out that he was involved in helping Savi and Nakul escape from prison, but that possibility is slim to none. First of all, he was always in disguise, which made it impossible for them to know who he was. And second, now that Nakul’s been proven innocent and it’s clear he did not murder Stefanie, he isn’t even a suspect anymore. That’s why it’s obvious that Joydeep is the one who killed Stefanie. He’s the one whose button was found in the drain, which led to him. It was like a full-circle moment. He knew from the start that he was doomed. However, by helping the person who was doomed because of him, he found redemption. Perhaps helping Savi gave him a sense of self-worth, despite him being a criminal. In the end, Joydeep Paul was ready to surrender by accepting his fate with a sense of peace as he knew he had done some good.
