So I was told ‘Fandry’s director has made Sairat. Now, if you’ve watched Fandry, you’d know why I jumped with excitement to watch this film. I was also told, Manjule has taken all the cliches of Bollwood in this film, spent a lot of time on each one of them and churned out Sairat. I disagree, post watching this stunning piece of work.
There’s a reason why cliches exist. They’re taken from real-everyday-mundane lives and given a ‘hope’, a ‘happy ending’ – which certainly Manjule doesn’t believe it.
With ace actors in lead roles, he has broken all stereotypes. So here, your heroine is your hero. She is the decision maker, she works in a factory, she abandons her lover, she even shoots a man in his arm, for her love. I read an interview of the writer-director Nagraj Manjule, where he stated that the society isn’t suffering as much from Casteism as it is from Gender discrimination, and so Archi does everything Parshya should ‘ideally’ do.
Sairat has some long indulgent scenic moments, hilarious dialogue writing, a disabled character – being ruthlessly addressed as langdya (cripple), saying so many things at once – These lovers exist in a society with less knowledge and more power.
You’ll find instances of ‘Saathiya’, almost all the ‘I am rich – you are poor – no marriage’ stereotypes, even a background score sounding like that one in – In the mood for love theme. AND YET – Sairat doesn’t promise you a rosey picture of ‘love conquers all.’ 
It’s a journey of amateur impulsive love – leading to regrets – leading to adjustment to mundane routine – leading to facing the ultimate reality of life, that is – your fate. Your fate doesn’t wear that rosey spectacle. Such is life!
Special mentions:
1) The brilliant music by Ajay-Atul – Jukebox
2) Usage of the background score was spot on!
3) The baby in the end. HOW DO YOU MAKE THE BABY EMOTE LIKE THAT?!
You have to watch this, and Fandry! And read up on the man, if you’re curious. 🙂
The magic of moving pictures! 