Sara's Analysis

Sara's (2021)

Directed by: Jude Anthany Joseph
Written by: Akshay Hareesh
Starring: Anna Ben, Sunny Wayne
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

It's a film with a strong sense of messaging and activism, but the filmmaking and writing don't go for a toss. The film is simplistic and focused, with one protagonist and a simple, yet a very relevant conflict. Sara doesn't want to have a child and she wants to do what she loves doing, and be remembered as a filmmaker. It talks about how it's just assumed that a couple has to have kids once they get married. The film is pretty straightforward, it doesn't take any complex or nuanced standpoints. The way they make it work is through the husband's character, who initially doesn't want to have kids, who initially stands with her but later, he too flips and has a change of thought. It's interesting how they made her a filmmaker, but they don't indulge much in the filmmaking setting much, and the film stays focused on the conflict itself. I'd have had a tough time, stopping myself from getting there. Even in the filmmaking world, they keep addressing feminist issues wherever they get a chance to, like a producer making a pass at her, and a producer doubting her capabilities because she is a woman.

I wouldn't say I loved this film on the leagues of other great Malayalam cinema, only because this film is too straightforward and it lacks any layers and nuance. Having said that, I can't really complain because the issue the film tackles is a very important one and films which deal with such issues have to be made in a straightforward way. I wish they dealt more on how their relationship is affected once the husband has a change in thought, because the in-laws are anyway against them throughout the film. We don't see the couple's interpersonal relationship much, we don't see much of how they feel about each other. Having said that, I think the film stays focused on what it wants to say and that's good too.