Film: Seetha Payana
Director: Arjun Sarja
Producer: Arjun Sarja
Starring: Niranjan Sudhindra, Aishwarya Arjun, Arjun Sarjan, Dhruva Sarja, Prakash Rai, Sathyaraj and others
Arjun Sarja who is known for his action films changed his track with ‘Prema Baraha’, a love story which was released a few years back. Now Arjun is back with another film called ‘Seetha Payana’. Though this film looks like another romantic love story on a journey, the films tell the story of a father-daughter bonding.
‘Seetha Payana’ tells the story of Seetha (Aishwarya Arjun), the protagonist a chef by profession. The daughter of a big businessman, Seetha loses her mother at a very young age and shares a very close bond with her father. She even calls him Amma, while her father calls her appa. Fear of separating from her father, she is against marriage and does not wat to leave her father along.
Once while travelling from Bangalore to Belgaum for a workshop, Seetha gives a lift to Abhi (Niranjan Sudhindra). On the way, they meet different people and face several delays. Because of these delays, Seetha escapes a gas explosion at the workshop venue. She believes her life was saved because of the people she met during the journey. To thank each one of the them including Abhi, she decides to meet them on her journey back. What happens in this journey back forms the crux of the film.
Arjun Sarja had said that the story idea of the film is 13 years old. Though the basic idea of the film is good, the way it is narrated feels old. These kinds of films mainly focus on the emotional depth, but for the beginning and climax, the emotions are missing. The bond between the father and daughter should have been the heart of the story. A daughter who does not want to leave her father and a father who wants her to get married, this storyline itself had strong emotional potential.
But the film does not explore it deeply and somehow gets diluted because of additional characters and scenes. Arjun Sarja wants it to be a family entertainer and adds all ingredients to engage the viewers. Audience who loves pacy screenplay and lots of twists and turns, may not be satisfied as the story telling is very slow. Some of the scenes looks like dragged.
Such kind of travel love stories are not new to Kannada cinema. Though the narration is slow, the film is made with a lot of sincerity and conviction. The film is simple and focuses on teaching values to today’s generation through different characters. It reflects themes like kindness to animals and respecting traditions and family values.
The film focuses mainly on Aishwarya Arjun and the actress looks good on screen and acts decently. She could have done much more in the emotional scenes. Niranjan Sudhindra is stylish and good at dancing and fights. He doesn’t have much to showcase his acting skills in the film. Arjun Sarja and Dhruva Sarja appear in cameos. Their roles are introduced mainly to add action scenes and does not help the story. Their scenes feel forced and disturb the emotional flow of the film. Prakash Rai as usual has done his bit neatly. Sathyaraj’s role feels routine. Anup Rubens’ music and Balamurugan’s visuals are decent.
‘Seetha Payana’ talks about good values and how life experiences can teach important lessons. What the film for some good lesasons on life.
Dr Veerendra Heggade plays a prominent role in ‘Veera Kambala’
