There are very few movies, which actually have an ensemble that is 100% apt and every craft that goes into making a film resemble the work of an opera and hence, makes it an eternal masterpiece. The result, more often than not, is a beautiful picture that flows smoothly on the silver screen and creates an enchanted feeling for the audience and mesmerizes them all the while. Perhaps, this is the one good thing about the entertainment industry – there is always a change in the mindset of the people who watch films, and also a change in the way the technicians make the films, but good films always have their own space and time and create an impact irrespective of the time frame they are released to public viewing. Such, timeless classic in Telugu films is Saagara Sangamam. In Saagara Sangamam, there are many minute things that make a lot of difference. I simply can’t help myself to praise this film, which is a story of a failed classical dancer to many, but a wonderful display of human emotions to fanatics like me.
Getting into the details, it has Kamal Haasan, Jayaprada, Sarath Babu on the screen who take the bulk of the on-screen time, apart from few small, yet memorable roles. One such role is played by SP Shailaja who is the connection between the past and the present of the film. Her role is used to connect the missing parts of the story from the viewer’s perspective, she is used to ask questions that the viewers get in their mind – in various junctures of the movie flow. I think this is a technically brilliant move by the Kala Thapasvi K Vishwanath, for whom I am not a judge nor a critic but an admirer, thats all. He is indeed a true sage with respect to movies, the way he depicts sense and sensibility without doing injustice to the commercial film-making, is a commendable effort. The golden age of Telugu cinema saw some of his wonderful movies like Shankarabharanam, Saagara Sangamam, Swaathi Muthyam, Shubhalekha, Shruthi layalu, Sirivennela, Saptha Padhi..these are some movies that stay in my mind for their beauty and the depiction of human emotions that are quintessentially part of every human being.
One beautiful thing about this movie is, the narration interspersed with experiences of a highly talented Classical dancer trained in many dance forms and having respect for the same. Kamal Haasan plays the role of Balakrishna Bhagavathar a struggling dancer, who finds it tough to kill his moralities for attaining success in this commercial world. He plays this role with flair for two reasons, one, he is skilled as a dancer and two, an actor par excellence and nothing less than that. Then we have Madhavi, played by Jaya prada, who defined beauty in this movie, and role-wise defined what admiration can do to human beings. The admiration that starts as a playful peeping into the protagonist’s tryst with a photography camera, makes us feel enchanted in the way it sprouts to a relationship that cannot be explained in simple words. The whole essence of this movie, revolves around this relationship that is shared between Balu and Madhavi. In short, this is depicted sweetly, and in a beautiful manner.
The title is ‘Saagara Sangamam’ meaning ‘The confluence’ or the junction of two rivers. I have come to a safe conclusion that K Vishwanath creates half of the magic through his movie titles after understanding his movies – Shankaraabharanam, Swaathi muthyam, Sirivennela, Swarna Kamalam to name a few, and the rest of the magic is weaved in terms of amazing scenes etched with wit and humor and a heavy undercurrent of values, often using dance, music or the Indian-ness and Indian version of religion as the theme.
Balakrishna is a struggling dancer. He has a doting mother, who works as a cook along with his uncle. His Father is recollected as a Dance guru, who couldn’t make it big, but has ingrained the necessary skills in his son and wanted to see him grow into a great dancer. He eventually dies, and leaves the assets of poverty and Dance to his son, which the son duly increases in size, especially the Dance. During the stage of realizing that he is not fit for the commercial world of Dance, he befriends Raghu, who is a poet, and a person who shares thoughts and aspirations towards life and it’s challenges. He is the best friend Balu has for life, and it is him who stands through the thick and thin of life beside Balu as a constant source of support and strength when life treats Balu with its whims and fancies.
Balu meets Madhavi in one of the instances and from then on, they both share an admiration for each other. Madhavi is the daughter of a wealthy business man, and a patron of the dance forms of India. She chances to meet Balu as part of her hobby in a temple and clicks his photographs without him knowing them. Later this dance brings them together with a few funny and interesting episodes and screen-time. She presents an opportunity of his life time to Balu, to perform at an International conference involving the big-wigs of the Indian Classical dance forms of Bharathanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi and etc. The scenes are amazingly done and reflect the passion Balu has for dance, and perhaps the best display of histrionics on silver screen, I’ve ever seen.
Destiny thinks otherwise on the day of the performance. Balu’s mother falls sick and eventually dies. The only person in his life who wanted to see him grow to the stature of a great dancer, and his source of strength lost in a tragic incident – Balu becomes a disappointed man. At this moment, he seeks solace in Raghu and Madhavi, and eventually is charmed by Madhavi’s support and words of encouragement. He wishes to marry her and proposes to her. The mystery of Madhavi’s past involving a marriage that had ended due to some issues with the in-laws unravels and leads to another setback for Balu. He sacrifices his love, and in fact respects the institution of Marriage and brings Madhavi and her husband together.
Years later, the times that are shown in the movie as the present tense, Balu becomes an alcoholic and works as a newspaper journalist/critic. He writes critically about an amateur dancer which happens to be the daughter of Madhavi, this triggers back the memories and the old times. Madhavi comes to know of the situation Balu is in, and decides to stand by him and console him and thereby revive the dance that is dying and left useless. She hides from him about her husband’s death, and requests to impart the divine knowledge to her daughter and in a way thinks that this would push him from the clutches of alcoholism and divert his attention towards the passion he had for that art. The film ends with the performance of Shailaja, who realizes the relation between Madhavi and Balu and also the importance of dedication and passion for performing any art. The ending is a melancholy with Balu taken away in a wheel chair by Raghu after he collapses and Madhavi rightly coming up to cover him with an Umbrella when it is raining. This is an epitome of the whole movie, where a friend like Raghu was always there beside Balu and Madhavi as a person who is always there to protect this bonding.
The credits roll with a wonderful message of ‘No END for ART!’, and everytime I see this movie, leaves me in an enchanted state of mind, that I stop living and I start clapping.
This movie is certainly one of those inspirational movies, and stresses on the fact that Art in any form should be encouraged, though the medium used in this film was Dance.
Let me take you through the scenes of the movie, that I can recollect almost at any moment of the day, and feel happy – that I’ve watched this movie a good 200 times at least. I would name few of the scenes that touched my heart and will stay there safe until I suffer from some sort of loss of memory. Here goes the list
- Balu talking about the importance of passion and respect for the various forms of art, first scene where he depicts different dance forms to Kumari Shailaja
- Madhavi’s introduction scene in the temple, and the famous ‘bhangima’ with the amateur photographer
- Flashback narration of the way the character Balu despises the Dancemaster who is shown as a knowledgeable person but commercialized and hence blinded by it. The director/writer use their choicest words in describing the usage of dance in films particularly in the genre of to engage the front-benchers with awful lyrics and gyrating hips
- Balu recollecting how he lost the opportunity of seeing an All India Dance festival owing to his poverty, and the way he says ‘Vundaalandi..(indicating his fate)’ and the expression he delivers when he is overjoyed to look at his photograph as a performer in the upcoming Dance festival. I remember crying, watching this the first time.
- Balu’s dance performance in front of his mother on the death bed. The lyrics are amazing in this film
- The scene in which Balu proposes to Madhavi from a public telephone booth that eventually opens the mystery of Madhavi’s past and her marriage that turned as a disaster.
- Raghu explaining to Madhavi, as to why Balu has become an alcoholic and how he is neglecting the dancer in him. He explicitly says, as to how he lost the inspiration first in the case of his mother, and then in Madhavi herself.
- The song ‘Thakita thadhimi…‘ that was picturized on top of the well, where Balu is dancing after getting drunk, and again the lyrics are amazing here. The song ends with Madhavi’s character defining again the relationship these two characters share – in reviving the art in Balu. This is the best moment of the film, and the way Kamal protects her Sindhoor getting washed away in the rain, is perhaps the best moment of director’s skill I’ve lived to see.
- The climax scene in which, Balu’s character introduces himself to the crowds who have come to witness his knowledge and skill through Shailaja is done in a manner only Kamal can do.
There are many intimate scenes that actually build up to the whole story, and aid the best scenes in the movie. That is the reason this movie remains a classic in my heart and I wish to see it again and again and again…
It was the reason, I started watching movies..
It was the reason, I started loving movies…and it was the reason, I started admiring Kamal Haasan for being an artist who is dedicated and genuine and hence a Master.
I can never stop appreciating this film. Until next time, I see this movie and with moist eyes appreciate the director for giving a wonderful film, I would like to thank him for the pleasure he gave me!
Adios!
