PremiumOMG! Hemanth M Rao’s first draft of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello did not have a love story
The filmmaker made the revelation about his initial plan for the story progression of SSE during a recent post Side A interview
Last Updated: 09.50 PM, Sep 13, 2023
Filmmaker Hemanth M Rao has often spoken about the fact that Sapta Sagaradaache Ello was a story that he’d first written straight after working as an assistant director on Jacob Varghese’s Puneeth Rajkumar starrer Prithvi. It was a story that Hemanth had conceptualized for the Power Star, but for various reasons, he was not able to make the film back then, and instead went on to make Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu as his debut feature film. In the years since, Hemanth says that the script had multiple overhauls, and it was only much later that he made the most important change and incorporated a love story. Yes, that’s right! If Hemanth had stuck to the original version of his story, there would have been no Manu (Rakshit Shetty) and Priya (Rukmini Vasanth) and their bond that audiences have been raving about.
Read our review: Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A review: Hemanth M Rao's throbbing love story leaves you wanting more
In a recent interview to analyse the first instalment of his two-part film, Hemanth revealed that the way he had initially envisioned the protagonist’s trajectory is that the plot point involving a hit-and-run case would have a family angle. The protagonist’s brother was the perpetrator, but since he was a family man, the former offers to take the blame and go to jail instead. This, Hemanth said, felt like a ‘trope’ upon later examination and that’s when he and his co-writer got rid of that angle and brought in the love angle. And boy, are we glad that he did that. Hemanth also revealed that the inspiration behind the hit-and-run angle was a personal experience, wherein he had witnessed the unfortunate death of a police officer, who while on drunk driving checking duty had flagged a vehicle, which then clipped him. The officer fell and succumbed to the injuries sustained.
Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A released in theatres on September 1. Side B is set for October 20, and will explore what becomes of Manu after serving 10 years in jail. While Chaithra J Achar will be introduced into the tale in Side B, the film also stars Achyuth Kumar, Ramesh Indira and Gopalkrishna Deshpande, among others.