In the last few years, concerns have loudly been raised over parenting relating it to the rising cases of rapes and molestation. Pointing towards how a child learns the basic lessons of life from the parents and family members, the concern also reveals our casual approach towards the most crucial aspect of life and its resulting consequences.
Though the film doesn’t talk about the issue with that specific angle, it remains relevant as Sara’s is all about when a couple is ready to have a child, when they decide to become parents and do they realize the huge responsibility involved in having a child and his or her upbringing?
Beginning with its focus on the immature affairs of a schoolgirl, her passion for filmmaking, the initial jobs as an assistant, and her decision to marry a boy who is also not willing to have kids, Sara’s just remains a simple feel-good film in its first half. The tension begins in the second hour when the newly married couple faces an unexpected shock leading to further complications in their relationship.
Though predictable, the progression largely keeps you engaged till the story moves on to a serious path where Sara has to decide regarding her family and her first break in the industry. From here on one expects the film to be entirely different in its tone and execution. But the directors refuse to get into the mode of a heavy emotional drama which in reality doesn’t allow the film to be an outstanding attempt in terms of a message-oriented, path-breaking cinema.
Putting it differently, the well-written climax surely works ending on a surprisingly positive note, but the deliberate light-hearted feel also restrains the film from making a solid overall impact to a large extent. Perhaps it was conceived that way as the days of heavy, melodramatic cinema are more or less over with no takers for such content in the present age of online viewership.
Moving over the drawback, Sara’s needs to be seen for the effortless, rooted performance of Anna Ben, who instantly makes a connection with her charming smile. Even when her character appears to be selfish, thinking about her ambitions and preferences before anything else, one never feels bad about that, remaining in awe of her on-screen presence and performance. Sara’s also deserves a chance for how the film presents three other mothers in the family dealing with the unexpected issue, along with Sara’s father who always supports her decision unconditionally. Here a special mention also has to be made of Sunny Wayne, playing Sara’s husband and the doctor who rightly guides the couple in the most important decision of their life, like a caring elder.
In all, Sara’s directed by Jude Anthany Joseph is a film made from the female’s perspective and the way she decides to deal with her ambitions, confusions, and dilemmas of life taking complete responsibility. That’s the reason it has been titled Sara’s with an apostrophe. The film is intelligent enough not to judge its key character for her early affairs or sex but has also been made with an obvious intention of not getting rated as a disturbing film.
However, I do wish; it disturbs and forces the youngsters to think about parenting in particular as it is one of the least discussed subjects in our social structure
Rating : 3.5 / 5
(Streaming on Amazon Prime)
Bobby Sing
(bobbytalkscinema.com)
NOTE : The article was first published in THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Newspaper (Mumbai Edition) on 13th July 2021
