Language : Marathi
Director : Nagraj Manjule.
Writers : Nagraj Manjule, Bharat Manjule.
Cast : Rinku Rajguru, Akash Thosar, Arbaz Shaikh.
Genre : Drama | Romance
Imdb: Sairat(2016)
Streaming on Zee5 and Youtube.
“A celebration of the rollercoaster ride called life” is how I’d describe the movie in a line.”
A Forbidden Love, infectious songs, and a film that will make you cheer and root for the characters to make it through. My first and only Marathi film, that I had seen in PVR Cinemas Kochi with another 20-30 strangers. It was an exhilarating experience, one that I will cherish for a lifetime. I remember many members dancing during the lively song sequences, and that happening in PVR made me smile. The theatre was nearly empty…
It’s a movie that has a larger than usual runtime of 2hour 54 minutes. But the movie never makes you feel so, and makes you feel almost every emotion possible. The characters have lived their roles in the movie, they have given extremely good performances, especially the lead characters.
The clear difference in values and what individuals of different generations hold sacred in their minds and hearts are clearly shown in the movie. The stark contrast of how the lead characters and their parents (and society at large) think is shown in the movie. The lead characters are in their youth and don’t care much about the laws, rules and limits set by their parents and society. They just have a mind and heart of their own. They are young, wild and free. Speaking of which, Sairat translates to Wild in Marathi 🙂 .
But do their actions have consequences? How easy is living life on your own terms? Can people accept what they are not accustomed to seeing?
The lead characters are larger than life, and have larger than life, rich experiences despite their economic status, showing that you really don’t have to be rich to have amazing experiences. They dive deep into an old fashioned love, which was refreshing for me to see as a viewer in modern times. The film is also very political, and makes every viewer think if they have a brain and a heart. Miss one and you’d probably miss everything. The film strongly challenges the rampant class divide and casteism in the nation.
Thinking back, the 2 hour 54 runtime is way too low. There are a lot of experiences, exuberant moments, hardships, lessons, food for thought in this movie, all packed excellently with strong and colourful visuals. I’m sure if you watched this movie, you’d be talking about it too.
Hats off to the director, Nagraj Manjule.
Verdict – 7/7 stars
Bloody Brilliant.
Trivia:
Akash Thosar was a wrestler and he had lost almost 14 Kg to prepare for the role of Parshya.
Sairat is the highest grosser film in the history of the Marathi Cinema.
Rinku Rajguru was just 14 years old and studying in standard 9th during the film’s release.
Both Akash Thosar & Rinku Rajguru were from non acting backgrounds. Sairat was their debut movie. Akash & Rinku were handpicked by the Director Nagraj Manjule. 90% of actors in this movie are debutants.
Rinku Rajguru received Special Mention at 63rd National Awards for her acting in Sairat.This is also her debut movie.
Sairat is the first Indian Film to record music at Sony Symphony Studio at Los Angeles, United States with more than 60 musicians.
Officially selected for 66th Berlin International Film Festival, Received a standing ovation after the show.
The film has a soundtrack from the movie ‘Fandry’ end credits. It is played at the cricket match and at the birthday party by a group of people for cheering the mob. Even the song ‘Zingat’ starts with the same tune played on different instruments. Fandry is made by the same director.
Aamir Khan tweeted on his account that everyone should watch the film.
Irrfan Khan hosted a special screening of this film for kids and also praised the film.
The scene where Akshay Toshar is being slapped by Prince had taken many retakes and unfortunately it was his birthday on the same day.
- The film was made on a budget of 4 Crore and earned 100 Crore within a month thus making it the highest grossing Marathi film.
- Three incidents of family reconciliations were reported in Mumbai after the film’s release, including the one of Sachin Lokhande who was married to a Muslim girl and waited for 12 years for both the families to agree. His parents approved their marriage after watching the film. Several fans of the film formed the Sairat Marriage Group, an organization with nearly 100 volunteers across Maharashtra, to help the runaway couples.