Spoiler Ahead
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***an audience review*** ***http://www.sandyi.blogspot.com/***
Having read Fyodor Dostoevsky's White Nights, I thought seeing Saawariya from a literary perspective might be an addition to the varied reviews we've had on the film.
I've noted below a few points that occurred to me when I saw the film earlier this week.
It's not difficult to see why Bhansali was enamored by Dostoevsky and White Nights. Given that the latter's writings are generally characterized by an emotional frenzy, a nervous excitability where words seem to tumble on to each other, Bhansali possibly felt a kindred spirit with the Russian literature.
Additionally, White Nights deals at least partially with the theme of love and separation ie virah, the filmmaker's favorite rasa (among the nav-rasas), one that runs prominently in at least two of the filmmaker's previous works.
The problem with Saawariya is not that it is badly made film. No, not by a far stretch. Compared to the obscenely overrated Black, this one comes nowhere close to being the hammy, pretentious film that some self-assured reviews are making it out to be. If anything, the filmmaker has doggedly stuck to Dostoevsky's vision, though one must hastily add that the latter's preoccupations are much larger than what Bhansali manages to convey cinematic ally.
Which is why, if the film disappoints in the end, it is less to do with the director's abilities (or lack of it) and more to do with making a questionable literary choice for screen adaptation.
Gulabo (a superlative Rani Mukherjee), as the frisky and warm-hearted prostitute and Miss Lolipop (Zohra Sehgal), as the forlorn landlady are two stock characters which are Bhansali's own creations —- they aren't present in the original. But thankfully, both these characters work faithfully at projecting further Dostoevsky's profound theme of the alienation of the human soul and the yearning for love. So in that sense, Bhansali does not stray while attempting to flesh out White Nights, a novella which doesn't try to offer much in terms of story and primarily works on a certain abstract level only.
Dostoevsky's idea through the story is a deeply affecting one, one that alludes to the loneliness of mankind— the horrific silences that descend upon us once noises around die down, the romantic spirit's desperate urge to find love and then to hold on to it, even if it is a delusional one. Or weaving dreams around it and then desperately hoping it will turn true. Oh, haven't we all gone through this!
The author's setting is a simple one, entirely a two-character narrative with the boy and girl sitting together and pouring out their feelings in the comfort of a night and a stranger. The recounting comes close to being a stream-of-consciousness one, managing to wrench out a great deal of emotional intensity as it proceeds.
Dostoevsky's story is anything by a plot-driven one. What he conveys among other things is an idea of chronic romanticism, and this he does effectively within a small literary scale. The narrative itself is quite verbose, the sentences are long-winding and there's hardly any action happening here. It touches some very high emotional peaks but there very few external conflicts.
Now, this is exactly where Bhansali's problem lies. A short story, by its very nature has a distinct trajectory, one that can be quite unidimensional without too many plot points. Also, my understanding is that not all short stories can be treated in a stand-alone manner, because most of them are just nuggets intricately tied to the author's extended theme spread across his works.
This is fine when one is making a film like The Blue Umbrella (derived from Ruskin Bond's short story),which is mounted on a relatively smaller scale. (In any case, The Blue Umbrella covers a larger physical spectrum than Saawariya).
But here, the story is so thinly laid, it is almost slight, but that doesn't stop Bhansali from giving his film a grand operatic treatment or creating enough room for himself to satiate his artistic indulges.
The problem here is that the film severely lacks in action and mere artistic showmanship was never going to enable it to touch the pathos or emotional intensity of White Nights. Taking an idea is one thing but adapting a literary piece of work without grasping the limitations it poses for a cinematic adaptation, is quite another.
For example Metro deals with almost the same ideas in many ways but it handles the theme in its own contemporary manner, which is why it succeeds in engaging an audience.
Yet, Saawariya is worth a watch, given that Bhansali makes it a visually sumptuous experience and his handling of the story (whatever its worth), is mature. There are some huge pluses to take home from the film. Ranbir is quite candidly, the find of the decade. Along with Rani Mukherjee, Ranbir delivers a knock-out performance in a film that offers him very little support in terms of script. Sonam is one of the prettiest girls I've seen on screen in a while now but she does have a long way to go as an actress.
Rani is, well, Rani. The screenplay throbs back to life each time she appears. And was it just me, but I thought she greatly resembled Sharmila Tagore here.
Finally Saawariya is a film, which I suspect, will age quite well in spite of its languorous pace and a non-existent plot (Some portions are a big yawn!)
Also, there is something in Ranbir's character that captures beautifully the spirit of Dostoevsky and for that alone, Saawariya, is watchable.
-Sandhya Iyer
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Saawariya is sheer poetry
Sreesha Belakvaadi
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 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 mesmerizing 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 mesmerizing 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, he deserves to be neglected.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/nov/14rrsaa.htm
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