‘Saawariya’
Targets Eternal Love
By Ras H. Siddiqui
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Sony Picture’s “Saawariya”,
a new Bollywood-Hollywood movie, was released in the United
States (and worldwide) on November 9.
Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story, White Nights, this
production has been sculpted in the capable hands of Sanjay
Leela Bhansali, who brought us the epic “Devdas”
and the critically acclaimed “Black”. The film
also contains a number of “firsts’ that are bound
to generate much interest amongst the South Asian viewing
public anywhere, starting with the fact that this is the first
Indian movie which is Hollywood-produced (Columbia Tristar
Pictures).
It is also a first that a movie starring Salman Khan and Rani
Mukherjee these days that does not present them in lead roles,
as that honor goes to the relatively “unknowns”
Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor.
The fact that Ranbir Kapoor (who plays the character of Raj)
happens to be the son of Rishi Kapoor and Sonam (playing part
of Sakina), is the daughter of Anil Kapoor, cannot be lost
to readers here. The “First Family” of the Indian
film industry founded by Prithviraj Kapoor is very much present
and is the focus of Saawariya’s acting pool. It seems
that Sawariya may just be extending one of the richest and
longest legacies of the South Asian film industry today with
the grandchild of Raj Kapoor, a personal favorite of mine,
making their debut in this film.
The reason of writing this review is both fan demand and the
Sanjay Leela Bhasali (SLB) imprint on this film. Not one who
is a regular fan of traditional blockbusters from Bollywood
such as Devdas (2002), it was the movie Black (2005) that
convinced critics like myself that SLB has the touch of a
genius in his cinematic efforts. Making such a sad story both
presentable and hopeful takes extraordinary talent. Black
has to be one of the finest films to come out from India since
the turn of the century enhancing Rani Mukherjee’s career
and possibly putting the icing on the acting legacy of the
legend, Amitabh Bachchan.
Here in Saawariya (Eternal Partner of the Soul) screenplay
writer Prakash Kapadia has to go up against his own excellent
past work in both Devdas and Black. Although little is yet
known about the story in this movie (especially Salman Khan’s
role in it) thus far, there are going to be some challenging
segments of a rumored trans-religious love affair between
Raj and Sakina. Rani Mukherjee (as Gulab) is also to be as
colorful as ever in this film. And no matter what else it
has in store for the viewers, the richest dialogues from the
Hindi-Urdu language realm are expected, since many including
this writer have already had a chance to listen to the Saawariya
music soundtrack.
Music for this film was provided by Monty Sharma and one song
by SLB. Lyrics for the songs have predominently been written
by Sameer and to a lesser extent Nusrat Badr, and Sandeep
Nath. Vocals are by Shail Hada (Saawariya title Song), Shaan,
Sherya Ghoshal, Parthiv Gohil, Richa Sharma, Kunal Ganjawala
and one song by Alka Yagnik. The title song is strong. Another
song “Masha-Allah” is experimental and could have
used stronger vocals. The professional voice of Alka Yagnik
sure stands out in “Chhabeela”. “Jab Se
Teray Naina” and “Yoon Shabnami” work well
and remind us of Veer-Zaara somehow. And the naughty “Thoray
Badmash ho Tum” and Jaan-e-Jaan are destined to become
popular among the younger viewers.
To conclude here, it is once again significant that SLB Films
which made Saawariya is being backed by Sony and Columbia
Pictures. That in itself shows two major emerging realities
of Indian films today; namely that the confidence level of
overseas financing in select Bollywood films is high and that
the market for such films is now recognized as truly global
in nature.
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