Spoilers ahead…
Text:
Anna Ben debuted in Kumbalangi Nights, and the films that followed, Kappela and Helen, played on her innocence and charm. This is a girl we want to root for on screen. She’s a good girl to whom you don’t want bad things to happen. It’s interesting to see Anna Ben play with this persona with a role that requires her to be a little selfish. Selfishness is usually considered a bad thing. But sometimes, you need to be selfish to get the things that you really want in life; society might not let you get it otherwise.
Read the rest of this article at the link below.
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/malayalam-review/saras-movie-malayalam-review-amazon-prime-video-anna-ben-a-satisfying-feel-good-entertainer-about-difficult-choices-sunny-wayne/
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Kannan (SP)
July 5, 2021
wrong link has been shared
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brangan
July 6, 2021
The text review is up.
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shaviswa
July 10, 2021
Happened to watch this today. Not sure if this is just me but I found it extremely tedious and tiring to watch.
It was almost an hour into the film and you have still not hit the part where the story takes an interesting turn. And the last part was all so conveniently done – not convincing though.
It looks like the family is happy with the decision she took, because the film turned out to be a hit. What would they have done had the film bombed? Or worse, got stuck in production issues and never made it? Will they be as accepting as they were when the film was successful?
The film raises an important question but does not delve in deep enough to try to figure out an answer to it. Or even attempt to explore it in deeper detail.
It was a tough watch and I finished the movie because I had started it and did not want to end it half way
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ravenus1
July 11, 2021
Sara’s was to me like watching PK (a lot less tedious) or Sherni (but less grim), in the sense that it’s not in itself a great movie – the characters feel as designed as their houses and bedsheets – but it raises an important issue – that of a woman’s control over her body and the state of not having to justify one’s decision to not have children. You could probably have a more emotionally gripping and credible story from the same outline, but the candy-coating may mean that more people will be willing to watch this film as entertainment and the message thereby finds a larger audience.
As regards Shaviswa’s post, no I don’t think the parent’s support had anything to do with the film’s success. Their support was for Sara’s decision to focus on what she wanted to do, not its success or failure. It does come a little pat, but that’s in keeping with the film’s approach.
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tonks
July 11, 2021
It’s really commendable that the movie highlights the fact that having a baby is ultimately the lady’s choice, considering that in India there’s so much pressure on getting married, and having children soon afterwards.
Making it with a Christian background, is especially forward considering that let alone abortion, even contraception is taboo amongst Catholics. And one gets to see large families with six or more kids, proudly embracing every child concieved as God’s gift.
So are these characters, the ones that have the freedom to “observe” their multiple boyfriends and their performances before committing to marriage, are these for real? Has the sexual revolution finally happened in parts of Kerala?
I think the answer to that is that the character is aspirational. Like the wonderfully liberal husband, the doctor who so whole heartedly advocates for the lady’s choice, and the entire family – in laws and even the shrewish aunt character, coming around finally to so whole heartedly accept Sara’s decision.
I am not complaining, though. The more such movies are made, the more Kerala will start moving away from regression that is the ground reality. Towards real gender equality and less judgment.
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Bala
July 13, 2021
The movie poses some important questions, but sidesteps a lot of related questions, so it doesn’t feel the issue was handled properly.
The most important question is raised by Sara’s father. Deciding not to have a child is easy, but choosing to abort is not so straight forward.
What if the the couple came to know of the pregnancy 10 days before they got the call back from the producer. At first, the odds of making her career work out might have been so low that it wouldn’t have been worthy to abort . And then having decided to carry on with the pregnancy, if the career opportunity shows up, will she change her mind?
The doctor’s counseling didnt feel enough. May be it was enough for Sara to convince herself that she is right, but I don’t see how it could have convinced the husband. All the doctor told was, the husband doesn’t have any say. But they conveniently ignored the fact that abortion without consent is grounds for divorce. He could have emotionally blackmailed her.
Also, compromise in career choice has to be done for several other reasons as well. What if the husband too had some other dream, and for the sake of running the family, he compromised and chose a somewhat less interesting job.
I feel the movie confused between not having kids and abortion, even though it explicitly stated they are different, it didn’t handle the difference.
Not saying that Sara is the the sole deciding authority in the matter, or, she should decide in some particular way, but, the problems in choosing one way or other is not presented properly.
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Bala
July 13, 2021
Correction in previous comment:
Not saying that Sara is Not the sole authority
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ravenus1
July 13, 2021
“At first, the odds of making her career work out might have been so low that it wouldn’t have been worthy to abort . And then having decided to carry on with the pregnancy, if the career opportunity shows up, will she change her mind?”
Sara was always against the idea of having kids. One of the reasons she started dating the man was when he said he would want a woman that wouldn’t bear kids. She is never in doubt of her stance, and it has nothing to do with whether opportunity was knocking at her door or not. The main question was, whether her spouse and surrounding family would agree with that stance or whether they would persuade/force her into changing it for the sake of traditional beliefs.
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tonks
July 28, 2021
This is such a well analyzed critique if the movie that puts across many points I had missed :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.filmcompanion.in/readers-articles/saras-movie-review-is-saras-choice-anna-ben-sunny-wayne/
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