"Are you a dragger or a rusher?", growls the music teacher at his cowering drummer student in a tense sequence in the movie "Whiplash", from a few years ago. The dragging and rushing in question are about the tempo, where in a well orchestrated segment, even if one instrument plays out of the tempo, even to an untrained ear, it is just cacophony. In movie speak, this musical tempo translates to pacing. Regardless of the content, the pacing is what that effects the emotion of the next scene that follows after. Pacing always works in tadem, never alone. A single scene doesn't decide whether it is properly paced or not, but taken with the next ones that follow, the pacing has to be either consistent or gradual. An abrupt shift simply strikes a jarring note, like an a heavy sentimental scene that follows a farcical comedy, or (the eternal curse of Indian movies) cutting to a (n unwanted) song right after a taut episode, and then another immediate shift to being all serious once again etc.
Tone remaining the same, the pacing greatly impacts the intended emotion of a scene, as there is neither very little time for the necessary build up if the pacing is sped up nor the scene never lands on the right note it is too drawn out. These items are usually handled at the editing level. How fast is the pacing of a scene, and like in a relay race, how seamlessly it hands over the baton to the next one, makes the viewing experience that much smooth. "Seetha Ramam" is a tale of two vastly different cutting patterns, it is definitely a rusher for a good hour of its run time, and once it realizes that it is indeed a romantic movie at heart, it calms down, settles into its intended pace and allows itself to slow down and truly smell the roses.
The sore thumbs
Boy! the director was in such a hurry right out of the gate! To get to the core of the movie which is the mystery involving a love letter written to an orphan soldier fighting in the frontlines by a stranger, he jumps, leapfrogs, sidesteps and steeplechases over logic, facts, military procedures and a general (common) sense of (war) movie-making, hoping for a blanket pardon at the end for his unusual hurry as the script slowly finds its stride, settles into a nice rhythm and finally stretches its limbs. This rush is particularly confounding when there are about than a half a dozen writers credited in its involvement and none seem to have pointed out the obvious that the events in the first hour were happening at a breakneck speed when in fact they needed a little more room to breathe. And the little said about the military aspect of the movie, the better. When the handlers themselves, in Pakistan, constantly refer to the recruits involved in cross-border militancy as "terrorists", when, in order to make Sumanth's character the obvious antagonist, the script takes great liberties with code of conduct, standard operating procedures and his overall demeanor, when, to quell a riot that might turn into an uprising, the army's tactics appear on par with the drills of untrained youth volunteers (and many such liberally peppered throughout the movie), it is fairly apparent that the makers didn't bother to have military consultant onboard, to breath down their necks and bark constantly in their ears over the amatuerish ways the armed forces were portrayed in the feature. And so does Rashmika character's unfounded antagonism towards India, implying hating India is either every Pakistani's birth right or a congential condition. On top of these shaky conditions in the first half is built....
The soaring heights
.... one of the most poetic movies in recent times (quite literally, when, at times, characters spout poetry masquerading as dialogues). This is the stretch where the movie gets comfortable in its clothing, finds its footing and moves around with a gait and a gallop that befits a seasoned ballet artist. Telugu movies of the current era tend to have a general aversion for anything poetic, especially in romantic fares, probably afraid that the audience might not have the patience for it, or worse, dread at being labeled as "soft" in an atmosphere of all pervading blood-curdling blood-letting machismo. But starting with a title reminiscent of the movies of the yore "Seetha Ramam", the movie progresses like a short story of an accomplished author, suffused with all the little details that movies seldom have the patience for, starting and stopping at just the right points and punctuating the key moments of the scene with (literal) stoppages of play, allowing enough space and time for the emotions to sink in. While the hero gets an easier part in the proceedings, quite unlike a regular fare, it is the heroine that does the majority of heavy lifting and Mrunal Thakur carries it with a grace and a charm that befits her regal role. A striking resemblance (of the romance) to Vamsi's "mahallO kOkila" (made into "Sitaara") might entirely be coincidental, but just as Bhanupriya in "Sitaara", Ms. Thakur never overplays her coyness, tempers her exuberance letting the mystery of her character linger on until it no longer could. That she is ably helped by some of the best costuming and hair styling in recent times, adds to the sheen and the heft of her character. The ending of the movie on what is more a truthful note, than on a wishful one, as it refuses to be swayed by any market diktats, speaks of the honesty of the director (and the audacity of the producer) in telling a story that could not have had a better (and a befitting) outcome.
"Seetha Ramam" struggles to find its feet initially, but once it does, takes its flight quickly and soars high with the free spirit of an unfettered soul and a total abandon of a caged bird, much like its eponymous characters.
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