Set 10 years after the events of Side A, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello -Side B follows the story of Manu, now out of jail who wishes to rekindle his relationship with his sweetheart Priya. Will he be successful in doing so? The story here wasn’t exactly what I was expecting with regard to the tone of the drama, although there was a huge hint provided by the makers with the shifting shades of hues from Side A. But the story here was so well positioned and written that it yet again broke me in a million pieces especially with the character of Manu. The screenplay standing at 155 minutes might seem overwhelming with its runtime, but it accounted for a poetic yet provocative narrative that slowly slices into your heart before piercing through. Here I must say that Side A had a better coherence to the drama with Side B being a notch lower. But taking nothing away from the writing that managed to break me all over again. And this section will contain minor spoilers.

Set in 2021, the detailing with respect to the Covid times just hit home beautifully so. I must admit that it took me a good 10 minutes to settle into the drama, particularly due to its tonal change, something that I wasn’t entirely prepared for. So the soothing shades of blue from Side A began to switch colours to an intense red which was pretty much representative of Manu and his mindset with respect to his love for Priya, who was also not happy in her marriage. Red as you know is a provocative colour and that essentially was the tone of the drama, something that reminded me of the second half of the Anurag Kashyap directed Dev D that played with a similar sentiment. Now coming back to the initial 10 minutes that took me a while to settle in, this seemed to be a deliberate attempt by the filmmaker to allow the viewers a glimpse into the psyche of the protagonist which was hollow in many ways, having being broken over the past 10 years while also losing out on the love of his life. So when you as a viewer don’t feel a thing, it is symbolic of Manu who was going through a similar emotion!

How often have we seen that we hold onto our past that much more longer while not accepting the fact that things aren’t the same anymore. And that is reflective of Manu who wants to hold onto his love for Priya with a simple ambition to know on whether she still sings, a virtue that she had left long back while Manu was in jail. And it breaks him into a million pieces when he gets to know that, almost faulting himself for the mess of destiny that is created with respect to Priya. The quest here isn’t in finding Priya but to eventually find a way to get her to be with him again. And while clinging on to that thought, he meets Surabhi, a sex worker who falls for him soon yet Manu is never completely able to fall for her.

As you would know, a wharf of perfume reminds you of someone, often equating the other person with the physical traits or the characteristics which would be similar to your ex-flame. That is the kind of relationship that Manu shares with Surabhi. In an incredibly constructed scene, you see Manu talking to a mirror being held by Surabhi which was symbolic of his real life ambitions versus his reel life with Surabhi. He reunites with Priya one-day only to realise that he has been imagining, this while keeping an eye on his beloved from a distance. As they say, one can lose sanity in love, something that Manu begins experiencing with his attempt to murder the husband of Priya who has been fighting a battle of his own. This before better sense prevails while also forming a bond with Priya’s son(named Puneeth, a nice little homage to Puneeth Rajkumar), something that he feels is his own child.

The characters of Surabhi and the husband(of Priya) are only used as catalysts in the screenplay while the quest lies with Manu wishing to meet Priya for that one time while coaxing her back in singing. This purity in a love story is rare but the film slightly loses focus when it wishes to focus on the revenge angle between Manu and his inmate from Jail, Somu. That did blur the quest of Manu for me while making the drama a littke coherent. This was different from the revenge angle with his ex-employer which was organic and it didn’t start with the very sentiment. The screenplay is a little uneven in the second hour but the sense of incompleteness in the relationship between Manu and Priya is always there, and the writers tap into that beautifully in the events leading to the final act.

The final act did follow some predictable beats with respect to its conclusion including an incredible one-take action sequences with a static wide frame showcasing all the action that does transpire. Yet the conclusion was just so heartbreaking that it shattered me in a million pieces all over again. The idea of ending the drama at the sea was symbolic of the title of the film and it did shatter me all over again while completely leaving me to ponder on about Manu and Priya long after the film had ended. This was so refreshing from the standard Rom-Coms that have been made while just about tweaking an element here and there. This is an epic love saga of epic proportions that does leave you hollow and bleeding by the end of it. The screenplay is just so well written here and a worthy followup to Side A.