Sairat

Plot

The film follows the story of Prashant Kale aka Parshya, a low-caste young boy, and Archana Patil aka Archi, a daughter of a rich "upper caste landlord". Parshya, although poor, has a good academic record,is good at reading and is the captain and the star player of the local cricket team. Archi is a strong willed girl, who is also academically proficient, but more importantly, known as a headstrong girl who enjoys ‘masculine’ tasks like driving a tractor or riding a Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. As they both study in college together, it is observed that they slowly start falling for each other. Early on, Archi’s large and muscular maternal cousin Manya tries to intervene and beat up Parshya, but is ordered to stay away by Archi. They slowly find ways to spend time with each other and fall in love.

At a celebration of Archi’s misbehaved younger brother, Prince’s birthday, they are discovered by Archi’s family. Archi’s father, being politically connected proceeds to thrash Parshya and his friends. Eventually realizing that there is no way out, Archi and Parshya make an attempt to elope. However, they are discovered by police and taken into custody. There, Archi’s father forces the police to register a false complaint alleging that Archi was gang raped by Parshya and his friends. Realizing this, Archi intervenes and destroys the complaint, insisting that Parshya and his friends be released. Soon after they are released, however, Archi’s father’s goons begin to thrash Parshya and his friends. Seeing this from a distance, Archi intervenes and seizes a pistol from the goons, threatening to fire unless they are released. Soon Parshya and Archi catch a running train and escape the confines of the small town to Hyderabad.

In the city of Hyderabad, Archi and Parshya are broke and desperate. Surviving off what little they have, they try for accommodation in a lodge but they are refused accommodation. In frustration, they sleep at the railway station, contemplating their next move. One night, a few men come and awaken them, insisting that they come to the police station. On the way, they begin to drag Parshya and beat him up, while another attempts to rape Archi. However, a lady from the nearby slum, Suman Akka bravely intervenes, brandishing a stick, stepping in and saving the duo from the rogues. Akka stays with her young son, Sanket.

Akka is very kind and generous understanding the lover’s plight. Realizing their desperate condition, she offers them a spare shanty to live in, where Parshya and Archi take up residence. She is also kind enough to help Archi find employment in a nearby bottling factory, while Parshya starts working as a cook at Akka's Dosa stall. Archi gradually picks up Telugu with the help of her factory colleague Pooja. Archi and Parshya start to make a meagre hand to mouth existence, trying to make the most of the situation with mutual love. Initially, Archi misses home terribly and they go through many hurdles, as she misses the upper class living she is used to. After an ugly argument, Archi leaves Parshya to return to her home by train. En route, on one of the railway station platform, she sees a beggar couple begging for alms. She gives alms and wonders how they must have been together through thick and thin and thus she realizes her mistake of running away. On the other hand, Parshya is seen heart-broken and disturbed because of Archi's absence. Akka explains to Parshya that one must understand his partner and not doubt her and quarrel with her over petty matters. Archi returns to Parshya and they have a tearful reconciliation. In due course, Archi and Parshya get married in the Registrar's office where Akka and Pooja stand as witnesses. Subsequently, Archi is shown pregnant and the story moves forward by a few years.

It would seem they are economically better off, wearing better clothes and living in a far more hospitable location. Archi is shown calling her mother from an under construction flat complex, which they have come to see and then handing the mobile to an infant, who is her and Parshya’s son Aakash. She talks about how they are faring well and how she misses home. Soon, her brother Prince and his goon relatives arrive, carrying gifts from her mother, hinting at reconciliation. One of the neighbors insists on taking their child for a while before her brother Prince and his friends come to meet her. Archi then asks the guests to be seated in the living room while she prepares tea. Parshya soon comes home and is stunned to see their house guests. Archi asks him to serve them tea but Parshya refuses. She reminds him that they are her relatives and so it is his duty to serve them tea. He does so.

The toddler returns with the neighbour and is left at their doorstep. The door is open and the baby enters and discovers that his parents have been hacked to death. Visibly troubled and unable to comprehend the gruesome nature of the honor killing, he walks off and the movie ends.

Cast

Production

Nagraj Manjule wrote Sairat as a "classic love story" and aimed for it to be more commercial than his previous films. It was based on his own experiences and so he chose his own village Jeur in Karmala Taluka of Solapur district as the setting. Filming commenced in February 2014 and concluded in May 2015.

Release

The film was released with English subtitles in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhilai, Raipur, Bhiwadi, Karnataka, and Telangana. The film screened at more than 450 theatres. Due to the film's popularity, additional shows at midnight and at 3 a.m. were introduced at a theatre in Rahimatpur in Satara district. The film was released in about 200 screens in other parts of India with English subtitles. It was the first Marathi film to get a cinematic release in the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

In April 2016, Manjule filed a case with the Mumbai Police after the film was leaked online two days ahead of its release. The copy had a watermark indicating that it was a "censor copy", a copy intended for censor board officials to review prior to the release. In May 2016, a mobile shop owner in Pune was arrested for allegedly indulging in piracy. The cyber crime police arrested a Byculla (Mumbai) based cable operator for broadcasting the pirated version of Sairat on his network.

Critical reception

In addition to challenging the caste system in India, Sairat casts Archi (the main female character) in a leading role in the action scenes. In an article for DNA, Pratik Ghosh stated: "Manjule (movie director) has gone in for a role-reversal to challenge gender stereotypes and yet imbued the character with vulnerabilities to keep it real." The director was questioned about his decision to cast Rinku Rajguru as the main character, despite her not being "conventionally 'good looking'"; he disputed this and described most film actresses as "bimbettes" compared to the strong character played by Rinku. Ganesh Matkari of Pune Mirror rated the film with four star saying, "The word I will use to describe Sairat is 'significant'." Lalitha Suhasini, in an article for Indian Express stated the score of the movie is as audacious as its plot. In 4.0 star review for Times of India, Mihir Bhanage stated, "Sairat is not just a beautifully woven film; it also has elements of a mass entertainer".

Box office

Sairat collected ₹3.60 crore (US$530,000) on its opening day, ₹3.95 crore (US$590,000) on its second day and ₹4.55 crore (US$680,000) on its third day, with a total of ₹12.10 crore (US$1.8 million) on its opening weekend and ₹25.50 crore (US$3.8 million) in first week. The film emerged as Blockbuster as it collected ₹12.57 crore (US$1.9 million) in its second weekend,which is higher than its first weekend collections.It collected ₹38.07 crore (US$5.7 million) in 10 days and ₹52 crore (US$7.7 million) in 14 days. It has collected more than ₹65 crore (US$9.7 million) in 3 weeks and enters 4th week at more than 525 screens, making it the best performing Marathi film of all time and the first to pass ₹50 crore (US$7.4 million) and ₹100 crore (US$15 million).The film received overwhelming response at overseas box office, and collected $22,000 at the US box office.

Awards

The film was selected for the 66th Berlin International Film Festival under its Generation 14 Plus section. Rinku Rajguru was awarded a National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015 "for her effective portrayal of a lively girl who defies societal norms but ultimately has to face the wrath of her family".

Soundtrack

The songs and background score for the film are composed by composer duo Ajay−Atul, who had earlier worked with director Nagraj Manjule on his debut film Fandry (2013). The soundtrack includes western classical pieces recorded at Sony Scoring Stage in Hollywood, California, a first for an Indian film. The orchestra of 66 musicians – including a 45-piece string section, 6-piece woodwind section, 13-piece brass section, 6-piece horn section, and 1 harp – was conducted by Mark Graham.