Sairat (Marathi, 2016)
I’ve watched Marathi movies before, but they are generally non-commercial social-issue based/bio-pic dramas. Sairat is a semi-commercial venture – it has become the highest revenue grossing Marathi film of all time. And well-deservedly so – it is a perfect and very entertaining balance between a non-frivolous drama and a love-story. Yes, we’ve seen tons of love-stories, but this love-story is a cut above the rest.
Archana Patil (Rinku Rajguru) is the daughter of the rich village landlord, and Prashant Kale (Aakash Thosar) is the son of a poor fisherman. Prashant, or Parshya, is in love with Archana. Archana, or Archi as she is popularly known, is headstrong and willful, and because of her father’s status in the village is able to boss folks around. To even look at wealthy, upper-caste Archi is anathema, so Parshya’s unrequited love does not bode well for him.
Rajguru and Thosar are not professional actors, and they come across like a breath of fresh air. Director Manjule has beautifully developed their characters in the film, and we can’t help but root for the purity and honesty of the emotion on screen. Manjule does a fabulous job, and the screenplay, cinematography are equally excellent. I have to mention the soundtrack here because this is some of the best music I’ve heard recently. In the soundtrack there are very earthy, ethnic sounding songs like catchy “Jhingat”, but then surprisingly, there are also songs like “Yad Lagla” (embedded below) which have strong Western classical vibes.
Sairat is one classy film. Highly recommended.
