When we observed the success of “Sita Ramam” and then saw the movie for ourselves, we just had one question- ‘Why did the same audience that loved this movie so much let “Ante Sundaraniki” flop so badly? Not to say that “Sita Ramam” is not a good movie, but it has its flaws. What baffles us is that if the audience was able to appreciate something like this, why was “Ante Sundaraniki,” which follows a similar pattern of careful world-building and was definitely flawlessly superior, not as well-received? The comparison was inevitable since our confusion regarding the latter movie is still fresh. But this article is not meant to compare the two films. “Sita Ramam” follows the story of Afreen as she sets out to return a 20-year-old letter, to its owner, who is one of the titular characters- Sita. It was written by Ram and has been with her grandfather all these years. Let us take a look at how the story unfolds.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Does Afreen Set Out To Deliver The Letter?
“Sita Ramam” starts with Afreen, who is an angry young woman, as she sets a car on fire. The reason: her hatred for India. Unfortunately for her, the car belongs to an industrialist, Anand Mehta. He is responsible for sponsoring the education of many underprivileged students. Afreen’s dean wants to expel her for her actions, but Mr. Mehta doesn’t want her education to be affected. He tells her that her hatred can only be ended with love. Afreen scoffs, and we cringe at this line. Either way, she is given two options: either apologize for her actions or compensate him for the car, which cost a million.
Afreen makes her way back to Pakistan to meet her grandfather, Abu Tariq. Both of them had a falling out, and Afreen decided to apologize to him so that she could ask him for the money. But upon arrival, she finds that her grandfather has passed away. His lawyer had been trying to contact her for a whole month, but she kept ignoring his calls, so she was unaware of this. Did we mention that this was happening in 1985? Afreen tells the lawyer to just give her the inheritance so that she can be on her way. But he lets her know that to gain access to that, she must deliver a certain letter to Sita, according to the instructions of her late grandfather. Only then can she access the money. The letter was written by Ram, Abu Tariq’s friend, and he states that Afreen owes it to him to deliver it. While she doesn’t completely understand the purpose of that, Afreen agrees. She makes her way to India and gets help from one of her seniors, Balaji, for her task. They find out the story in bits and pieces from various sources. Predictably, it is a transformative journey for her and one that forces her to take a good look at her own perspective on life. Here’s what she finds out about the couple.
Sita And Ram’s Love Story
Ram is a lieutenant in the Indian Army. During an interview after a successful mission, he reveals that he is an orphan and that his entire life has been in the barracks. This prompts a barrage of letters from across the country, all of whom have accepted him as part of their families. But there is one letter that stands apart from the others, and it is from a woman named Sitamahalakshmi, who claims that she is Ram’s wife. Ram is enamored with the letters and, subsequently, with Sita. He eventually comes to know that she is in Delhi and leaving for Hyderabad through a clue in one of them. He finds her on the train, and as soon as he sees her, he knows that she is the one he has been looking for. He hands her a letter that has his contact details for his Hyderabad address. But as luck would have it, it was 1985, and the phone she was supposed to call on was not working. But Sita was a woman ahead of her time, and she simply showed up at the address. Ram is beyond delighted to see her. Next, they meet at a magic show, and Ram believes that she is a dance teacher for Princess Noorjahan.
As their story progresses, both of them find themselves falling more and more in love. Ram discovers that Sita is someone he has rescued during the aforementioned mission. During that process, he had called her his wife, to protect her. Sita has just continued that with her letters. Ram asks Sita to marry him, which leaves her stupefied and she runs away. That’s when we come to know that Sita is, in fact, none other than Princess Noorjahan herself. She is unable to reveal her true identity to Ram, and things get more complicated for her when familial duty comes in the way. Their family’s assets in Oman have been seized by the royal family there, and the only way to take back control of them is if the Prince of Oman agrees to marry Noorjahan. Unfortunately, he says yes. Ram has asked Sita to meet him before he leaves, but she is unable to do so as she finds herself bound by her duties. Both of them return to their lives, Ram in the Army and Sita in her palace. But this is not the end for them. A reporter has taken photographs of the time they have spent with each other and published them in his newspaper. When the envoy from Oman questions Sita about it, she accepts the truth and breaks off her engagement. Free of the shackles that bound her, she goes to Ram in Srinagar. And this marks the second phase of their love story. Things couldn’t be better for the two of them. However, it looks like good things don’t last very long, and Ram is enlisted for a secret mission by the Army. Should he fail it, he would be disowned by the country. Predictably, the mission is successful, but it is not good news yet as Ram goes back inside to rescue a little girl, Waheeda, and in the process, is caught along with his fellow comrade Vishnu. They are taken hostage by the Pakistan Army and continuously tortured. But Abu Tariq comes to their rescue. With some of his efforts and Noorjahan’s influence in India combined, they broker a deal with the Pakistan Army-they must let Vishnu and Ram go in exchange for one of their own in the Indian jail. Just when it looks like there is hope, along comes the biggest obstacle. The Army decides that only one of them can leave the jail. They asked both of them, individually, if they would be willing to give up the coordinates of the Indian Army in Kashmir. Ram refuses, but Vishnu agrees, fearing for the safety of his family. He is let go, while Ram bears the weight of the unfair accusation of being a traitor.
‘Sita Ramam’ Ending Explained: Does Sita Get The Letter? Is Ram Alive?
The last part of Sita and Ram’s story is narrated to Afreen by Vishnu himself. He reveals that he has been suffering for the past 20 years under the weight of the guilt of his actions. He also reveals that Afreen is none other than Waheeda, the girl Ram was trying to rescue when he was captured by the Army. Afreen is beyond shocked. She knows now that the letter was written by Ram in prison, right before his execution. He had given it to her adoptive grandfather, Abu Tariq, as his final words to Sita. Vishnu asks her where the letter is. She tells him that it is with Balaji, and he must have delivered it to Sita by now, who is in Kashmir. True to her words, Sita has received the letter. It turns out that Ram knew that she was Princess Noorjahan. In prison, he had come across a newspaper clipping that said that “Princess Norrjahan was in love with a common man.” Professing his love for her and regretting the time that they lost, he calls this letter the final page of their love story. It also contains details of the exact events of that time. With the letter as proof, Sita is able to clear Ram’s name. Vishnu commits suicide out of guilt and also due to being unable to face the subsequent shame that would come with the truth. Afreen is a changed woman and is now able to look beyond her hatred of the country and appreciate its humanity. She apologizes to Anand Mehta and works towards the release of more such war prisoners. This brings us to the end of “Sita Ramam.”
Final Thoughts: What Works For ‘Sita Ramam’?
Love is found in the details of any love story, and that holds true for “Sita Ramam” as well. It had its flaws, and they were just some of the more unnecessary bits that added nothing to the movie. For example, we couldn’t digest the need for the apple-mango talk. Also, when the bartender asks Afreen what kind of alcohol she wants, she replies with ‘one that burns.’ It was a little cringe. The ending was slightly rushed, and Sita constantly had an identity crisis between being Noorjahan as well as the woman who loved Ram. Why did she have to separate the two? There is something to be said here about our obsession with painting a certain country as the enemy, but we won’t say it except that tapping into this nationalist sentiment is what caused “Sita Ramam” to be successful where “Ante Sundaraniki” failed. This is a great movie, and we applaud the effort. It just goes to prove that if the industry makes an actual effort, they can come up with good content. It hasn’t escaped our notice that most good romance movies have been given to us by the South Indian film industry. So we know now where to look when we want to watch something of our favorite genre. Hope Bollywood takes the hint, but either way, we are happy to finally have a source of good romance movies.
“Sita Ramam” is a 2022 Romance Drama film directed by Hanu Raghavapudi.
