''Sara's'' is a 2021 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

directed by

Jude Anthany Joseph Jude Anthany Joseph (born Sijo Joseph) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, who works in Malayalam film industry. His directorial debut was with ''Ohm Shanthi Oshaana'' in 2014, which won the Best Film with Popular Appeal and Ae ...

and written by Akshay Hareesh, starring

Anna Ben Anna Ben is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam cinema. The daughter of screenwriter Benny P. Nayarambalam, she made her acting debut with ''Kumbalangi Nights'' in 2019. Anna has since starred in the dramas ''Helen'' (2019) and ''Kappela ...

and Sunny Wayne in lead roles. The film features music composed by

Shaan Rahman Shaan Rahman (born 30 December 1979) is an Indian composer and singer, best known for his compositions in the Malayalam cinema. Shaan made his debut as a music director in the 2009 film ''Ee Pattanathil Bhootham'' directed by Johny Antony. He g ...

, cinematography handled by Nimish Ravi and editing done by Riyas K. Badhar. The film released directly through

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

on 5 July 2021.

Plot

Sara Vincent is a girl in mid 20's who has no desire of giving birth to a child. Working as a co-director in the film industry, her biggest dream is to become a freelance director. She marries Jeevan Philip, a guy in his early 30's, who is in line with her vision of not having a child. The film then goes on to tell of the challenges and crises that befell Sara in her life and work.

Cast

as Sara Vincent, Jeevan's wife * Sunny Wayne as Jeevan Philip, Sara's husband * Benny P. Nayarambalam as Vincent, Sara's father *

Mallika Sukumaran Mohamallika Pillai (born 4 November 1954), better known as Mallika Sukumaran is an Indian actress and businesswoman, known for her works in Malayalam cinema. She debuted in 1974 with the Malayalam film '' Utharayanam'' by G. Aravindan. Since t ...

as Reethamma Philip, Jeevan's mother *Prasanth Nair IAS as Producer Sandeep *Sreelakshmi Haridas as Sara's classmate *

Dhanya Varma Dhanya Varma is an Indian journalist and talk show host currently hosting the Malayalam talk show ''The Happiness Project'', on Kappa TV. Personal life She hails from Thiruvalla. She is married to Cdr Vijay Varma, an officer in the Indian N ...

as Dr Sandhya Philip, Jeevan's sister * Siddique as Doctor Hafiz * Vijayakumar as Actor Divakaran *

Harikrishnan Harikrishnan S. is an Indian actor and a classical dancer who appears in Malayalam cinema.Srindaa as Lissy (mother of 4 kids) *

Jibu Jacob Jibu Jacob is an Indian cinematographer and director working in Malayalam film industry. He debuted as a cinematographer in 2002 with the crime film ''Stop Violence''. After a decade long career as a cinematographer, he made his debut as a d ...

as Producer * Kottayam Pradeep as Producer *Tushara as Molly *Margareet as Gayathri *Vriddhi Vishal as Isha *

Siju Wilson Wilson Joseph (born 22 November 1984), professionally credited as Siju Wilson, is an Indian actor and producer, who works in Malayalam films. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film for his debut production '' Vasanthi'' (2019). Care ...

as Actor Rahul *Althaf Manaf as Sara's school love interest *

Aju Varghese Aju Kurian Varghese (born 11 January 1985) better known as Aju Varghese is an Indian actor and producer who appears in Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in 2010 in ''Malarvadi Arts Club'', directed by his college classmate Vineeth Sreenivas ...

as Lissy's Husband (Cameo Appearance) *

as himself (Cameo Appearance) *

Vineeth Sreenivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor an ...

as himself (Cameo Appearance) *Smruthi Anish as pregnant lady in movie theatre.

Production

Development

After the success of '' Oru Muthassi Gadha'' (2016),

began working on two scripts: the one being titled ''Detective Prabhakaran'' based on the works of renowned writer G. R. Indugopan, and other one is ''2403 ft'', based on the 2018 Kerala floods and had featured an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

with

Tovino Thomas Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who prominently works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films ''ABCD'' (2013), '' 7t ...

and Tanvi Ram in the lead roles. The project went into floors in October 2019 and two schedules had been completed until early 2020. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting movement of the entire 1.38billion (138 crore) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It wa ...

, the progress of both the films had been affected and both required a huge film crew and expenses, which could not be made due to the lockdown. As a result, Joseph temporarily halted the projects and later worked on a new film with the title ''Sara's''.

and Sunny Wayne were roped in to play leading roles, the former playing the titular character Sara, an associate director who is struggling to do her first project. The title, as mentioned by Joseph, referred to her decisions and story. He planned to address a "serious and relevant content based on childbirth, unlike his previous films which explained the "core message in an entertaining way". Anna Ben's real-life father and scriptwriter Benny P. Nayarambalam assigned to play the character of her on-screen father.

Filming

Principal shooting of the film began in mid-October 2020 after restrictions from

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

were lifted. Unlike other Malayalam films which were shot in contained locations, the film was shot in

Kochi Metro The Kochi Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It was opened to the public within four years of starting construction, making it one of the fastest completed metro projects in India. The Kochi metro proje ...

, a mall in

Edappally Edappally or Idappalli is a region in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is a major commercial centre as well as a prominent residential region. Edappally junction is one of the busiest junctions in the city. History Edappally in English ...

Wagamon Vagamon ( ml, വാഗമൺ) is an Indian hill station and a revenue village primarily located in Peerumedu taluk of Idukki district (majority area including Vagamon town), and also Meenachil taluk and Kanjirappally taluk of Kottayam di ...

and other prime sites in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

as its main location and was completed in December 2020. Joseph revealed that "When the story was first narrated to me, it only had a girl’s house and school as the key locales. But we wanted to magnify that scope. Cinematographer Nimish Ravi is someone who wants his frames to be visually striking and so when a scene comes up, I would suggest why don’t we shoot this on a boat or a metro, and he would gladly agree. So, that’s how the film took its final form". He added that the shooting was "fraught with risk" and the team found it as "challenging" filming post-pandemic. Joseph added that "when the shooting took place, the people in the background shouldn’t be wearing masks. So, the junior artistes had their masks off which was risky because even if one person got infected, it would be a danger to all. Also, by stroke of luck, when we were filming in few locations, in our wide-angle shots, there weren’t any people wearing masks in the frames of the film". Joseph being a paranoid about

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, had ensured about following the necessary safety restrictions that to be followed during the time of crisis. He added "when other films went on floors, I thought we could also do a small movie. The pandemic will be over soon, but when people watch my movie in the later years, they shouldn’t feel that it was made under restrictions. That could be one of the reasons why ''Sara's'' is shot in such a way".

Music

The film's soundtrack and score is composed by

in his third collaboration with the director

after '' Ohm Shanti Oshanaa'' and '' Oru Muthassi Gadha''. Lyrics for the songs were penned by written by

Manu Manjith Manu Manjith is an Indian lyricist and poet in Malayalam language. He is also a Homoeopath. He began his film career with the Malayalam film ''Ohm Shanthi Oshaana'' in 2014. He is a frequent collaborator of Shaan Rahman since 2014. Filmography ...

, Joe Paul and Shaan Rahman.

's wife Divya Vineeth has sung a song in the movie marking her debut in Mollywood as a playback singer.

Release

''Sara's'' began streaming on

from 5 July 2021.

Reception

The film opened to mixed to positive reviews from critics. Deepa Soman from ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and saying that the film is "a much-needed mouthpiece for women who don’t feel maternal and have no regrets about the same and also for those who don’t want to stop chasing their dreams, big or small, regardless of how others judge them about their stand on motherhood." Sowmya Rajendran of ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, And ...

'' gave 3.5 out of 5-star rating and reviewed that the film "presents an offbeat, difficult theme in a mainstream fashion that can be watched comfortably by everyone in the drawing room, which can be read as either the film's victory or its undoing". S. R. Praveen of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote the film as a "commendable attempt at course correction on some deeply set societal norms, despite its cliches". Praveen also praised Anna Ben's performance which "goes a long way in propping up the film even in places where it sags due to below-par writing".

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu'' ...

of Film Companion South wrote "Sara’s looks at a woman’s plight from a woman’s perspective. It’s about Sara’s confusions and doubts, the conflict between what she wants to do and what society wants from her." Manoj Kumar R. of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' gave 2 out of 5 stars and said that the film "works as an educational film, which could start a conversation in conservative households on subjects that are touted as beyond discussions. But the conservative setting fails to create any dramatic tension in the narration." Haricharan Pudipeddi of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' wrote that the film "doesn’t try to show motherhood as a burden but it allows one to introspect on the sacrifices women have to make to raise kids". ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'' critic Ramya Palisetty called "the film sticks to the concept till the very end - until and unless a woman is ready, she shouldn’t be forced into parenthood. Though, it might not convince everyone, the film surely start a conversation" and gave 3.5 out of 5 stars for the film. Sajin Srijith of ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

'' called that the film "appears small on the surface but packs a lot of big topics and thoughts, some of which are relatable and conveyed in a matter of seconds or minutes". Shubham Kulkarni of '' Koimoi.com'' gave 2.5 out of 5 stars saying "The flaws are not criminal that you don’t even give it a chance. If not thoroughly entertaining, it is educational and a conversation starter that we definitely need right now." Bhavana Sharma of ''

Pinkvilla Pinkvilla is an Indian entertainment and lifestyle platform. As of June 2022, Pinkvilla has over 5,00,00,000 visitors on its website and app. Overview Pinkvilla covers entertainment and lifestyle stories. Its coverage extends to Bollywood, H ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 and said "Jude Anthony deserves an applause for taking up such a sensitive and important topic and showing it in a beautiful way." A critic from ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' called the film as "a feel-good movie that has its moments and does put forward some questions which could remain in the viewers’ minds" giving 3 out of 5-star rating.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 13635872 2021 films 2021 romantic drama films 2020s Malayalam-language films Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films shot in Kochi Films scored by Shaan Rahman Amazon Prime Video original films