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mandy0310 thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#41

Saawariya is an Indian cinematic experience of rare brilliance. Either consciously, or unconsciously, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has let the influence of Baz Luhrmann's Award winning movie, Moulin Rouge take over his being.

The sets are top class, the lighting absolutely brilliant and there is a prop in every frame that never looks out of place. The music is simply scintillating complemented with heart touching lyrics. The choreography is of international standard. Never have I seen such poetry in motion on Indian screen. Every dancer is in sync. Every movement matches the mood of the music and every expression complements the lyrics. The costumes have to be seen to be believed. Top it with performances worthy of applause and you leave the theatre humming the title track. Yes, the end too is not what was expected. There's also a loser in love. But Saawariya is a winner

Full marks to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for treading the musical path to weave a sincere love story. Like an excellent music conductor, Bhansali waves his baton, to squeeze up a fine performance from his cast. Absolutely flawless. The actors follow the flow of the baton and the master conductor must be pleased with his symphony. My fear is that his movie will sweep up a number of awards in the coming year.

The freshness of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor takes this symphony to another level and keeps it there. Both actors give of a splendid performance. Ranbir is a great dancer and an excellent actor. He comes across very confident of himself in whatever he does. If you look intently, one can see a streak of his grandfather, the legendary Raj Kapoor, in his mannerisms.

View Saawariya Movie Stills

View Saawariya Movie Stills

As for Sonam, she matches Ranbir, step for step. A gorgeous looker, she carries off her role with aplomb as the one who is looking for her love to return. Her huge eyes portray her emotions and her confidence is personified in every frame; whether she is playfully fooling around with Ranbir or anxiously looking out for her Imaan (Salman Khan) to return. It looks like these two were born to act. The chemistry between the two is awesome.

Rani Mukherjee as Gulab the prostitute is very good; better than her Laaga Chunari Mein Daag act. It's a small but meaningful role, central to the theme of the movie. Zohra Sehgal is simply adorable. You just want to reach out and hug her! Cinematographer Ravi Chandran freezes the frames to give moving, picture perfect images.

Only a master craftsman could have dreamt of a film like this and worked towards putting it together exactly as he saw it in his mind's eye. Take a bow, Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Like Rani Mukherjee keeps saying in the movie, "I likes it"!


Ratings : 4 / 5
http://www.glamsham.com/movies/reviews/09_movie_review_saawa riya_100708.asp


< =text/> < src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" =text/>
imehwish thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#42
Nov 09, 2007

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Beghum Para, Zohra Sehgal, Salman Khan
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Rating: *****


This work of art doesn't have the in-your-face flamboyance of "Devdas" or "Black" where almost every shot reached a crescendo, every passion peaked like a mid-summer sun, and every movement denoted drama. But "Saawariya" is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's most tender ode to love yet.

Taking Fyodor Dostoevsky's minuscule play "White Nights", Bhansali has built huge but unimposing emotions classified by dollops of awe-inspiring studio-erected architecture that represents feelings rather than physical forms.

This is the director's most subtle and mellow creation.

Prakash Kapadia's dialogues let Ranbir's character of Ranbir Raj speak in a language that is modern and yet timelessly lovelorn.

The plot, if one may call it that, is a story of unrequited love told in shades of blue. Bhansali's narrative spins its sensuous web around chance encounters in and around a square set in a timeless land where clocks chime to the rhythm of a besotted heart and neon signs straight out of a bright Broadway pay cheeky homage to Bollywood's past, including Raj Kapoor, of course.

Ranbir Raj sings and performs at a club called Raj's Bar when he isn't chasing the enigmatic Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) across an arched bridge that symbolises the end of hope and the beginning of love.

Sakina, if you must know, is on an eternal wait. A stranger (Salman Khan) walked into her home and life, walked out and promised to return. The lacuna between longing and fulfilment is filled by a young man who dances, sings, makes faces, writes love letters, protects Sakina from the rain, but alas, cannot protect himself from the heartbreak that awaits him under the bridge.

You can see reflections of Raj Kapoor's persona from "Sri 420" and "Chhalia" in Ranbir's acting in "Saawariya". And his relationship with his outwardly harsh landlady -- played by the gloriously spirited Zohra Sehgal -- is a wonderful recreation of the bond between Raj Kapoor and Lalita Pawar in "Anari".

Ranbir's acting is a dangerously extravagant and bravura performance that could've toppled over under the weight of the character's inherent exhibitionism. But with his director's help, Ranbir succeeds.

The emotions that run across the gossamer frames of this fragilely structured play-on-celluloid are woven with the delicacy that one associates with Kashmiri carpets.

Ironically, though requiring more attention than all his earlier works, "Saawariya" is Bhansali's simplest story to date. The age-old boy-meets-girl format has been taken to the plane of purest expressionism.

The enchanting encounters shown in the film furnish the slim but haunting plot with the feeling of a play where the characters forget they are on stage.

The film's consciously created staginess is its biggest virtue. It lends an otherworldly quality to the frames. The wispy characters may or may not exist outside the prostitute-narrator Rani Mukerji's playful mind.

Maybe she's making up this beautiful tale of one-sided love and perhaps the boy-man she took under her wings is just a figment of her imagination.

The disarming delicacy with which art directors Omang and Vinita Kumar and cinematographer Ravi Chandran have built the blue foundations of the film's ravishingly romantic imagination lifts Dostoevsky's play to the sphere of poetry.

Monty Sharma's soul-stirring music adds an entirely new dimension to the story of waiting and suffering.

As expected from a Bhansali creation, the film is bathed in visuals that overpower the senses. The sequence where Sonam runs across a gauntlet of perpendicularly hung carpets beating a dust storm out of their beautiful fabric is a moment of sensual eruption.

In "Saawariya", Sonam does not know what or whom she is running from or what she will run into. She is Nutan in "Bandini", Aishwarya in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" and Waheeda Rehman in "Pyasa".

"Saawariya" is like a dream where the characters themselves live in a dream world. Escape from this world is akin to death. No one dies in Bhansali's majestic make-belief world and nothing wilts. Not even love when it is taken away from the boy who loves to entertain the unhappy girl in distress.

______________________________________
-I Luv You <3 ❤️
- Sharad + Divyanka = Cutest Couple Ever!
-They Are My Favourite Couple!
- Ranbir + Sonam = Cutest Couple Ever!
- They Are My New Favourite Couple!
- Cant Wait Watch Saawariya!

LifeOLicious thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#43
dear lucky_laskshi, every time i read about white nights from you (i haven't read the book) i feel like i would have to watch saawariya a million times to understand it. have you seen it yet?? i wonder how good slb was at portraying all this that you say abt the book.
Edited by admail_bd - 17 years ago
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Posted: 17 years ago
#44
Bollywood Bohme

Indian cinema's past meets its present in the lavish Saawariya
By DAVID CHUTE
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 5:20 pm
I've long thought that the opera crowd could provide fertile soil for raising Bollywood consciousness in the United States, and of all the current A-list Mumbai directors, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has the most fulsome operatic temperament. There were sequences in his 2002 Devdas that played like long-lost snippets of Verdi, and Bhansali's latest, Saawariya (Beloved), suggests a lavish road-show revamp of La Bohme. The film is loosely based on White Nights, Dostoyevsky's novella of a moonstruck love so pigheaded it borders on dementia. The movie is also a mad creation in its own right, shot entirely on a soundstage in Mumbai, on a huge set that depicts (seemingly in its entirety) an old, decadent, mostly Muslim city: St. Petersburg crossed with old Lucknow. Two young lovers, played by charming newcomers, wander around (or run in slow motion, trailing scarves) through this wholly artificial environment, gorgeous in shades of cobalt blue and mossy green, which is so resourcefully photographed that no camera angle looks familiar. The place soon begins to feel like a dimensional staircase out of M.C. Escher, and oxygen deprivation sets in.



Moulin blue? (Courtesy Sony Pictures and SLB Films)

The initials "RK" tower over this giant set, in letters 10 feet tall, and the spirit of Bollywood icon Raj Kapoor (whose production company was RK Films) looms even larger. The key character here is a Chaplinesque vagabond eerily like the one Kapoor became in song-filled social melodramas such as Aawara (1951) and Shri 420 (1955). And the likable young actor who plays the role — Ranbir Kapoor, a gangly goofball with the caterpillar eyebrows and five o'clock shadow of a Punjabi Jason Schwartzman — holds up rather well under the burden of standing in for his own grandfather. With his lopsided killer smile and a flailing, rubber-legged dancing style that's closer to Donald O'Conner than the aerobic athleticism of a Bolly-hunk like Hrithek Roshan, the young Kapoor takes the edge off Saawariya's deployment of the most exhausted narrative device in world cinema: the mysterious trickster/stranger who touches the life of everyone he encounters, but who can't help himself.

Along with his leading lady, Sonam Kapoor, the heartbreakingly beautiful daughter of actor Anil Kapoor (no relation to the other Kapoors), Ranbir is participating in a grand Bollywood tradition — the "launch" of a star's son or daughter in the family business. It is Bhansali's good fortune that both of these crazy kids have a lot to offer in addition to their noble names. The movie's brand of wholehearted Bollywood neoclassicism, which hearkens back to the noir-dappled social melodrama of the 1950s, is an admirable thing in principle: In a period when hip younger filmmakers are scrambling for American-style cool, discarding the songs and replacing sentiment with cynicism, directors like Bhansali (and Vinod Chopra, Ashutosh Gowariker and a few others) remain determined to move popular Indian cinema forward while preserving the unique conventions of the "film industry that is also a genre." Bhansali does this with so much fervor in Saawariya that he almost makes it work. With the sterling assistance of a new generation of Kapoors, he comes this close to sweeping us off our feet.

SAAWARIYA | Directed by SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI | Written by PRAKASH KAPADIA and BHANSALI | Produced by GAUTMI BHATT, DEEPAK RAAI SHARMA and BHANSALI | Released by Columbia Pictures | Culver Plaza, Fallbrook 7, One Colorado, Naz 8

http://www.laweekly.com/film+tv/film/bollywood-boheme/17633/
lucky_lakshmi thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#45

Originally posted by: blueberry2988

AMENNN to everyone that thinks taran a doesnt know whatthell hes talking about ,, what era is it from ,,, THAT REALLY MATTER?!?!?

RANI said exactly why she kciked raj out

he obviously didnt watch the damn movie UGH it pissed me off cuz i read his review and ALMOST didnt see it and then i went i cursed him out cuz it was paisa vasool

see desi people like shiny stuff, oso is shiny = desi ppllike

when someone experiments or god forbid theres a sad ending,,, everyone degrades the maker

whatever itwas worth it

but cud someone tellme at the end when ranbir held his hands out and sonam randomly kissed them and wiped her tears why she did that??

thanks

I know exactly the word that defines TA..But I am not saying it in the forum..Being a mod myself😆

Pyarigurl thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#46

Originally posted by: lucky_lakshmi

I know exactly the word that defines TA..But I am not saying it in the forum..Being a mod myself😆

^^hehe ok i guess we are all a lil heated over it!

LifeOLicious thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#47
"Saawariya"
Written by Derek Elley
Monday, 12 November 2007
Story Categories: Bollywood, Film, Film review, India, reviews, Sony,

New Int'l. Release

Saawariya

(India)

A Sony Pictures Entertainment release of a Columbia Pictures, SPE Films India presentation of an SPE Films India, SLB Films production. Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Executive producers, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, Deepak Sharma. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Associate directors, Shailey M. Sharma, Vibhu Puri, Sangeeta Gala. Screenplay, Prakash Kapadia, Bhansali, based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story

With: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Salman Khan, Zohra Segal, Begum Para.
(Hindi dialogue)

A really small movie done up in a big, moody package, "Saawariya" entices, fitfully springs to life but finally outstays its welcome by a good half-hour. Based on Dostoevsky's short story "White Nights," latest design-heavy outing by Bollywood multitasker Sanjay Leela Bhansali falls somewhere between the lavish impersonality of his "Devdas" (2002) and the intimate chamber drama of his (2005). Pic has the same blue-noir look of the latter but, alas, none of its emotional hooks. Billed as the first mainstream Hindi movie funded by a U.S. major, Sony release will grab muscular initial biz but lack long-distance legs.
In the mano-a-mano battle over the Diwali period with 's star-laden masala movie "Om Shanti Om," Bhansali's pic looks unlikely to go the whole 15 rounds. Like "Black," "Saawariya" is practically an art movie in Bollywood terms, and though it does possess some fine features of its own, it simply isn't as entertaining as Khan's splashy retro musical.

In key overseas markets like the U.K. and U.S., it's also going out on fewer screens than "Om" (dramatically so, Stateside: 85 vs. 114). Ironically, despite its weaknesses, "Saawariya" has more upscale crossover potential than "Om," which is laden with Bollywood references and inside jokes. However, in the U.K., "Saawariya" was not even screened for press.

Perhaps most impressively (and simply) directed by Luchino Visconti in 1957, "White Nights" leaves a lot of room for any adaptation to fail. Scripters Prakash Kapadia and Bhansali take the simple story -- shy guy meets an unhappy woman, falls for her, and then finds she's waiting for her absent lover to return -- and set it in an almost fairy-tale North Indian town that's a cross between Venice, an old Indian hill station and an Arabian fantasy, with facades that recall Baz Luhrmann's

Shot entirely on vast studio sets, and set almost exclusively at night, pic is saturated in blues, blacks and dark greens, with the occasional slash of red or white for contrast. Design is heavily Islamic, in the Persian-influenced Mughal style, and though set in the present day, there's a timelessness to the movie that fits the opening voiceover of streetwalker Gulab (Rani Mukerji), that it's a town that "lives in my dreams."

Deliberately stagy setting recalls Bollywood productions from the '50s and earlier, and was even employed more recently in Sudhir Mishra's "Chameli" (2004). However, in "Saawariya," the dialogue isn't strong enough to take on the production design.

Device of making Gulab the de facto narrator does give some shape to Bhansali's vast visual canvas. Problem is, the husky-voiced Mukerji makes Gulab the liveliest character in the movie, sidelining the putative leads, itinerant musician Ranbir Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) and lonely local beauty Sakina (Sonam Kapoor).

Latter are given pages of dialogue that would not disgrace a French metaphysical movie ("No darkness harms those enlightened in love," etc.). But it wears increasingly thin, especially during the mood-heavy first half, when not much is happening apart from Ranbir romancing Sakina in the darkly lit streets.

It's the kind of dialogue better suited to songs -- and the latter, which come thick and fast during part one, are thus robbed of any freshness or contrast. The samey tone of this half is relieved only by Gulab's appearances, in which her cynical take on love contrasts with Ranbir's boyish enthusiasm, and by scenes with veteran hotelier Lilian (vet Zohra Sehgal), who still pines for her long-absent son. Witty playing by feisty nonagenarian Sehgal also draws the best out of Mukerji in a memorable scene.

The two Kapoors (unrelated) are OK as the leads, with Sonam getting the edge. Daughter of thesp Anil Kapoor, she shows considerable screen presence in her debut role and even manages hints that Sakina may possibly be barking mad. Ranbir (from the fourth generation of the Kapoor film dynasty) looks rather silly in a bowler hat and more at ease when jiving to the title song than gushing platitudes about love. Star hunk Salman Khan (largely seen in flashbacks) is suitably mysterious as Sakina's beloved.

Balladic songs and score are sweeping but largely unmemorable, especially in part one. Much livelier are the numbers in part two -- luckily, as the story itself practically grinds to a halt -- notably where Mukerji leads a lively song 'n' dance by the town's hookers, and later when Ranbir goes to collect Sonam.

All other production values are richly appointed. Title literally means "Beloved," and is ironically used as a name for Ranbir by Gulab.



http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/4933/1/

mandy0310 thumbnail
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Posted: 17 years ago
#48

BHANSALI'S IS A VISUAL MASTERPIECE

By Satyajit

Critic's I-view

click for larger view
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the name itself epitomizes the pinnacle of immaculate style in modern Indian cinema with an unparallel exuberance that one can anticipate on big screen. Besides his immaculately pristine visual perception, his films have always been high on emotional quotient and have often forayed into human relationships with great emotional depth in a backdrop of aesthetically sketched out cultural embellishments.
Exotic and platonic to the core, 'Saawariya' foretells the tale of two lovers in a backdrop of larger than life scintillating surroundings. It has been set in a palette of blues and greens in all its frames and scenes with the reflection of the shades on the paved floors, pavements, streets, bars and rooftops in making it a desired dream world to aspire. Like all his previous visual spectacles, it's a story of a lonesome man who fades away in the moonlight on the deserted streets that reflect the poetry in motion? Despite all its lavish spectacles in all frames, Bhansali dares pitch in a realistically painful and sad love story to conservative Indian audiences with two unknown faces in author backed lead roles.
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Bhansali being an ardent "literature aficionado" inspires this four nights love saga from the famous works of Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story - "White Nights". After 'Devdas' (inspired from Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's famous novel "Devdas") and 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' (inspired from Bernard Shaw's "Candida"), this stunning sentimental is a great inspirational lift from Fyodor. "White Nights" was first adapted to film by the acclaimed Italian director Luchino Visconti and later by French director Robert Bresson as 'Four Nights of a Dreamer'.
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This eighteenth century heartwarming story is about love, dreams, happiness, and loss. The main character of 'Saawariya' (Ranbir Kapoor) is a dreamer and romantic to the core, much like Dostoevsky's lead character. Bhansali's well crafted narration makes him fall in love with the mystical charm of depressed and isolated girl (Sonam Kapoor), much like Dostoevsky's "Natenska", with great visual aplomb.
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First, let's get straight into theatricals before looking at its technical finesse and musical brilliance. Bhansali's 'Saawariya', an artistically sketched sad love story, opens up in a fairy tale town where narrator (Rani Mukherjee playing prostitute "Gulab") correlates her heart-felt sentiments about his beloved "Saawariya". This "Saawariya" is a happy go lucky bar singer Ranbir Raj (Ranbir Kapoor). It is on this special evening when he sings his most beloved track to her, showcasing his zest for real love and optimism in life. The film now swivels into an opera styled narration where Raj meets isolated young girl Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) in the night. It was a delightful night where he meets her on the bridge and then follows her.
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The friendship blossoms and finally they exchange their identities and experiences with each other. Raj has disciplinarian landlady - Miss Lillian (Zohra Sehgal) while Sakina lives in the shadow of her old grand mother (Begum Para). Sakina's painful experience of meeting with her tenant Imaan (Salman Khan) and then facing isolation proves to be a shocking occurrence to Raj. Initially, Raj thinks that's it's a crafted story but finally realizes its authenticity. It ends up on a distressing note where Sakina chooses her love interest (Salman Khan) over her best soul-mate (Ranbir Kapoor). In between, there are episodes where Ranbir burns Sonam's letter, Sonam falls in love with Salman and Ranbir takes refuge into Rani's home. The striking feature of the film is its beautiful cinematic depiction rather than its conventionally placed author backed narration lifting the standards of contemporary commercial Indian cinema.
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'Saawariya' has great aces up its sleeves and the film can simply be adjudged as one of the finest visual treats that have ever visited Indian cinema. The film has picturesque backdrop of blue and green color palettes in which the delightfully vibrant town is painted. The creation of larger than life Buddha on the lake side, buzzing streets with colorful neon signs, walls painted with peacocks and lotuses, RK logo featuring on bar, silent bridge to silence water where it rained and snowed as the seasons changed were breathtaking visuals that make it big on-screen visual treat.
click for larger view
The significant bell and the town facing visuals where girl (Sonam) correlates her estranged love saga are visuals of international standards. The film has rich Mughal cultural impact where moist walls, crystal chandelier, pink and purple lotuses and a mirror mosaic staircase picture magical spells. Finally, the last visual frame has deepening of attractive blue and green shades where snow falls over the bridge with the beautifully carved boat below, hooked to the bank, depicting the innermost sentiments of a distressed beloved. It speaks out volumes about the painful suffering of dreamer "Saawariya" when her love falls into his beloved's arms. It was an impeccable experience as the sentimental hues of Monty's brilliant music were infused in such beautiful surroundings as to evoke sympathy for this lovable dreamer. Bhansali is a winner! Art directors - Omung Kumar and Vanita - deserve to be applauded for conceptualizing Bhansali's visionary outlooks into such a magnanimous town with all vibrant colors and shades.
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Ravi K Chandran (Cinematographer) proves to be another big ace for this dreamer's lost paradise saga. His crafted lightening effects made actors into artistic shades in their physical appearances during changing phases of the story and situations. 'Saawariya' has exclusively been shot indoors and is the story of four nights and every night carries distinctive appeal in its breathtaking visuals. It was first time in Hindi cinema that there was usage of space lights that gel well with CT Blue to deliver a cool night feel to give the feel of "sanvla" color of "Saawariya" (synonym of Lord Krishna). On the contrary, the film has dark unlit quality for the night that every scene looks like a silent painting rather than a regular visual. It's indeed a big leap in technical section of Hindi cinema and it's a rare occasion when the style has superseded substance in a big way.
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Costumes (Rajesh Pratap Singh, Reza Shariffi, and Anuradha Vakil - Costume Designer) have lived up to the occasion in almost every frame of the film. From designing Mughal costumes for (Sonam Kapoor, Salman Khan, Begum Para), Anglo Indian (Ranbir Kapoor), Colonial British (Zohra Sehgal ) and Hindu costumes (Rani Mukherjee) in different colorful shades and designs, it has been perfect indeed.
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Monty Sharma's music and background score is soulful visual melody and poetry that works logically with the pace of the film. The complete musical show was spectacular, both in harmony as well as in visuals. The soundtracks like "Saawariya", "Jab Se Tere Naina" and "Yoon Shabnami" have already been big chartbusters and there is much to follow in coming days. Dialogues and screenplay (Prakash Kapadia and Sanjay Leela Bhansali) are modest, gratifying and fulfill the emotional quotient of the film. Debutante Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor prove to be worthy newcomers and can be counted for awards in the best newcomer's category this year. Ranbir shows flair of being a good actor and emotes appreciably in depicting all sentiments of his character. His flashy costumes coupled with his alluring physical appearance make him perfect choice for the role. Sonam Kapoor delivers a modestly scripted charming role of a demure girl that requires loads of perseverance, determination and flair. She delivers a perfect look and matches well with Ranbir's spontaneity in every frame. Rani Mukherjee is brilliant once again and lives up to the high standards. Salman Khan essays a brief but pivotal role and maintains his perfect track record with the director Bhansali. Zohra Sehgal is a revelation again after her impressive performance in 'Cheeni Kum' while Begum Para lives up to her character with desired dexterity. Commercially speaking, Bhansali's 'Saawariya' will be opening to modest houses as compared to SRK's 'Om Shanti Om' but will positively be going up in coming weekends. It's likely to be one of the biggest grosser of this year but will have to battle out for supremacy at the box office with 'Om Shanti Om'. All credits to Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his cast and crew for showcasing their consistency and precision in conceiving another visual spectacle with an unconventional theme! After soulfully conceived 'Black', this film promises to be another winner in all segments of cinema, so have a nice weekend with a film that boasts high standards of quality work in Indian cinema.

Great Job!!

http://ww.smashits.com/news/bollywood/movie-review/6433/sawa riya.html

Springs70 thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#49
Saawariya is sheer poetry
Sreesha Belakvaadi
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/nov/14rrsaa.htm

November 14, 2007 13:04 IST

It is very easy for anyone to miss the strengths of Saawariya. I am aware that most of the reviews are negative, which is fair enough as everyone is entitled to their opinion. And here is mine.

The first and the foremost important factor to understand about Saawariya [Images] is that it is not a movie with a story; it doesn't carry a definite structure like prose. It is sheer poetry, and with poetry, abstractness becomes all the more personified. Poems cannot be judged, they can only be felt. It's like seeing a rosebud bloom into a rose.

And judging poetry as prose is a gross mistake; and this is precisely what happened with Saawariya. Reviewers or the so-called connoisseurs are not able to see the poetic nature of the Saawariya, which I think is the very pivot on which the movie has been made. Unfortunately, the visual-poem is over-shadowed partly due to lack of understanding art and partly due to unwarranted comparison with Om Shanti Om.

Saawariya doesn't have a strong subject; it has a very ordinary storyline. And yes, direction is not strong enough to carry the emotions to the common man. However, one can watch Saawariya in an altogether different dimension, which was what I did. The visuals are so poetic and painting-like, that I am sure an artist would melt witnessing the shades of blue and green in the film.

In fact, the movie gives you a feel of the musicals -- like a poem sung and expressed through the medium of flamboyant sets and paintings. There is an innate subconscious soul to the entire movie -- the soothing bluish-green tints and neon lights, the lovers' bridge around which all emotions are poured and the poetic surrealism of the paradise like city having tones of ancient Venice.

Omung Kumar, who worked on the sets deserves applause. If not for him, Saawariya would have been the worst film of the year. Omung has taken a quantum leap in creating a city that has the feel of extreme surrealism, completely unconventional to what we have seen before, extravagantly rich in aesthetics, vividly blended with shades of grey and bluish green.

Mellow lighting infiltrates throughout the city through streamers, blinkers and vintage-styled lamp posts. The statue of a magnanimously etched Buddha illuminated with natural fire-sticks and diyas takes a central recognition amidst several intricate objects of art that encapsulate the magical city. The entire movie is shot in darkness to give it a dreamy and mesmerising effect. The character of Rani Mukerji as a call girl only personifies the night-feel and gives strength to the overall soothing dream the audience can witness. Monty's musical score too adds to the whole mesmerising experience.

There are many noteworthy scenes from the film. For example, the one where Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor are floating in love and ecstasy below the mammoth statue of Buddha. Cinematographer Ravi K Chandran cuts this situation through the top shot of Buddha, and for a moment you are lost in that world.

Then there is a wide-angle shot of the city at night where Ranbir introduces Sonam to look at the melting silence of the night. A train hoots with smoke billowing from its chimney, and that is indeed a classic shot.

But the one which launches you into a world of absolute bliss is the scene where an emotional Sonam is seen running through the dark alleys of the magical kingdom with bluish-green pebble lights flashing around the corners. The music is so powerful, that for a moment it forces you to change the opinion of the whole film to be a classic of its own kind. Then the camera dissolves, fades and cuts to the semi-lit caves literally floating.

To sum up, Omung Kumar, Monty and Ravi K Chandran are the real pillars of Saawariya. As for Sanjay Leela Bhansali [Images], he deserves to be neglected.

Edited by Springs70 - 17 years ago

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