Moving On and Across The Seven Seas..
Dear Reader, how often have you wanted to know what happens to your favourite characters after the credits roll? We may travel with them hardly for 3 hours but it always feels like we’ve known them forever, that we even understand their tiniest of emotions and expressions. So, it isn’t too much of an ask when we yearn to know if they stayed happily ever after or whether the tragic turns led them to a different path (hopefully a good one).
These are mostly left to our imaginations and interpretations. Perhaps it is better left that way. However, if the makers want to let us in on their journeys for some more time, we have no complaints. Thanks to the sequels culture which is on the rise, we were able to witness the voyages of Manu and Priya for a little longer in the Kannada film Sapta Sagaradachche Ello (which translates to “somewhere beyond the seven seas”).
The end of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side A, which was released in September this year, had everyone from kids to oldies crying at the apparent end of Manu and Priya’s tumultuous relationship, which in our defence was very wholesome until her mother came to sabotage it (with good intentions, of course). The only hope was the promise of a Side B, where we could dream that the two would get back together. Then came the sequel’s trailer which hinted at an even darker and violent film than the predecessor. (Dear Hemanth, why not directly stab our hearts instead of making two whole films?)
We have seen similar endings in classic romances like Mungaru Male, where the protagonist ‘sacrifices’ his love and quotes ‘Preethi Madhura Thyaaga Amara’ (Love is sweet but sacrifice is immortal). What comes after the intense breakup is the uphill battle of moving on. We have seen instances of this in films like Vaaranam Aayiram, Premam, and Rakshit Shetty’s own Kirik Party, but they are just episodes in the rest of the narrative which eventually lead to the characters finding love again. That’s not how Side B works (now running in theatres).
Hemanth Rao’s romantic saga gets a whole film trying to explore the moving-on stage of a relationship. The inability to let go, the memories, the replacement, the rebound, the rage, everything is deeply portrayed by Rakshit Shetty’s Manu, who has to grapple with the fact that his ideal relationship has sailed across the seven seas. He struggles morally, should he take advantage of Priya’s bad marriage and insert himself as her saviour, or should he let it go? He does neither and begins to rectify the mistakes he made.
The film has been in development for the past two years, and for Hemanth, it’s been 12 years since he crafted the script. There were no promises of a happy ending since the announcement of the film, with cinephiles who were familiar with the director ready for a good gut punch to end the year with, but the film was much more than that. It goes where few romances dare to go, avoiding regular ‘lover-boy’ troupes while still making Manu a hardcore romantic. We first saw Upendra’s ‘Preethi ella pusthakada badnekaayi’ (love is just for the books) type of love and we were then shown the ‘Para para antha hrudhaya kerkolo’ type of love (scratching the wounds of the heart), but we now see a sadder, yet muti-dimensional kind of love. It is a type of love that still keeps the spirit of romance alive despite the tragedies. ~ Nishanth A
This Week in Reviews
Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side B
Movie Math
10 years - Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Dhruva Natchathiram (DN), starring Vikram, is the first part of a possible spy universe in Kollywood. However, DN was first announced ten years back in 2013, featuring Suriya in the lead. “My daughter was supposed to join school back then, now she is a teenager,” co-writer Deepak Venkateshan told Film Companion in an interview. Back then, Vikram’s son Dhruv Vikram had not made his debut, Suriya’s Singam II might’ve just been released, and the ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes were still in use (btw, it’s the 7th anniversary of Demonitisation month).
A lot has indeed changed in the past decade; Menon even turned into an actor (He featured in 10 films this year). He recently revealed that he took acting opportunities to fund DN and also played a small role in this film to complete the production. It’s not easy to hold on to a film for ten long years, reviving it with the same level of passion and announcing a sequel even before its release is more daring and inspiring. On an even brighter note, both the teaser that released six years ago and the trailer that dropped last month (it clocked 10 million views in less than a week) have piqued audiences’ interest. After years of holding on to it, the much-anticipated film will finally see the light of day on November 24.
The K-drama Kit: What’s Your Superpower?
Lead characters bestowed with superpowers, along with the good and bad of it, is a plot line that frequents K-dramas now and then. I am not talking about the kind where raising an eyebrow or twirling a moustache will send the goons flying. Instead, in these Korean series, they can see smells, read minds, find lies and insert pen drives on the first try.
In Behind Your Touch, for instance, a veterinarian can see someone’s past in a flash when she touches their butt. Likewise, the lead can read your mind in I Can Hear Your Voice and another can see smells in A Girl Who Sees Smells. Each character gets a superpower for different reasons, but in most cases, they use it to solve crimes and help people. The dramas also focus on how these uncanny powers affect them at a personal level. Imagine having the ability to hear a beep whenever anyone lies (pro tip: never enter a crowded room, your ears will bleed.) In My Lovely Liar, the female lead detects her mother’s lies which strains their relationship. She even breaks up with her boyfriend but learns to earn using her hidden skills. In While You Were Sleeping, the lead characters see future events in their dreams, not just random happenings, but the final moments of different people. Such abilities keep the dramas exciting but also remind us how peaceful it is to not have any special power.
There are other power-packed stories to add to your binge-watch list like Moving, Jinxed at First, He Is Psychometric, The Beauty Inside and more. And that reminds me of one of my many superpowers: to binge-watch an entire K-drama all night and unabashedly go to work the next day with half-open eyes. ~ Harshini
That’s all from us this week. We’ll be back, same time, same place with next week’s newsletter and don’t forget to tell your friends to subscribe — this isn’t Fight Club and rules about secrecy don’t apply, so feel free to tell everyone you know.