Arangetram is a short film performed by the acclaimed danseuse Savitha Sastry, and directed by the award-winning Director AK Srikanth. The release of this film is the third this year; a year that marks the tenth anniversary of Savitha and Srikanth’s production company, that had made acclaimed films such as Descent, Beyond the Rains, Dvija and The Colors Trilogy.
This short film is a throwback to the cinema of breezy comedies by stalwarts such as Amol Palekar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. Usually known for their intense denouements, this time Savitha and Srikanth have embarked on a genre that has never been attempted by them before. Through this, they wanted to create a film that can be watched and enjoyed by an extended family together – much as we enjoyed classics such as Chupke Chupke, Angoor or Golmaal.
Arangetram also stars several cine and television artists from Kollywood, including Kausalya Natarajan and Zeeba Ashrin who play important supporting casts. The film, based in the milieu of a typical apartment-dwelling middle class family, focuses on how age should never be a bar to go after one’s dreams. While the film centers around the character played by Savitha, every supporting actor also has quirks and eccentricities that makes the whole characterization believable, and yet joyous.
