Sadness is attractive, sometimes more than happiness
The movie Sapta Sagaradaache Ello (Side A) is a pure saga of the melancholy of love. This is one such movie where the beauty and depth of the movie lies in the deep vulnerabilities of each of the characters. Someone who is looking at the characters from the third person perspective might be able to sympathize with the choices the protagonist makes but if you have lived through a life similar to those of the protagonist you would find it a tad bit hard to digest the decisions and choices that the hero makes. You might even wonder why they do what they do and how a different choice could have entirely created a different tale for each of them. But who cares about making the right choice when there are easier choices to make in life and then we always have destiny to blame if it doesn’t work out, after all. Yet if you want to enjoy the deep sadness and feel the pain of the charterers then you might as well just accept the flaws and go with the flow. The narrative revolves around Manu and Priya’s old school love story.
Priya, the tides of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
Sapta Sagaradaache Ello shows Priya (Rukmini Vasanth) as a simple girl from a middle class family. Manu is her life and music is her soul. She is happy and content with whatever she has in her life and has a loving mother and brother. She is especially fond of the sea and as much fond of the Manu. For her, Manu gives her as much happiness, as the sea. The shores, waves, and sound of the sea or the beach are what gives her solace. The same solace she finds in Manu when he is around. The dialogues are written with great attention and are apt to the story and the situations. One of the dialogues when during an argument with Manu she says that she does not need four walls of a house to feel secure in a corner, she already has Manu who is her safe place. Rukmini has done perfect justice to the role she has played, not for a single minute you feel she is out of character, she makes you believe in every emotion she is portraying on the screen.
Manu, the shores of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
Sapta Sagaradaache Ello shows Manu (Rakshit Shetty) playing another boy next door who belongs to a middle-class family working as a driver for a highly affluent family. He is convincing as a middle-class guy with his innocence, having dreams and hopes in his life of reaching to greater heights someday. Happy with Priya, though he always dreams of making it big someday, for Priya. But greed is attractive, especially when you are not content with your present circumstances and always look to reach somewhere else, a better place. His mistake is not that he is middle class or has a poor background, but that he is greedy for more. He had everything that someone could dream of and could make a better life if he had worked a little harder, pursued a little longer, and trusted himself. But shortcuts have a way of seducing you, especially when you are not content with what you have. You can be either poor or naïve, one at a time and still survive. But if you are both at the same time, then it is just about time and you are up for the doom’s day.
Prison, the depth of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
The Prison in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello is a metaphor for metamorphosis, as indeed, Manu is told by one of the characters. In the outside world, you meet all kinds of people good and bad at different times, but in the prison, you meet the good and bad at the same time. The prison in the movie is a mere physical manifestation of your inner prison and the people inside the prison are all your demons and angels inside in form of different emotions, colliding with each other and causing you anxiousness and making you restless. You are caged by the seducing demons and tempted to fall into deeper hallows. But you also have a choice to use this time for contemplation. No matter what you do, you come out a changed person. The person who went inside can never come out the same, but it’s up to you to choose who you want to become when you are out of your penance.
The Kamsa, the tsunami of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
I could have a biased opinion, but for me as a viewer, the two main characters inside the jail in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello are metaphors of Krishna and Kamsa in the prison. Ramesh Indira is a typical antagonist who is the mafia of the prison, abusing and harassing others inside the jail for his selfish motives. He walks around molesting people and of course the officials are his puppets inside the prison. The only life that matters to him is his own and the rest of everyone is source of entertainment for him inside the prison. He uses Manu for a while and disowns him when he is not useful anymore. A person is known by the way he treats everyone and not by the way he treats a selected few and if you distinguish that person in time and keep distance from such people, you have some scope of redemption in the prison too. Obviously, Manu is naïve to recognize any of this or is ignorant of all this until it happens to him personally.
The Krishna, the calm of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
Sharath Lohithaswa another main character inside the prison in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello is like the character of Krishna. Observing or looking out for Manu all along. The one scene where he holds Manu’s hand and tells him of the consequences of him getting into a fight to satisfy his rage and shows him the two ways his actions would land him up. Probably we all have one such mentor or guide in life, who is maybe just another stranger but still is a meteor towards the right direction when you are lost. Another scene is where he asks Manu to first introspect his fault and learn true acceptance to start his new journey, a journey of self-awareness and forgiveness. This character is like a ray of hope and light in the darkness of the prison. If only you have the willingness to do something useful with your life, and when your ready, the savior will appear at the right time and at the right place.
The Weaving Machine, the soul of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello
The weaving machine in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello is yet another metaphor for the journey of life. Every thread depicts every action(cause) we take as human beings, forming the cloth representing our life journey(effect) eventually. Every thread that goes inside the weaving machine matters, no matter how thin or insignificant it seems. The director makes sure he isn’t just telling a story but also a parable, which is something more than just a narrative. The cause and effect and the chain reaction that every decision and choice one makes, and how it shapes our destiny is clearly shown. You may feel sad for Manu, for his stupidity but you will end up feeling more worse for Priya, who is just bearing the actions of Manu’s choices time and again. Priya is just paying the price and suffering for loving Manu. Her only fault in the entire narrative is nothing of her own, but the forced decisions of Manu first of taking the bribe for something Priya never wished for, and second of leaving her without even asking her what she actually wants. You can read more about the movie here.
On a Lighter Note
Curious to know from the Director, Dear Hemanth Rao, where do you draw inspiration for Priya’s mother’s character in the movie. For almost half of my life, I haven’t seen an Indian Mother being so casual of her unmarried daughter and being so supportive of her daughter’s choices especially under such life altering circumstances. Do such characters exist in society, especially in conservative middle-class South Indian families, will they ever allow their daughters to wait for a person (especially when the person is incarcerated, and nobody knows when he is going to come out. And the scene where the mother insists the daughter pour some more dry fruits when she goes to visit him in the jail because Manu likes dry fruits…like really?). I mean I understand that we would all want our mothers to be that supportive and understanding but the reality is quite different, at least for the female section of the population in India. I know a lot of people who would wish for a mother like that, life would have been so much easier in Indian Society for girls, never mind! Please take care of these nitty gritty of showcasing an Indian South Indian Mother in your next firm:-P. For more movie/book reviews read here.