Saagara Sangamam

I happened to watch a very good film yesterday, after hearing loads and loads about it from my hubby and his friends.

Saagara Sangamam.Its fantastic. Its fabulous.

And though am still learning telugu, I had absolutely no problem what-so-ever in understanding the film. Its the mind over matter kinda thing. Language is no obstacle for feelings. They can be communicated beyond such boundaries. ( Which incidently I've come to realise very closely. But more on language barriers later - in some other post.)

Its about an unfortunate but gifted classical dancer, who aspires to make it big in the world of art. He refrains from comprising on the form of art, and persues the art of dance in its purest form.
He is noticed and encouraged by a rich lady. She gets him an opportunity to perform at a platform whch would bring him recognition. He is overwhelmed with this, and wants his aged mother to witness this event.But as fate may be, his mother expires and he does not participate in the event.
After this incident, he becomes attached to the lady, who inspires his art. But again fate intervens, and the day he confesses his love, he comes to know that she is married. He sacrifices his love and reunites her with her husband.
He loses a pillar in his life, and becomes an alcoholic. A few years later, fate brings them together, this time when he reviews a dance performance by her daughter.Her husband has expired.
She finds him, and is crushed to see the state he is in.She revives him and gets him to teach her daughter.
He, as a gesture of his gratitude towards all that she did for him, trains her daughter to master the art, and passes away watching her perform, thus preserving the art and making it immortal.

The songs are beautiful. S. P. Balasubramanyam and Ilayaraaja work magic.

JayaPrada looks serenely beautiful. Acts superb. I've never found her so appealing before.
I don't claim that its her best acting effort or something, but I personally liked her a lot in this particular movie.Its a pity what the hindi movies of 80's and 90's did to her. (all those movies with Jeetendra, Dharmendra and the lot- when all were towards the fag end of their careers)

The supporting cast is also very apt. All are humble, normal characters. No one is larger than life. No one is over the top. Even the small anount of humour here n there in the film is refreshing, and not out of place.
I find these things quite appealing in films.

And now the main protagonist of the film. Kamal Hasan.
I find him extremely methodical and in this film, a perfectionist.
He potrays a gifted classical dancer, and gifted classical dancer he is.
Its a treat watching him on the screen. The dance sequences are lovely.
The way he acts is just superb. You find yourself riding the waves of emotions as he walks us through the film.
There is no melodrama, no extreme emotions or heartwrenching dialogues. The simplicity of it all suffices to make tears flow.

I have a very gawdy impression of south indian movies (Tamil & Telugu), especially the recent ones. Extreme emotion, extreme action, extreme romance,heavy dialogues, heavy heroines ;-) .
One reason for it can be the gawdy remakes that end up in Bollywood. I find them very crude.

But with movies like Sagara Sangamam,Rudraveena, SankaraBharanam, even Chitram Bhalare Wichitram, that impression is definitely altered. There are more such gems, and I would definitely like to view as many as possible.