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| Saakshi O. Juneja |

Before watching the film myself, I did read a couple of online reviews on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya. Guess this is one of the drawbacks of being an impatient filmy fan. Among the write-ups I skimmed thru, I was quite amused reading a good friend’s thoughts on the concerned film. Won’t say I was influenced by his opinion (since he isn’t a fine example of a Bollywood follower) but when similar views were expressed by wife (who happens to be my best friend and a die-hard Bollywood lover) – I was a little worried. Frankly speaking, I was very worried. I mean come on, we are talking about Sanjay Leela Bhansali here; one of Bollywood’s high profiled film-maker.

But after watching the film, I fail to understand what was there not to like in Sanjay’s interpretation of romance. When some like Joginder Tuteja writes,

Saawariya is a film which didn’t have a story to begin with, ends abruptly in such a way as if the last few pages of the script went missing. [IndiaGlitz]

I really wonder what the definition of a “story” is in this man’s Bollywood dictionary – For Almighty’s sake Saawariya is as simple as a “story” can be. And by comparing it to the likes of RVG Ki Aag and No Smoking and add to this the 3.5 stars given by him to Om Shanti Om; I am bloody hell sure of one thing and that is not to commit the mistake of reading this man ever again.

Agreed Saawariya is nowhere close to Sanjay’s previous films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Black and yes, it does not display high pitched drama, an expression the director is most famous for and yet I found the film to be appealing emotionally and aesthetically. It’s a story, (oh yes it is) minus the exaggerated dialogues, predictable twists and overreactions.

As for the Kapoor debutants this is no less than a dream come true. But undoubtedly, it’s Ranbir who wins hands down. He looks good, dances brilliantly and the best bit is, the boy can “act”. At times he reminds you of his late Grandfather and then there are times when you might mistake him for the Dhoom 2 hunk, Hrthik Roshan. When people say, “acting iske khoon mein hain”, Ranbir fits as a perfect example.

Now not saying that Sonam doesn’t offer anything, she puts across the typical “girl next door” qualities; she may not look outstandingly beautiful but has a very infectious laughter. Sonam, to a large extent succeeds in expressing emotions of a girl completely lost in love. Overall she may have not been as impressive as her leading man but with time she is bound to catch up. (And no guessing here, I thought Sonam got a much greener deal than her rival Deepika).

The supporting cast is equally good; Rani is convincing, Zohara Seghal is a cutie-pie and I wish we could have more of Salman.

Music wise, Saawariya is definitely melodious-n- all but not my kind of music. But just like A. R. Rahman’s compositions they seem to grow on you after a while. And the picturization takes them to a whole new level. My favorite – the towel song, JabSe Tera Naina; never have I seen a man look so sensuous (and yes, my hormones are in check).

Final Words – In my opinion Saawariya is a beautiful story, where everything is surreal right from the word ‘go’. The narration is kept simple and the actors don’t give you much to complain. A tad slow but if you have enjoyed films like Moulin Rouge then you wouldn’t worry about the pace. I would have given Bhansali sir full 5 marks but he has to settle with 4.5 because I missed out on Ranbir’s butt.

Ps - Since alls fair in Love, War and (now) Bollywood, I suggest you go link and here for non-biased reviews.