Utsavam review: A bland mixture of romance and sermons about artistry

Two families, devoted to the art of theatre, and whose children have eloped from the wedding mandap, decide to stage an enactment until things are resolved. It’s the biggest challenge of their lives, that can only be tackled using the biggest strength of their lives. Director Arjun Sai unknowingly sets up a very interesting premise early in his debut film Utsavam. I use the word unknowingly, because Arjun Sai shows no inclination to bank on this premise, and instead lets his script go haywire — Utsavam, resultantly, is a lethargic mess. 

Early on in the film, there is a beautifully poignant dialogue where an actor reflects on how pain for an artist, unlike their monthly EMIs, doesn’t arrive in instalments. It’s clear that Arjun Sai, who is also the scriptwriter here, is interested in exploring the ignored world of theatre. At the same time, the pressures of making a commercially viable film show up. Utsavam is also a love story between two young people who don’t have much in common except their heritage of theatre and stage. While Rama (Regina Cassandra) is a non-believer when it comes to the magic of theatre, Krishna (Dilip Prakash) earns sincerity and begins a journey of connecting to other artists of the increasingly overlooked art form.

Director: Arjun Sai

Cast: Regina Cassandra, Dilip Prakash, Nasser, Prakash Raj, Rajendra Prasad

Unfortunately, the narrative of Utsavam is bland and disorienting. Everytime we want to be invested in the love story, the film veers back to its excessively earnest moments revolving around the lives of theatre artists. When we are settling in for a preachy yet sincere story about the underdog artists, the narrative abruptly jumps back to the two protagonists and their seesaw relationship. Even though the film starts with very lofty statements about theatre as an art form and a few dialogues about the dire state of ‘true artists,’ it never stays sincere about exploring that theme further. There is very little original about the love story between Rama and Krishna either. In a Kushi-like segment, after a period of separation, the two lovers come close to each other while helping their two friends, who want to get married, unite. Somewhere, in the second half, we stop caring about whether the lovers will reunite.

Amidst a series of poorly executed scenes and tiring tropes (including a couple of action scenes with Dilip Prakash that seem deliberately staged, like spoofs, except they aren’t), Arjun Sai incorporates an ambitious moment during the first meet between the two protagonists. As Rama asks Krishna to impress her in a unique way, the hero pours colours down a waterfall stream, which lends a whole new bloom to the scenery. It’s a disarming moment because the filmmaker, for a moment, decided to not be encumbered by his technical constraints and rather went for a visual that’s all heart. 

Prakash Raj is the only actor in the ensemble who seems to be having any fun, which is a pity because the ensemble cast here is massive. In fact, the opening segment of Utsavam is the most satisfying stretch of the film. As we see one stalwart after another walk in the frame—Prakash Raj, Nasser, Rajendra Prasad, Brahmanandam — you are enthralled by the mere possibility of having these veterans come together for a story. However, Utsavam only goes downhill from there, as you slowly come to terms with the reality that the script fails to do justice to this line-up of actors.