Re-view.

We didn't plan the viewing of "sagara sangamam" last night. It just happened and I magically got glued to the screen with a plate of idlis in my hand.
I remember bits and pieces of the movie from the first time I'd seen it in 1984. It was my brother's first movie in the theater and so all of us remember the movie very much.
I like flash backs. I particularly liked how the director handled flash-backs from two different perspectives (the male friend and the female friend)
For anyone who has not seen the movie yet, it is a classic. A movie on the lines of "Maaya Bazzar" in the sense that it would never bore you whether it is the first time or the nth time you are watching it.
The characters are believable. There is this young woman, clad in kanchi pattu sarees , sporting a red dot on her forehead the size of a dime and a wonderful smokey eyeshadow accenting those Kohl lined eyes. (Who would guess that 23 years ago , a regional Indian movie would sport a make-up trend of 2000s?, Any way I better not drift into the make-up artist's skill)
She is a connoisseur of fine arts (photography, poetry, music, prose and dance) and is as traditional as she is cultured. It is a bit weird thought that a contributor for Illustrated weekly of India would say "I always am with you" to her friend when he asks for a reassurance"
Let alone the lousy English lines and this woman is everything a man desires for but a moron of a husband abandons her for her lack of riches. The same moron later on returns to see her settled in life with a man she falls in love in the mean time.
It doesn't happen that way though.
Balu, short for Balakrishna, convinces her to walk in her husband's foot steps and he drowns himself in intoxication and ruins a lifetime that was previously spent in pursuing Bharatnatyam, kuchipudi, kathakali and Kathak.
These bosom pals never meet after the woman leaves with her man, till at least 18 years. The man who sports the couple's picture in his suitcase and prays for them on their every anniversary fails to keep in touch with them for 18 years.
Now I think I should stop being the Virgo I am and talk about what worked for me.
Of course, the smokey, Kohl lined eyes and a face that can launch a thousand ships. You need not be Satyajit Ray, I realised, to find Jaya Prada superlatively beautiful. The icing is that she manages to act.
The characters and their names. Madhavi and Balakrishna to me the symbolism of the platonic relationship between Radha and "child" krishna. Very subtle, very suggestive of a divine romance.
Kamal Hassan's understated performance. The expressions that don't make your stomach churn with their drama and obvious hints. The absence of monotonous monologues trying to explain the audience what the characters are thinking and a fresh and innocent background score (by Maestro Illayaraja) that sets the mood.
The cotton kurta-pyjamas of Balu and the jhola of Suryam make them so believably next door.
And finally a comedy track that is woven into the main theme, expressions that make you feel involved and scenes that leave you feeling intelligent are a few reasons the double load of dishing was worth in the morning after that unplanned indulgence of watching a telugu cinema.