Sita Ramam movie review

Sita Ramam:

(Yudh se likhi Prem Kahaani)

Summary:

An epic love story movie with off the charts chemistry, beautiful music and songs, brilliant photography.

Mrunal Thakur as Sita Mahalakshmi and Dulquer Salmaan as Liutenant Ram absolutely ace their roles. The chemistry between them is just off the charts. Their acting is absolutely top notch. The movie also ties in multiple other things well - patriotism, humanity, emotions, comedy, terrorism/war etc. Importantly it has twists and turns that keep you very interested in the movie (little patience is required for the buildup in the first few minutes). Rashmika as connecting character Afreen is very good. Support cast is very good. Overall, movie is an absolute masterpiece. Definite 10/10. Do not search about the movie if you haven't watched it yet as you may end up spoiling atleast part of it.

Spoiler free details:

I have of course watched the movie in both Hindi and Telugu (with subtitles). Its great in both. Using Hindi dialogues here.

Story start: An orphan soldier, Lieutenant Ram's life changes after he gets a letter from a girl named Sita. Who is this Sita and why hasn't she written her from address? The story mainly unfolds from there on.

Dulquer (10/10): Dulquer was just perfect as Ram. The boyish exhuberance and charm. The effortless acting and dialogue delivery. The one who truly pursues the path of dharma - be it defusing the flames between Muslims and Hindus by risking his life, be it rescuing women from a brothel by using all of his account money etc. 

There are couple of scenes where his acting is just unbelievable. Lets see an example: One particular scene in particular was so realistic that I wonder if it wasn't just shot but actually happened - Ram asks Sita to headbutt a 2nd time as headbutt just once is considered inauspicious. She does so. He rubs his head and says no when she asks if she hit him too hard. It looks like it actually happened and Dulquer isn't acting as Ram!

Mrunal (10+/10): How exactly do you get more than a 10/10!? By being perfect and having something extra-ordinary for that bonus. As Sita, she looks stunningly beautiful (most beautiful I've seen an actress look in a long time) and full of life. Cheeky at times (the way she writes the letters for eg), shy at other times (the intro scene in the train for example). The range of expressions are phenomenal and she expresses them so beautifully with her eyes doing a lot of the "talking". Dialogue delivery in the Hindi version is pretty good. Chinmayi dubbed for her in Telugu. Mrunal dances really beautifully in the film at multiple places.

There are 3-4 scenes where her acting is just amazingly extraordinary. But most of them would come under spoiler section (see below). The rain scene where Ram pursues Sita is a spoiler free one. The expressions in the scene and the final dialogue delivered are just amazing.

BGM and songs: The background music is just spellbinding and the songs are amazing. BGM is a 10/10 and songs are a 9.5/10 (Hindi version). Background music is absolutely essential for a romantic story. And in Sita Ramam, the team lead by Vishal Chandrasekhar have absolutely nailed it. BGM ratches up to a 10+/10 in 3-4 scenes.

Photography (10/10): The photography is just beautiful and almost every scene like a painting.

Support cast (9/10):  The other actors/actresses have also mostly played their roles well. The journey of Rashmika Mandanna as Afreen is very well fleshed out and she portrays it very well. Sumanth as Brigadier Vishnu, Vennela Kishore as Durjaya Sharma, Sachin Khedekar as Major Abu Tariq Ali, Tharun Bhascker as Balaji, Rukmini Vijayakumar as Rekha, Murali Sharma as palace accountant etc. have done their roles absolute justice. Most of the others have done a pretty job as well.

Story including dialogues (9.5/10) : The story is an excellent one. It is written with love, very interesting and an original one. It is not 100% flawless though (for why you'd have to check spoiler section). Do not search about the movie if you plan to watch it as you may end up spoiling atleast part of it. It is a little slow in the first 30-40 mins, but the build up is necessary and the story picks up pace from there on. It goes in non-linear fashion, integrating lot of things - love, war, comedy, nice dialogues, surprises etc. That itself gives it a 9/10.

For the grandness of the romantic tale, the epic characters of Sita & Ram and the arc of Afreen, it surely deserves another point. Add in another 0.5 point for the respectful/funny references to Ramayana, Mahabharata and the parallels of characters in movie to those in the Ramayana. But because of it not being flawless, I'd have to cut a point and we end up with a 9.5/10.

Others: Massive credit to writer and director Hanu Raghavapudi for the concept and direction. The other writers as well. Basically the whole team of Sita Ramam for an absolute masterpiece classic. Special shoutouts to producers Ashwini Dutt, Swapna Dutt. To Sheetal Sharma for Mrunal's costume designs. To Chinmayi for doing a pretty good job of dubbing for Mrunal in Telugu (Mrunal dubbed for herself in Hindi of course).

More details, with spoilers:

Dulquer: Another favorite of mine is the scene after the magic show. 

Sita: "aur phir ghar pe bhaiyya puchha to kya jawaab dungi?"

Ram: "sach bata dena. Ram ke sath thi bol dena"

Sita "sach kaha to bhaiyya nahi manenge"

Ram: "kya mazak kar rahi ho. aisi khoobsurati jhoot bole to sach, sach,  bhi maan jayegi"

Dulquer delivers that punchline with such sincerity that it elicits laughter. It would very possibly have sounded cringe if a lesser actor had delivered or it Mrunal as Sita didn't look as beautiful as she did.

Then of course there is that line from Ram that is etched in memory "Che sau rupaiye tanqvah wali sainik ke liye apna sab kuch chod aayi maharani, iss janam ke liye alvida, Princess Noor Johan". What dialogue delivery and what goosebumps!!

The only reason Dulquer doesn't get a 10+ is he doesn't dance well! Stands out in contrast to Mrunal's excellent dancing.

Mrunal:  Couple of special acting scenes.

(a) The scene where she meets Rashmika's character Afreen. In response to Afreen's sorry, she so gracefully says "thank you for the letter". And when Afreen asks if Ram is alive, she replies "No". The tears are coming from Sita's eyes, but its restrained and she isn't broken. The grace and restraint she displays here is extraordinary.

(b) Then there is that while opening the letter from Ram, you can see multiple emotions at once from Sita - the eagerness and the tears.

Of course there is the fact that she is actually Princess Noor Jahan. So Mrunal gets to play that 2nd layer. Sita/Noor isn't all about the cheekiness or shyness or love story or beauty. As the princess, she treats everyone with respect and doesn't show any airs. Even though she is a Muslim princess, she has respect for Hindu traditions/customs and is a student of Bharatanatyam. She has started a girl's education program and later on donates the palace to the govt for a woman's college. 

She is also ahead of her times, being courageous challenging the norms of the society. She of course gathers the courage to give up all her property just to be with her love Ram as she knows Ram is a golden hearted capable guy. Then of course there is that Mrunal as Sita dances really well - the Bharatanatyam dance in the palace, the dances in Kashmir, dances in couple of other songs. She is also very cute/affectionate with kids.

The chemistry between Ram and Sita: Right from when they are shown meeting in the train for the first time in the film till that scene where Ram says "Che sau rupaiye tanqvah wali sainik ke liye apna sab kuch chod aayi maharani, iss janam ke liye alvida, Princess Noor Johan".

The chemistry between Dulquer and Mrunal is just unbelievable and it peaks so many times that you are spoilt for choice. There is not one scene in the film when the 2 are together that you feel anything lacking. Be it the shyness when they are showing to be meeting first in the train or Sita alternating between cheekiness and shyness when she searches for Ram and visits him at his friend's house or when Ram makes his unusual proposal or when Sita meets him in Kashmir telling him yes to his propsal or when they both feel that fear of seperation/pain when Ram is going on that covert mission ...There is shyness, there is smiles, there is laughter, there is intense love, there is sadness of seperation, there is sadness of loss....so many emotions and its all brilliantly done.

The climax scene: From when Balaji says "Its been 20 years!" and Sita gets the letter. As Ram writes - This is the last part of their chanda mama like love story. Ram says that it has been 8 months since they have been seperated and Sita must be angry. Sita is crying as he expresses that she is not angry - this is an absolutely phenomenal piece of acting from Mrunal.

Ram writes that she must be wondering if he is alive. He is writing to say that he is and to say that he is not a traitor. Explains that his superior officer Vishnu Sharma was forced to betray his country as they threatened his family.

Then Ram expresses so beautifully that he can hear Sita's voice tearing through the darkness, how sincerely she is calling out to him - as Sita sobs reading that in the letter. 

The next part of climax is already covered above. After that, with the help of Ram's letter, Sita is able to the clear the mark of traitor from Ram's name. Then Ram's memory is honored by awarding him posthumously and the award is accepted by Sita. Film video ends with all the soldiers saluting. Then they show text that Afreen not only apologizes to Anand Mehta, but also helps free 18 Indian soldiers from Pakistan prisons. The transformation arc for Afreen is just so organic and so beautifully done.

By the first 2 hours, you are so enamoured by the Sita Ram story and you cannot help but root so much for them. You are sucked in. The last 20 minutes or so are such an emotional ride that you cannot help but become teary eyed or actually cry. I actually cried - one of the very rare films where that happened. The most emotional climax in a film I've seen.

Story line and dialogues: I loved that they show Sita as cherishing Ram's memories instead of moping about his absence. The interval scene reveal that Sita is Princess Noor Jahan is just stunning and not predictable at all. Then of course you have the reveal that Sita and Ram actually first met in Kashmir and he saves her. That Afreen is the kid that Ram had saved. these 2 reveals are middling shades of unpredictability. Film has better twists and turns/reveals than many of the mystery/mystery dramatic films we see.

The movie sub-line is justified "yudh se likhi prem kahaani". Ram and Sita meet first as a result of the war and they get seperated as result of the war in the end.

The couple of flaws in the storyline or dialogues that I mentioned above I would elaborate on:

1. The scene where the Kashmiri villager says "galat femhmi to hoti rehti hai. aap log khana khao" to Ram and the other soldiers - after they had been just been nearly shot at by the army for being possibility terrorists from across Pakistan. Very unrealistic.

2. There was no reason to declare Ram and Vishnu as deserted soldiers. Could have just shown them as missing. This action portrays Indian army in a more -ve light than they should have.

3. Small things combined - after 20 years, the first part Sita isn't shown as being aged even a little bit for a min.(they do show some ageing after that), couple of places where dialogues could have been better (e.g. you can call me Sita), the comedy scene within the palace seems a case of trying too hard.

Rashmika: As Afreen is she an annoying, headstrong brat at first. Afreen is a jingoistic India-hating, Hindu-disliking person at first. She commits mistakes, but isn't a bad/dishonest person. She doesn't throw away the letter though she could have and said that her work was done. The stunned looked when Afreen finds out Sita is actually Princess Noor Jahan is very good. She shows the right amount of curiosity asking how a Muslim princess fell in love with a soldier, that too a Hindu. Then you start seeing Afreen's visible change as she hears Sita/Ram being seperated due to the Oman prince stuff. Then finally, as she gets to know she is the kid whom Ram risked his life/safety to save, she is stunned and the transformation is nearly complete. The scene where Afreen and Sita meet has some brilliant acting from Rashmika as he she breaks down telling she is sorry. This film Sita Ramam IMO is the best I've seen Rashmika act even though she is the connecting character and not the main female lead in this film.

Support cast: 

Tharun Bhascker as Balaji is very good, in comic scenes, emotional support as well as carrying the narrative.

Sumanth as Vishnu Sharma threads a grey role very well. While he knows the right from wrong, he can get swayed by his emotions.

Vennela Kishore as Ram's friend Durjaya and Murali Sharma as palace accountant provide for some really fun moments in the film.

Sachin Khedekar has done his job earnestly as Major Abu Tariq. A guy who tries to do what is right, but is in the end bound by loyalty to the army/country.

Rukimini Vijayakumar as Rekha plays the role of Sita's friend very well, being a good companion as well as a grounded advisor.

etc.

Direction (10/10): The casting choices are brilliant. The way director Hanu Raghavapudi has extracted the performances is stunning. The choice of photographers, music team, shooting places etc. all excellent.

I might add more, but this is already long enough, heh :D.