Sara'S is not the typical fall-in-love-and-live-happily-married story. It is one evoking a sensitive theme, but director Jude Anthany Joseph has taken great care to bring it alive in a light-hearted way.
The movie, which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, opens very much like what we see in the trailer.
Sara (Anna Ben) is busy stitching a future along with her first boyfriend whom she meets during her school days. But things don't turn out to be fine. After they part ways, Sara meets another man and falls in love yet again.
To give him company, she signs up for a filmmaking course. It is only then that Sara realizes that her true love is indeed movies. She immerses herself in the craft. Soon, she is assisting with the production of several films and also directs a short film.
As Sara finally writes her own script, she decides to make a feature film. She believes that good locations and creativity takes precedence before scrambling to finding a producer.
Similarly in life, Sara has her priorities. Though she is open to falling in love, she does not aspire to start a family and have kids. She finally meets one who shares her same ideologies - Jeevan (Sunny Wayne). But life is not as smooth as it seems. Like how 'accidents' can happen, it happens in their life too.
Director Jude Anthany Joseph takes his time to settle in with his characters which begins very playfully. Much like his earlier outing Om Shanthi Oshana, Sara'S also takes the perspective of female protagonist. However, writer Akshay Hareesh keeps the humour track mild with peripheral emotional connect to characters.
In a scene where Sara questions her mother-in-law as to what she gained by raising two kids her whole life and leading a lonely life, the film speeds on without giving us an answer. In yet another scene where Sara is asked to clean the floor by someone whom she is meeting for the first time, the way she responds shows that the director and writer let the narrative take the course without trying to complicate things.
And that's how the film deals with the crux of the plot as well. Without melodramatic dialogues or preachy statements, the film delves on the concept of 'her body, her choice'.
Apart from that, the film also throws some light on typical mainstream moviemaking where song, fight and dance numbers are a must. It also tries to highlight the plight of an outsider to create a space in the close-knit industry. When Sara pitches her story to one of the producers, he initially hesitates hinting how the industry is generally reluctant to welcome female directors.
Though it does not delve too deep into such aspects, the parallel connection of motherhood and career is a delight to watch. The way Sara treats her script like her baby points to how creatively pregnant she was.
Anna Ben, the charming curly-haired girl proves here that she can carry a film on her slim shoulders no matter how big or small the cast is. Just like in the movie Helen, in Sara'S too, Anna Ben creates a likable feel and no matter what she decides for herself, we tend to side with her. Sunny Wayne too has portrayed his character well. It was interesting to watch Anna Ben share screen space with her father Benny P Nayarambalan as a father-daughter duo. However, it wasn't as cool as Pooja and her father from Om Shanthi Oshana. Mallika Sukumaran with her witty self scores well.
Cinematography by Nimish Ravi is not his typical "out-of-the-world" experience, but it's not without its usual charm. Shaan Rahman's music makes the movie all the more soothing.
Despite the old school route, the film makes for a pleasant watch. Sara'S is a neatly crafted feel-good entertainer with a strong message expressed in a sweet, simple way.
(The movie is available on Amazon Prime Video)
