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Review of Saawariya

Saawariya (2007)
1/10
Careful - Genius At Work !
19 November 2007
Saawariya is said to be based on 'White Nights', the short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which happens over a period of four nights and a morning.

To begin with, there is a great romantic story. So barring hardliners – this story should appeal to all the rest of us who I guess, should be romantic at heart.

About the cast – there are seasoned performers like Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan. Also the cast has veterans of unmatched caliber – Zohra Sehgal and Begum Para. Plus the 2 débutantes – Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor give a tremendous performance.

On the music front – it would be difficult to find a parallel in Indian cinema. Monty Sharma excels in songs and the background score. The lyrics by Sameer though, are very pedestrian. But the melodies/ harmonies are so strong you can overlook the poor lyrics easily.

Photography by Ravi K. Chandran is flawless.

Costumes – the best of the very best have been selected.

Set Design and Props – there is a bit of indulgence by Omung Kumar and wife.

But all in all, the ingredients have the makings of a masterpiece.

One would really need to be a genius to mess this up. And Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the genius. He blames the critics, criticizes his audience, derides the competition, is at war with the whole world – but won't look at himself in the mirror. Right from the first frame super – 'a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali' – the king-size ego is at work. He wants to shout in every frame – 'I DID IT.' But you forget one tiny important detail – the script and the screenplay. This department is the weakest over here. The film crawls – the four nights are endless. And the entire film is claustrophobic from the first frame.

And Sanjay, don't tell us that you don't care and make films for yourself – because the audience pays for the tickets and they really feel cheated for paying good money to see your indulgence.
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