Sairat (Wild)

So, I am adding another language to my Woods 😊

Though I have seen some Marathi and a lot of Bengali movies, but never got down to writing their reviews. So here I am kicking off my Marathi cinema review with Sairat.

Essentially a love story, Sairat is an experience not easily defined within the confines of a traditional love story. Apart from the Shakespearean classics and our very own Laila Majnu and the likes, there are very few modern-day movies which are a love story end-to-end.

Set in a small Maharashtrian village, Sairat is a story of a Dalit boy and an upper caste girl. It begins with Parshya and his two friends – Pradeep and Sallya who are going on about their lives, playing cricket, helping their parents, swimming in the local bawdi and stealing stolen glances at their crushes. Sallya is the most practical of the three, Prdaeep who limps a bit has a crush on the local kirana store’s daughter and Parshya is besotted with Archana or Archi, the local upper caste politician’s daughter.

The innocence and headiness of a teenage romance, exchanging notes, shared jokes, dreams and longing. Now, most of the movies we see dealing with this border on inane or flippant. Even the good ones. While others which are set in the backdrop of caste struggle become gruesome or dark. Not Sairat though. Even while I say the movie is a love story through and through – it deals with subtle yet powerful undercurrents. First and most obvious of which is the class difference – in the hesitance with which Parshya’s mother gives Archi water to drink, or how the politician’s son “Prince” slaps the professor who dares question him. The second and less obvious is the gender stereotype – here we have a girl with the power and privilege normally accorded to men of her class. She drives around in a bullet, commands the boys around her, protests for the menace that her brother is, takes the lead in declaring her love for the Parshya. Even stands up for Pradeep, who is ridiculed by all his friends for limping.  

The third undercurrent was almost Nietzsche-esque acceptance of fate – in the way Parshya’s father disowns him in front of the village, or how Pradeep lets go of his love after a few days or how Sallya states the obvious when he warns Parshya of the class difference, even in the way Prince and his goons boss around and beat up Parshya and his friends. I firmly believe that the way director Nagraj Manjule has captured the inanity of day-today life is what gives this movie its mass appeal and makes it stay with you long after you have watched it.

The brilliance of Nagraj Manjule also shines in how he steals little moments from the movie and

gives them a life of their own. I especially liked the bit where Pradeep thinks his girl has passed him a love note and kicks the crumpled piece of paper out of view till he can open it in solitude. It’s like one of those one-minute movie. Complete on its own. Or how Parshya manages to get his first love letter to Archi after many rejections. It’s poetic.

The music is also noteworthy and the songs take the movie forward in a unique way. From giving both Parshya and Archi, their singles while they accept their love to giving them a duet once its acknowledged. I also liked how once the movie takes a dark turn, there’s no song and hardly any background music.

Once Parshya and Archi are caught by their parents, they have no alternative but to run away. They end up in Hyderabad (I think, or some city in AP or Telangana) completely lost and bereft. With the help of a woman, who came to the city in similar circumstances they find a place to live and jobs.

Here we see the various layers of the character of Archi played by the brilliant Rinku Rajguru (It’s hard to believe that this is her first movie). Unlike Parshya, she comes from a wealthy family and has never lived in such wanting circumstances. From the dust, the stench of sewage, dirty public bathrooms, to inability to cook or clean or to do anything that help you survive. From a boisterous, confident young woman we see her become a quite lonely girl in the slum. When striped of the power which comes with wealth and caste, she doesn’t quite know how to find her voice.

Then she gets a job in the bottling plant, learns Telgu, makes friends with the local girl, finds her feet and in the process, herself. Rinku Rajguru plays the character as if it was written for her, or better still as if it’s her own life. Even better than Highway’s Alia.

Akash Thosar as Parshya lacks depth but together they make it work. Tanaji Balgunde as Pradeep or langdya also deserves a special mention.

All this build up, the pace, the story leading to the eventual heart wrenching end. The second half is as realistic as it can get, almost like a documentary. You see why this movie had to be made.

While I will try to get my hands on a subtitled version of Fandry, I can’t wait to see Nagraj Manjule’s next.

Brilliant direction, script and performances.

Must Watch.