WHAT MAKES 'SAIRAT' A MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF FILM MAKING?

AKASH THOSAR AND RINKU RAJGURU IN SAIRAT

 Sairat’ crossed one hundred and fifteen crore mark in its twelve week run – a feat of sorts not only for Marathi cinema but Indian cinema in general being made at cost of a paltry four crores which means profit of a whopping 2000% !.  But the success of ‘Sairat’ isn’t just the money it raked in or the number of weeks it ran in theaters but the appeal it had. What makes ‘Sairat’ a milestone movie? Late Yash Chopra remarked in one of his interviews that the difference between a block buster and a super hit is that while block buster appeals to all or most of the  sections of the society, a superhit may run for twenty-five weeks and do good business but appeals only to a specific section of the society. Movie Moghul Nasir Hussain who produced ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander’ while commenting on the success of the film said that although the film was greatly successful in cities, in the rural areas it was altogether a different story! Sairat’s appeal spans from rural pockets of Sangli and Solapur to Denver and Dubai, leave alone Mumbai. No wonder then that Sairat was declared a blockbuster. Sairat reminds you that amidst rugged life of rural India there are innocent love stories and yes they are equally velvety and dreamy as their urban counterparts and caste-ism is a bitter reality that we conveniently choose to turn our backs to, believing all is well and that the innocence gets crushed beneath the juggernaut of caste based politics under the name of ‘ honour killing’!

Sairat is a great movie that will redefine the art and craft of film making because it conveys you the intensity of love of two souls in their prime without a touching, kissing or any intimate scene with even the marriage registration being followed by pregnancy scene, skipping the conventional ‘first night’ and yet the audience love it, and seem to have no qualms whatsoever about it, on contrary to popular the opinion or rather what is touted to be the popular opinion, proving that you need not use nudity, vulgarity, obscenity or for that matter even intimacy to make a great movie. Infact, only those who don’t have a great story or a great skill of storytelling seem to use it to add a titillating factor to make things work at box office!

AJAY AND ATUL GOGAVALE WITH AT SONY RECORDING STUDIOS, NEW YORK.U.S.A

Sairat has a great musical score. Although ‘Zingat’ is a rage, both ‘Yaad lagla’ and ‘Sairat theme song’ are great numbers picturized equally beautifully – did you ever think that sugarcane fields or banana plantations were romantic places or for that matter the rail wagons that carry crude oil? But Nagraj Manjule shows you the beauty and the romance in them. Recorded in Hollywood’s Sony Studios, first Indian film to do so and to use the symphony, it is a virtual audio treat. It becomes difficult or a pleasant surprise to believe that the emotions of a rural youth tucked in some corner of Maharashtra are conveyed so efficiently by the worlds best instrumentalists who come from diverse backgrounds from all over the world, predominantly the west  and have no inkling of the culture that they are depicting through their renditions! I think that’s the power of music and hats off to the musical duo Ajay- Atul who don’t seem to take any project they work on leaning back and are evidently unassuming. Their range is simply astonishing from Marathi folk to something like ‘ Meri Adhuri Kahani’ or ‘Abhi Mujh mein kahi’ in Agneepath. And yes they are coupled with great lyrics – if you understand the rural Marathi dialect. Last but not the least Sairat’s music unfailingly reminds you of Illaiya Raja’s score.

Far from encouraging the college going youth to fall in love and running away from homes, ‘Sairat’ discourages them by showing them the harsh realities unlike Hindi films that show all unrealistic goody things (as in ‘Love Story’) depicting minute details from difficulties to find place to nap, to having to put up with ogling eyes, to having to go to filthy public toilets which is sufficient to wake them up from their love-dream to the harsh realities of life. And yes the only thing that helps them survive the challenge is infact their education. Rinku seems to tell the audience all the moral things in tits and bits – like chewing tobacco is injurious, so there isn’t a separate need for notification or the handicapped have an identity that’s separate form their disability and they should be known by that and not by their disability. And probably that’s what it means to be educated and college going! It also breaks the conventional norms when it comes to sexes like for example that men need to be tough, fighters and bread earners with Rinku being quite bold and commanding thanks to her background while Akash being timid and submissive getting bashed up - again thanks to his background and upbringing. After eloping Akash has no qualms about managing household chores form cooking to washing while Rinku does what is often touted as a man’s job – earning! Then it defies the zero figure norm for heroines and even the conventional dark men - fair women norm and that too convincingly.

SAIRAT'S BRILLIANT CINEMATOGRAPHY

A huge share Sairat’s success goes to the brilliant cinematography of Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti whether it’s the river dive of Akash Thosar or his diving in the well or the exchange of energies while he passes Rinku while climbing out of the well or the lovers perched on a solitary parched tree in the theme song or the backwaters of Ujani or the temple domes set against the dusky orange sky and not to forget the climax. But above all, the best part of the cinematography is the way it captures the moods of the lovers through the various figures that the birds make as they flock the sky – simply astounding!

AKASH THOSAR

RINKU RAJGURU 

Akash Thosar does a great delivery looking vulnerable all through-out the movie while hats off to Rinku Rajguru who delivers brilliant expressions although she is still in school, little wonder then that she walked away with a special national award. Tanaji Galgunde who plays Pradeep aka ‘Langdya’ or Arbaaz Shaikh who plays Salim or ‘ Salya’ deliver excellent performances despite being first timers. Chhaya Kadam is old member of the Manjule camp and delivers brilliantly in a small role. Overall Sairat is a great and realistic story that you fall in love with whether you stay in Solapur, Mumbai, Denver or Dubai and effectively delivers the message that Caste-ism is blot on the Indian society and its the duty of each citizen to do away with it at a personal level lest we should lose some more innocent lives and innocence to it and if we want a our forth coming generations to live in a truly free society!

AKASH THOSAR AND RINKU RAJGURU IN SAIRAT PERSONIFYING INNOCENCE

- Bhushan Kumarsen Sarmalkar, Mumbai, 22 july 2016.