What happens to you whenever you fail at something you really care about? Do you cry for a day and move on, or do you hold onto your failure for weeks? To what extent do you think a person should express their grief without harming the others around them? In the case of Sivanaga, popularly known as Arjun Reddy, a simple heartbreak made him do many unthinkable things. A common theme in many Indian movies is love, and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga capitalized on the idea of the extent a person can go when their heartbreak is as big as a skyscraper.
Sivanaga was a third year in residency when he met the girl who would become the love of his life, literally. Sivanaga had major anger issues as a person, where he would fight left and right even for the slightest problems. His rage gave him a reputation of being feared in all of the college. Similar to Ram Saket in 100% love, none of the family members or staff would heavily punish Sivanaga due to him being one of the top rankers in the college.
After meeting Preethi, Sivanaga realized that there is no one else he would want to be with for the rest of his life. Sivanaga immediately used the college’s fear of him to make sure no one would even dare to look at Preethi. In the end, even Preethi falls for Sivanaga’s dangerous love. They have a good relationship up until Sivanaga graduates and becomes a general surgeon. However, the real problems start whenever Preethi’s parents don’t accept their love and set up an arranged marriage for Preethi with someone else.
After Preethi left, Sivanaga was like a flame where instead of water, oil was used to put out the flame. Alcohol became water to Sivanaga. Weed became food for Sivanaga. Working and operating surgeries under the influence became uncommon for him. The college, hospital staff, friends, and even family became afraid of him. Coming back to the phrase “love of his life,” it was as if his life and morality ended as soon as Preethi left.
Finally, medical higher ups find out and suspend Sivanaga, and when Sivanaga’s grandma passed away, Sivanaga slowly started to quit his bad habits. After moving back to his parents house to reconnect with them, Sivanaga finds Preethi again. He finds out that she left her husband almost immediately after problems arose, and that she was always waiting for Sivanaga to come back. They reconcile and start their relationship again in the right way.
Was Sivanaga right in acting the way he did? Most likely, people would say no as he put his own and others’ lives in danger. However, dealing with failures might not be as simple as taking up new hobbies and meditation. For example, for some reason you had to quit your dream job and have no chance to work like that again. How would you deal with it? Though there are certainly wrong ways to cope with situations, what are the right ones?
I think like many people, Sivanaga did what he felt was necessary to fill the internal pain he felt. Although I believe his approach was unhealthy and relied on one person for happiness, I can understand why he would do such a thing. Arranged marriages are commonly ignored as they have been practiced culturally for hundreds of generations. Your take on this is able to spread light and hope. An arranged marriage doesn’t have to always be the only outcome and you should never judge someone’s actions as the consequences may be detrimental.
I really enjoyed your use of metaphors with the “alcohol became water” because it showed how much Sivanaga was struggling after the love of his life left. I think it’s interesting to see how this movie follows a character who has obvious flaws and how he learns to reconcile with them in the end. Your questions at the end are thought-provoking. Healthy coping strategies are certainly difficult because everyone is different, everyone reacts to situations differently, and usually the healthy ways are not the easiest ways.