Sita Sings the Blues is an animated film based on one of the episodes in the Ramayana, but adapted to modern sensibilities, that has Sita -Rama's wife- as the centre of the story. The movie deals with love, longing, faithfulness, exile, search for love and destiny.
The movie intertwines four different types of 2-D colourful animation, each one offering four different approaches to the same chapter of the Ramayana:
1/ There is the story on how the movie was created and how the author came to think of it, how her personal life got mixed up with the project.
2/ There is the story of the chapter told straight forward.
3/ There is a musical version of it in which Sita -the main character- sings some classic blues that convey what is happening in the story, and in which Sita expresses her feelings and mood.
4/ Finally, there is a review of comment of the story told made by two h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s Hindu shadow puppets, who offer a witty interpretation of it expressed in an every-day language.
5/ There is even an intermission, as still happens in Indian cinemas, with a cute and kitsch show.
The movie can be confusing at the beginning, but once you understand the different parts, you will immerse yourself in a movie that is original, witty and very entertaining. Something completely different from what you are used to watch in modern animation.
There are not many independent animation movies being made by women. Just this deserves praise. However, what makes the movie so good is its originality, the concept lying behind, and its wittiness. The music is great, not just because of the blues.
The film has been controversial because Paley was not aware that the Annette Hanshaw's songs used in the film were still under copyright, despite the singer being dead for many years. Hanshaw's heirs sued Paley for an astronomical sum, but they reached an agreement and settled for $50,000, which is a tremendous amount of money for an independent artist who made this film using her own money, donations, and counted with the free help of Indian musicians and actors.
You can donate by visiting Paley's website.
