Is love only valid if the lovers spend an eternity together? What would you call the love which was true and inexplicable in words, but still could not crush the challenges it had to conquer? Like ocean waves keep crashing at the beach, but go no further. Some love stories are always destined to crash, fade, and wither. It is the intensity of the crash, however, that makes all the difference. Sapta Sagaradaache Ello is the crestfallen romance between a man and a woman of low societal privilege and limited resources. And what is a common man’s arch-nemesis? Dreams.
THE BEGINNING
It is a Kannada-language film about two lovers, Manu ( Played by Rakshit Shetty) and Priya (Played by Rukmini Vasanth). They both love each other unconditionally and want to move in together. They desire a house close to the ocean, where the sound of the tides crashing near the shore becomes their morning alarm, afternoon boredom escape, and a serene melody at night. They find a house that they like, but it’s out of their means; Manu wants Priya to live a happy life, so he signs up for something gruesome just so that he can give her all the happiness that she wants and deserves. After watching both parts of the franchise, Side A and B, this is my version of their love story. The film, directed by Hemanth M. Rao, is an impeccable love saga. The grandeur of this tragedy is going to stay with the viewer for a long time, agonising them in their hearts that they have watched something so painfully beautiful in their lifetime. And probably I am exaggerating because I have just finished watching the film and probably my opinions will change if I ever find the guts to see it again but for now I would like to have a cup of tea with Hemanth M. Rao and tell him that his writing has left a deep imprint on my soul and that all the discontentment that I had held for writers of modern day Indian Cinema, I am letting go of them today.
IMMACULATE PERFORMANCES
One will find out from all the reviews of the world that this film is a two-part relationship drama, and it has great cinematography, brilliant performances by all its actors, and an immaculate background score. But I will tell you that Manu’s unpredictability and unconditional love towards Priya are as nakedly visible to the viewer as the big scar on his face in Side B. His helplessness when he meets Surabhi (Nidhi Hegde) makes you extremely sympathetic to him. Rukmini’s portrayal of the serene and pure Priya is incomparable to anything that I have seen before; she is ordinary yet strong, she is not a victim, and I would like to thank the makers for letting her be. Chaitra as Surabhi is what Stardust feels like, she has the most poignant presence in the film. She is neither as pious as Priya nor is she as restless as Manu, but she is courageous enough to love. I would like to give a special mention to the villain of the film, Soma (played by Ramesh Indira). I haven’t felt so uncomfortable, fearful, and nauseous just at the sight of someone for a very long time. He holds the power to destroy; he has no kindness, no agility, and doesn’t care about the consequences. True revenge is his only love.
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND MUSIC
The cinematographer of the film, Advaitha Gurumurthy, has done an immaculate job, especially for Priya. Each time she appears on the screen, her calmness and serenity completely contrast with Anu’s helpless state. The colour of her costumes usually falls in the lighter tones of blue and white, portraying her as one with the sea. Surabhi, on the other hand, is dressed in darker tones of yellow and red, and even her scenes with Manu are quite dimly lit, signifying a momentary passion between them. The background score of the film, done by M R Rajakrishnan, helps to bring alive the sounds of seashells and waves crashing near the ocean. The devotion that Manu has for Priya and his pining heart find the right rhythms in Rajakrishnan’s audiography.
CRUX OF THE FILM
A scene that sums up Manu and Surabhi’s relationship for me is the scene on the bus where she tries to explain to him why she is in this supposedly lewd profession, but he interrupts her, saying, “I didn’t ask”. Later on, he asks her what she would like to become if not a prostitute, to which she replies “Doctor”. Manu does several questionable things in the film but he truly respects her, there is always a mystery in their relationship, they don’t truly know each other but probably that’s what Manu and Surabhi mean when they say that they have given a small part of their hearts to each other, it is not the promise of a lifetime but only of this moment.
A NOTE FOR THE DIRECTOR
The film, which initially tilts to the darker side of passion, slowly falls back on track with Manu letting go of the idea of having a life with Priya and instead helping her husband so that she could live a happy life with him. They never meet. Not even for a second, there is only one scene where Manu imagines meeting her, and that’s it. He follows her from day to night, watches her till she goes to sleep at night, and takes all kinds of risks in trying to make her happy, but they never meet. I wonder what Priya might have felt when she would have seen Manu out of jail. Would she have been restless to meet him? Unhappy to see him? Angry? Would she have left everything to give him one more chance? Guess we will never know. And this is my complaint for Hemanth Rao, she loved him too, she waited and wailed for him to, oh, and it’s not just men who fall in love and remember it till their last breath, women do it too. Manu deserved to know that she thought about him and remembered him fondly, even if she didn’t take his name, she had still not forgotten it. Priya deserved to meet Manu, she deserved to look at him, touch his scar, and sing a song just for him. But I guess that’s what heartbreak is. Heartbreak is not coming back to someone’s memories, but heartbreak is the complete abandonment of that memory, that life, that time. In Manu’s words, “Nanna kathe konege samudrake serthu. Naana kadeya baaga, Nimmellarigu hanchidini.” (My story ends with the sea. I have shared my part with you all)
SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEVEN SEAS
I don’t think that I will get over the fact that I have seen both parts of the film. I have not only watched the two movies but have seen Manu and Priya’s dreams crumble, paths separating, and lives changing. I don’t think I will get over them or this film or their crossed fingers or Priya’s Saggije, or his wish to see her sing again or Puneeth or Surabhi or Deepak but most of all I won’t get over their dream to live in a home near the sea, Priya’s simple dream but like she says herself in the film “I was not able to visit the dream again” and so she never does.