PremiumSapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B: Hemanth M Rao’s ‘redemption’ arc for Manu makes him a stalker and control freak
Director Hemanth condones Manu’s ways because of the ‘good’ that comes of it, even if Priya has no say in it
Last Updated: 04.30 PM, Feb 27, 2024
Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B is finally in theatres, and tell us what becomes of Manu (Rakshit Shetty) and Priya (Rukmini Vasanth). At the end of Side A, Manu had chosen not to ruin Priya’s life anymore than he already has and supposedly sets her free. She marries Deepak (JP Thuminad). (Mild spoilers ahead. Largely based on info in the trailer) When the story picks up 10 years later, with Manu fresh out of prison, he still can’t shake off his feelings for Priya. In order to let go of the past and chart a new life, he needs to see Priya one last time. He goes against advice from former jail mate Prakasha (Gopalkrishna Deshpande), and finds Priya, who, as it turns out, is living a rather sad life, far from what she’d imagined she’d have with Manu. This, of course, is Manu’s fault and he then makes it his mission to rectify the fallouts of his mistakes.
On paper, it sounds interesting, but what director Hemanth M Rao presents in the pursuit of Manu’s redemption is a relentless stalker, who does not take no for an answer and does what he thinks is right for Priya. Whether or not she would be in agreement is irrelevant. She gets absolutely no say in the course Manu charts for her life. Everyone else in the narrative becomes a pawn in this grand scheme. The filmmaker, a married man, also choses to throw a basic tenet of marriage aside. A man and woman vow to be there for each other through the good times and the bad. Would it be impossible to think that having lived with Deepak for a decade, Priya does not resent her current life and remains hopeful of a better tomorrow that the two of them build together?
In the film, Priya wilfully loses her voice (the drive to sing), but if you look carefully, you’ll see she never had one to begin with. Yaak maadde, Manu? is a question only Hemanth can answer because Sapta Sagaradaache Ello (Side A and B put together) is all about the leading man and never about Katthe and Putti!