Pondering Over “Sapta Sagara Daache Yello”
Disclaimer: Contains Movie Spoilers. Read at your own discretion
In Side A,
While the plot itself was convincing, I thought it was predictable. I was having contrasting feelings about the characters and their story. I empathised with the longing that the lead characters Manu and Priya felt for each other during Manu’s time in jail, but I still found the lead couple’s love story a little cringe. Do even people say things like “ Nan samudra Neenu, Naanu ningoskara haadtini”? I was cognizant of the fact that Manu was an orphan and Priya came from a simple lower middle-class family. Priya was just a young 18–20-year-old naive college-going girl. Manu must have been a few years older. That probably explained the cringe and the innocence in their story.
The movie felt unnecessarily long. The emotional scenes felt repetitive. I felt impatient after Manu went to jail. I had almost made up my mind that I wasn’t going to watch Side B. It was planned to be released a month after the release of Side A, and that is when that scene came. The scene, where Priya confides her pain with her mother. Manu had stopped seeing her during visiting hours. It had dawned on her that they could never be together. He was never going to be set free before finishing his 10-year sentence. She said, “ I am trying hard, but the pain just doesn't go away, Amma”. Her mother tells her that pain is like a mountain, and mountains stay put forever. That scene moved me to tears. Rukmini Vasanth and Pavitra Lokesh were outstanding in delivering that scene. It was only that scene that made me want to watch Side B. I was curious to know the fates of Manu and Priya.
In Side B,
Manu is out in the real world after ten years of serving jail time. You instantly know that the endearing Manu of Side A has transformed into a depressed, hardened, and broken man filled with vengeance. Since Manu is an orphan, all he has is Priya. He cannot let go of her. He continues listening to the tapes she had made for him years ago. He craves her touch and desires her. Within a few minutes into the movie, Manu is stalking Priya and makes his life all about obsessing over her from afar. Manu is a classic stalker. Deep down, he just believes whatever he wants to. He wants to have Priya for himself. He is convinced she is unhappy and judges her husband Deepak to be a bad husband. Manu is dark. He thinks of the most vile ways to get her. His actions are deluded and maniac-like, yet I wanted to empathise with him because I was hung over the sweet Manu from side A. I didn’t want him to succeed in disrupting Priya’s life, but I kept thinking from his perspective. For example: When the villain mistakes Surabhi for Priya. For a split second, I was relieved that the villain didn’t know of Priya. I was willing to sacrifice Surabhi for Priya. I was ashamed of myself for feeling that way. It was as if I was inside Manu’s head. I chose Priya over Surabhi. I was also not over Priya.
Halfway through Side B, Manu starts realising that Priya is probably happy with Deepak(Priya’s husband) and her life is difficult due to unfortunate circumstances. He now changes from wanting to murder Deepak to wanting to help Deepak so that Priya can have the life she had always dreamt of. He is still meddling with things he shouldn’t be, but his intentions are portrayed to be well-meaning. Manu is more than just a selfish, obsessed Ex. He genuinely wants Priya to live a happy life with her husband and son. But he thinks that he should get to control her life. He thinks that only he knows what is best for her. Manu is cruel when it comes to fulfilling his purpose and seeking vengeance. He loves Surabhi but in a toxic way. He breaks her heart and takes her for granted all the time. Yet, the audience is made to empathise with him. Side A was dragged and repetitive for a reason. It was done on purpose to make the audience buy into Manu’s narrative on Side B.
Strangely, Deepak didn’t seem disturbed or angry, even after realising what Manu’s intentions were. He just plays along. In my opinion, the reason is either one of the three
- He is like many people who are okay with getting into a toxic life.
- He has no choice because his life now depends on Manu being able to support him financially.
- He is just plain scared of what Manu would do to him if he didn’t comply.
The fight scene in the end felt unnecessary. It felt like it was force-fitted to appease cinema-goers who are fans of fight scenes and violence.
Filmmaking
I am not a professional film critic, nor do I understand the technical nuances of filmmaking. However, to my eyes, Side B felt like a cinematic masterpiece. Camera work with mirrors and glasses when Surabhi and Manu meet for the first time was wonderful. The dream/imagination sequence without directly indicating that it is one was brilliant. It took me a while to realise that it was a dream. Throughout Side B, Priya was wearing a saree except in this one scene. Even the restaurant they were meeting in suddenly opens into the ocean indicating that it was all but a figment of Manu’s imagination.
Were Manu’s actions romanticised?
Manu’s character was just shown as is. He was a product of his circumstances. His actions were not glorified in my opinion. But I am not sure whether or not they romanticised it. I did feel a little uneasy at times. I am 70–30 on this topic. 30% — I suspect that some amount of romanticisation was intended. I might be wrong.
I saw many social media posts on how Manu is a role model lover. The filmmakers may not have intended to romanticise his actions, but the audience took away what they wanted, just like Manu. He also judged Priya’s life based on what he wanted. Or maybe it is meant to be open. Each of us is supposed to interpret how we want to.
Why did “Sapta Sagara Daache Yello” move me for reasons more than just being invested in Manu and Priya’s love story?
Keeping the story aside, the takeaway from the movie for me was “processing grief”. In the mother-daughter scene in Side A when Priya felt pain for losing Manu, I could relate to what she was feeling. I have been there. I have felt that pain for an extended period after I lost my father to suicide four years ago. I found that scene extremely powerful. In Side B, I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes welling up during the Olave Olave and the Kadalanu songs. Yes, I was weeping for Manu and Priya’s lost love, but I was also crying for losing my father’s presence and love in my life. I do not know why I felt the way I did, but the movie just made me miss my dad.
It is bizarre that the movie is called Sapta Sagara Daache Yello, which is also an important phrase in an old Kannada song that my mother had asked my cousin to sing during my father’s memorial. That song reflected how we lost him and how we felt about losing him in the way we did. In the first year of losing him, I used to sing songs that reminded me of him(including this one)when I was alone and cried myself to sleep.
Conclusion
Sapta Sagara Daache Yello is a brilliant film that has wonderful performances by all the actors involved. Weirdly, you empathise with Manu even though he is problematic. It is poetic, sad, uneasy and beautiful all at the same time.
