Until the release of Khiladi majority of the earlier films starring Akshay Kumar were cringe worthy. A film named Deedar was supposed to be his first film but its release was delayed until 1992.
Despite being an unheard film until watching the film, i gave this film a try for two reasons. One being Akshay kumar's debut film and the second being it was directed by Raj N Sippy, who had directed well known films like Inkaar, Satte Pe Satta & Satyamev Jayate. But these reasoning are not enough to like this film as it was a predictable and cringe worthy film were in recent time the only film it can be compared with is Marjavaan, thanks to its predictable story and dialogues being uttered in poetic verses.
The story involves a woman avenging the murder of her family against a egoistic landlord by making her son marry the daughter of the landlord. As a promise given to his mother, the male lead (Akshay Kumar) goes up to any extent in fulfilling it?
In terms technical aspect the direction by Raj Sippy was pathetic when compared to the aforementioned films. The writer, Iqbal Durrani, could have worked on a slightly better script considering later in the year he wrote another mediocre film named Phool Aur Kaante (also starring a debutant in the form of Ajay Devgn).
In the films of 90s the songs tended to be melodious but the film fails in that as well as none of the songs are memorable & the only positive that the film has to offer is its villain Pankaj Dheer, who if acted in 70s and 80s could have become a memorable villain and the fighting sequences of Akshay Kumar. Meanwhile it was sad to see Rakhee act in such film when there was a time when she was considered to be the most versatile actress of her era and unfortunately she continued the trend by acting in films like Barood & Sham Ghanshyam. Regarding Mukesh Khanna, his over the top performance was at its worse and it was better if he limited such acting in mythological serials. Same goes with the performance of its female lead- Shantipriya.
On the whole Saugandh is a forgettable film and can be recommended to those who want to see how Akshay Kumar acted in his debut film. (Considering the memorable films that he became a part of it is a pity he had to debut with such film. But these stuggles made him work hard and become one of the acclaimed actors in the industry)
