When I first saw this movie in 1978, I did it because it had two of my favourite actors in it - Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman and at the time I enjoyed it, But watching it after a very long time, I realised why I had enjoyed it.
A village priest's wife dies in child birth - the child being a daughter who is named Roopa. As the baby grows up, she is ignored and called names by everyone in the village except her uncle Bansi. One day a there's a celebration that takes place in the temple for a rich man's son and Roopa is forced to sing when her father is unable to do so. People get mesmerised by her voice and her father trains her to sing. But disaster strikes when she asks him why she is not able to celebrate her birthday like everyone else and in response, Bansi promises to do just that and when cooking oil spills on Roopa's face and she is disfigured.
The movie stars: Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Kanhaiyalal, A.K. Hangal, David Abraham, Leela Chitnis and a very young Padmini Kohlapure and is directed, edited and produced by Raj Kapoor. The songs by Lata Mangeshkar are worth listening to but the most memorable one is by the late Mukesh: "Chanchal Sheetal, Nirmal, Komal." Every R.K. movie that I have watched has had a story and a meaning involved and Satyam Shivam Sunderam was no exception. It depicts the saying "beauty is in the eyes of the holder" but in reality it is what we see from the outside. What one needs to see is the inner beauty. Zeenat plays the role of "Roopa" whose face from one side looks beautiful but when the other side is shown is ugly as she is disfigured but yet has a beautiful voice. She has acted this role superbly as has Shashi Kapoor the role of a man who loves beauty but hates ugliness and disfigurement. This movie also goes on to portray the meaning of "Satyam" - truth, "Shivam" - god and "Sunderam" - beauty and hence the title: "Satyam Shivam Sunderam." When this movie was first released there was a lot of discussion and many said that too much body parts were revealed by Zeenat Aman and some even said that more censorship was needed and more so with the kissing on the lips scene. Also the song "Chanchal, Sheetal, Nirmal, Komal" was the last song that the late Mukesh was to sing for a movie for he passed away soon afterwards in the USA during a tour with Lata Mangeshkar.
Conclusion: Worth while to watch, listen and try and understand the message that Raj Kapoor has tried to pass to the audience.
