The new Rakshit Shetty Kannada language film Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, Side A is on Prime, and everybody is raving about it. The emotional film, which is the first part of a duology, is a simple love story about a couple whose love has already been established before we meet them. While the crux of the story is rooted in romance, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, Side A touches upon some dark truths and takes us on a journey from start to finish. Director Hemanth Rao reminds us of his skill in creating impactful cinema that is simple and real. Manu and Priya are a couple who are low on money and high on love. Their love is palpable, and so are their worries. But what awaits them is a terrible twist of fate that will change things for them forever.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Manu works in a rich household as a driver. The only family he has is the mother and brother of the love of his life. Priya is a college student, and she and Manu have been in a relationship for a while. They’re certain about being the ones for each other, and because they’re both not in a great financial position, they’re doing whatever they can to get a house so they can settle down together. Priya is a fantastic singer, too, and during rehearsals for a performance, a music director asks for her contacts. In the meantime, Manu has just purchased a new car, and every day, they’re working hard to make ends meet. Priya’s big dream is to have a house near the sea because she’s from a small seaside village. Manu wants to realize this dream desperately. Priya has a bad temper, and when she was young, she didn’t want to move to Bengaluru, away from the beautiful sea. Her father had shown her a conch then as a reminder that even if she moves away from home, the home will always be with her, just like the conch, which carries the sounds of the sea with it wherever it goes.
One fine day, there’s a hit-and-run case involving the son of the household Manu works for. There’s one witness, the daughter of the man who has been killed, but she’s only seen the car. A family that has political ties cannot have a hit-and-run case in their name. A cunning man who works for them suggests they ask one of the drivers to say they were driving the car. He knows how desperate Manu is for a house by the sea, which is exactly what he offers him. Shankre Gowda, the head of the family, is a man of his word. Manu decides that if he wants to give Priya what she wants, he needs to speak to Gowda directly. Manu asks for a hefty amount of money, and Gowda accepts because he wants to protect his son. This all seems a little bit shady because, as a driver, Manu is disposable. Innocent Manu makes a deal with Gowda, and they both promise to keep their word and not cause any problems. Manu is set to go to prison for a few months and then be out on bail. All of Gowda’s resources will be used to bring him out. In the meantime, Manu and Priya have taken possession of a rental house for themselves. Unfortunately, Manu makes this monumental decision without saying a word to Priya. Finally, when the day comes for him to be arrested, he tells Priya, who is immediately apoplectic upon hearing the absurdity of the situation. She begs Manu not to do it; there are many other ways to make money, but he’s already given his word, and there’s no turning back.
Manu and Priya share a hand gesture with each other where they cross their index and middle fingers to make an infinite bond. When he’s taken to prison, Manu makes sure to show this gesture to the cameras, reminding Priya that he’ll always love her. Prison life is worse than one can imagine. Manu gets roped in by a terrible gang of thugs, but the naive man doesn’t realize he’s befriending the wrong people. Soma shows Manu how the prison system works and tells him that a little money can make a large difference. Manu doesn’t want to be beaten up by these guys, so he listens to the man earnestly. He tries to do what he can to be in his good books. On the other hand, Priya’s anger has subsided, and she makes a visit to Manu. Excited to see him, she prepares his favorite sweet, but the visiting system is messed up. Manu and Priya find each other in a deep crowd of people and have to talk for about 2 minutes with a separating grill between them. Manu feels recharged just by holding fingers with Priya through the grill, but they’re separated too soon. She drops her box of sweets, but she never stops looking back at him. Manu gets beaten up for seemingly no reason, possibly just for having a connection as rich as his and Priya’s.
Soma is after Manu’s boss’ money, so he tells him that he can use a secret mobile phone to call him and ask for money. Manu does so again, believing it’s for his own good. Gowda promises to make sure Manu is out soon and that he will not have any difficulties when they meet in what looks like the police commissioner’s room. At this very moment, everything appears peaceful and uneventful. But, as fate would have it, a sudden and unforeseen tragedy strikes when Gowda suffers a heart attack. Chaos is unleashed, and everyone in prison turns on Manu. He’s beaten to a pulp and made to clean the toilets every night. In the meantime, Priya also feels like a lost puppy, and this whole endeavor feels futile now. The cunning man who got Manu imprisoned in the first place convinces Gowda’s wife that if Manu comes out now, the son will be in trouble. Now that he has to take care of the Gowda business, there can’t be any problems. She trusts his words, and they decide to take away all of Manu’s resources. Never mind giving him the balance for going to prison; they even take away the lawyer who can help him get bail.
In prison, realizing his mistake, Manu starts to work with the better crowd. These are people who accept their faults and repent them, now working as weavers. At first, because Manu says he hasn’t done anything, he isn’t given a spot on a power loom. The man in charge tells Manu that it’s important to accept your mistakes to grow, and ultimately, instead of telling them he lied for money, he admits to the hit-and-run, getting accepted into their gang. Swimming their way to the surface, Manu and Priya begin to go upward by working towards their freedom themselves. Manu works hard in prison, while Priya gets a lawyer and dedicates herself to freeing Manu. The 3 lakhs that Gowda had given to Manu as an advance are with Priya, and she uses that to pay the lawyer, who admits that it will be difficult to get him out if they deny the hit and run now. Priya has to empty Manu’s room while they lose the house they rented, too, because she needs all the money she can get to help Manu.
Priya becomes a changed person; she shouts at her mother, telling her that there’s nothing else she can see in the path ahead of her. Without Manu, she can’t be herself. She makes a cassette for Manu, and with the help of his new friends, he manages to safely get it into the prison. He steals a tape recorder, too and listens to her recordings daily. In the tape, Priya tells Manu that she dreams of taking him to the seaside in her village. There’s nobody around, just the two of them. Manu gets fixated on these words and hears them repeatedly. Driven by these words, Manu makes an escape plan. He puts his hand through the power loom, getting severely injured. Getting into the tanker that’s leaving the prison, he thinks he’s made a safe escape until there is a red alert and he’s caught.
Manu gets a visit from Priya’s mom, telling him that she’s a completely changed person. She doesn’t sing anymore, and she’s fixated on Manu. Although Priya’s mom too wants them to be together, she can’t see her daughter suffer like this anymore. Manu makes the decision to let Priya go then. He writes a letter to her, essentially breaking up so that she can be free and go back to being happy and smiling. When Priya goes to visit Manu again after reading the letter, he leaves her hanging.
What Happens To Priya In The End?
Priya realizes that there is nothing she can do when Manu has made a decision. When she has a suitor interested in her, she decides to go ahead for the sake of her mother and brother. She must do right by them after all of the trouble she’s put them through. On the other hand, Manu is imprisoned for 10 years for his crime because there’s no proof of his innocence. The witness makes an emotional appeal to the judge by saying that going from “I was driving” to “I was not driving” will lead up to “nobody was killed” at some point. Already disheartened, Manu goes back to prison in the white clothes of an inmate, going from temporary resident to prisoner. Soma hasn’t given up on harassing Manu yet, though. He’s destroyed his tape recorder in the time that Manu has gone and come back. On the other hand, Manu makes a final call to Priya, probably just to hear her voice, but her brother Vinod tells him that she’s getting married. Manu asks Vinod to promise not to tell Priya about the call, but it is implied that he does tell her.
In prison, unable to hold in his anger and realizing he has nothing left, Manu decides to show his frustration to Soma and his men. He dirties his newly white clothes by beating up the man. Manu hits him so hard in the ear that it looks like Soma may never be able to hear again. The entire gang beats him up in return, and where there should be white, it’s fully red. A married Priya awaits her husband while Manu sits in the prison hospital, completely bandaged. It is clear that Manu wanted to be beaten up so badly that he would die, so he wouldn’t have to live with this punishment any longer. Because he’s made a mess, the person who gave him the weaving job reminds him that being in the four walls of a prison isn’t their punishment, it is dealing with one’s misdeeds and living through them that is true survival. He has requested for Manu to get transferred to Shimoga so that he can learn to live with his mistakes.
We know Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, Side B is on its way, and it will be a revenge story like no other. Prabhu, the cunning man who started this whole mess, will be on Manu’s radar. On the other hand, Soma will want to exact revenge as well. From an emotional melodrama romance, we’re going to move to the thriller genre. Manu might want to go back to Priya again, but would she leave her husband for him? It seemed like they were destined to be together, until they weren’t. Of course, prison life will change Manu, and they will not be the same as each other. Priya and Manu’s lives became a rollercoaster ride because of one thunderous decision. But will Manu be able to make it back to a flat road, just like the nice long car ride they had at the beginning of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, Side A? There’s another woman in the picture from the scenes we’ve seen on Side B, so will Manu move on?
