Movie Review: Saawariya

One question popped into my mind (& I'm sure everyone else's as well), after 'Black', what next for Sanjay Leela Bhansali. And then came news of him taking Rishi's son and Anil's daughter for a film titled 'Saawariya'. I dont know about others, but I was immediately interested, and was eagerly awaiting, first the promos, and then the actual release, of this movie. I have always felt that as far as visualizing a frame is concerned, SLB is peerless. With Saawariya, he reaffirms his position as a visualizer, but disappoints as story teller, mainly coz he picked too plain a story to tell.

A free-spirited guy falls for an enticingly pretty girl, but the girl is actually waiting for the return of a stud who left her with the promise of returning in a year. All too simple and plain. The movie takes its own time to progress, and while the visualization is outstanding and some of the performance are really good, for me , this movie ends up as a flawed masterpiece. Make no mistake though, I really like flawed masterpieces. Company and Lagaan are two such movies which come straight to mind. Although I do know that Saawariya wont be nearly as critically acclaimed as Company nor as widely loved as Lagaan, simply coz this movie was released in the real world. Had it been released in a world similar to the one SLB has created in the movie, it would have gone down as a classic similar to the way Mughal-E-Azam is considered in our own world. In fact, I have a better way of expressing what I think of Saawariya. If a 'flawed masterpiece' can be considered as one standard entity, then this film is a flawed 'flawed masterpiece'! :-)

Technically, the movie is outstanding. The editing is good, the sets are magnificent, and the cinematography is some of the best you will see. SLB's vision of the place where the story is set may be questioned in terms of concept, but in terms of look, it is pure class. Why ask the question 'Where does such a place exist?' when you would be much better off wondering 'Wouldnt it be great to live in,or at least visit, such a place?'. The writing of the movie could (and should) have been better. The pace of the movie is slow to the point of coming across as indulgence on the part of the director.

Coming to the performances, Ranbir is really confident and looks like a future superstar every inch of the way. He portrays a likeable character and it is hard to imagine anyone doing it as well as him. Sonam is saddled with one of the weakest-written characters for the female lead of a Hindi film in ages, and she doesnt really help matters with her acting prowess. She is just passable. Rani is good. Watch one of the earliest scenes in the movie, where she progresses from happiness to sadness in the space of one dialogue from her about how dreams dont get fulfilled. The happiness is over-the-top, but the subtle signs of sadness with the hint of tears welling up as the dialogue progresses is something which, I confess, I dint think Rani ever had the potential to pull off. Salman is quite good in his very brief appearance.

It is quite plain that Om Shanti Om will win the box-office race between these two movies quite easily, simply because OSO offers more to the average viewer who goes to the movies during the festive time to get entertained. But I feel no shame in saying that I liked Saawariya a lot more than OSO. I give it 4 on 7.

P.S : I'm glad that no one may read this coz I cant believe I mentioned Mughal-E-Azam in the review of a movie that is not Mughal-E-Azam!