Hanu Raghavapudi’s vintage-global romance saga brims with earnestness and is helped through fascinating performances from Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur It isn’t incorrect to like your country, however you don’t want to harbour such hatred for a neighbouring country, a smart guy tells a younger female withinside the movie. In some other scene, while she is given some references, with all of the names pertaining to 1 faith, she asks in exasperation if there isn’t every person from her community.
Director Hanu Raghavapudi’s Sita Ramam is lots greater than only a love tale. The tale, screenplay and dialogues through Hanu, Raj Kumar Kandamudi and Jay Krishna journey at the concept that humanity topics greater than war, obstacles and faith. The concept is ever applicable in particular in instances while discussions of ‘them’ and ‘us’ threaten to take over the discourse all round us.
Sita Ramam unravels the thriller surrounding its identify characters
Sita Mahalakshmi (Mrunal Thakur’s debut in Telugu cinema) and Lt Ram (Dulquer Salmaan) thru timelines — 1964 and 1984. Afreen (Rashmika Mandanna), a Pakistan-starting place pupil arrives in India from London, while she is tasked with tracing Sita at hand over a 20-year-letter written to her through Ram. She takes the assist of her university senior Balaji (Tharun Bhascker), who’s now in Hyderabad.
There is the unmistakable Mahanatihangover in those characters looking to piece collectively a tale from the past, like Samantha and Vijay Deverakonda. Beyond this large similarity, fortunately Sita Ramam is an entirely new canvas. The discovery in Mahanati starts from a area of lack of awareness and the reporter’s want to discover a properly tale at the same time as here, the adventure proves to be transformative and makes a person empathetic and shed preconceived notions of searching at human beings thru the lens of faith and nationality.
The Nineteen Sixties are offered like a dream. Posted at the borders of Kashmir at the snowy terrains is Lt Ram. His fellow infantrymen are his global; there may be a expensive friend (performed through Shatru), a jealous officer (Sumanth as Brigadier Vishnu Sharma) and a commanding officer Major Selvan (Gautham Menon). An All India Radio journalist (Rohini Molleti) phrases Ram a lone ranger and requests listeners to jot down to him. Letters pour in, Including one from Sita who chides Ram for forgetting that he has a spouse lower back domestic and that he isn’t an orphan.
We listen Sita (Chinmayi excelling at her dubbing recreation) an awful lot earlier than we see her.
Vishal Chandrashekhar’s song faucets into the unfashionable temper for each the Indian classical prospers withinside the songs in addition to the western-prompted playful rating in some scenes.
Cinematographers P S Vinod and Shreyaas Krishna gift the hostile, icy terrain in all its glory and eeriness. The breathtaking landscapes apart, they navigate the bloodless interiors artistically. For instance, take a look at how the mild streams in thru the patterned partitions while Major Selvan is addressing infantrymen earlier than a mission.
The attempt to make the romance seem poetic is clear from the time Ram embarks on a adventure to fulfill Sita; the technical group and the actors pull all stops to provide a fascinating, vintage global romance which could sweep a person off their feet. At first glance, Sita may come upon like a person from a dressing up drama of the past, became out in her nice in any respect instances, with winged eyeliner to boot. As the tale progresses and we recognize her for who she is, the regal manner appears all of the greater appropriate.
Costumes through Sheetal Sharma, manufacturing layout through Sunil Babu, artwork route through Vaishnavi Reddy and Faisal Khan, make a contribution to defining each the Nineteen Sixties and the 80s.
There’s Ram, Sita and a Hanuman (Vennela Kishore as Durjoy, a theatre actor). But the movie pulls a wonder on the intermission factor that adjustments the entirety thereafter.
Certain beats of the tale and a number of the twists may be foreseen. Occasionally the narrative wavers or attempts too tough to make the tale seem poetic. The ‘kurukshetra’-like situation (sic) wherein Ram saves Sita, for instance. But those are occasional niggles. The romance stays soaking up and may preserve you invested.
The writing does now no longer use its lady characters as props. In her first Telugu movie, Mrunal receives to play a person this is effective and but vulnerable. She does it with a variety of poise and conveys the emotional upheavals.
Sita Ramam is amongst Rashmika Mandanna’s higher films.
She isn’t offered as a watch sweet and given the scope to play a self-concentrated person with preconceived notions, she performs it sure-footedly and indicates that she is recreation to tackle well-written parts.
Ram is a person that appears tailormade for Dulquer Salmaan and he channels all his allure to painting it with grace and innocence. Tharun Bhascker is easy withinside the supportive component that speaks a awesome Hyderabadi Telugu.
Several others make their presence felt in short parts — Sachin Khedekar, Sunil, Priyadarshi, Bhumika, Jisshu Sengupta, Prakash Raj, Praneeta Pattnaik, Rahul Ravindran… the listing is long. Sumanth is convincing as an officer displaying his suggest streak.
Not the entirety approximately Sita Ramam works to the quantity of creating it a traditional love tale the makers desired it to be. Yet, the earnestness with which they try to relate a transferring tale of romance holds all of it collectively. The key characters can be referred to as Ram, Sita and Afreen. Change their names and faith however the essence of what the tale conveys will nonetheless maintain true. Therein lies the splendor of the tale.
