Saathiya - Sehnsucht nach dir

Yes, the film is almost like any other hindi film and yes its unbelievable how far better it is, than any of its contenders. A fabulous love story of a boy and a girl who marry each other against the wishes of their parents and society, 'Saathiya' shows the human side of love, stressing on the problems human beings deal with and work through in order to maintain a relationship.

The songs are amazing and their picturization magnificent. The movie has good doses of fun, emotion and tragedy. Rani Mukherjee looks ravishing and will take your breath away, she almost looks and acts like the perfect wife for any young man. Vivek Oberoi, who is very clearly the find of 2002 as far as the Hindi Film industry is concerned, turns in another great performance, he is absolutely flawless in the film, portraying the many emotional facets of his character 'Aditya Sehgal', with an almost unrecognizable ease. Shaad Ali puts in a fantastic effort for his first film, picking the perfect actors with the perfect locales to create a near perfect film. I cannot yet comment on the replayability of this film as I have only seen it once, but it is almost a surity that the movie would be as good on the second watch. A 10/10 film, and a must watch.

Shaad Ali's Saathiya is one of the best films of 2002. Everything about it -- from the story line, the cinematography, locations, emotions, performances to A.R. Rahman's beautiful soundtrack -- makes it a worthy film. The film marks the directorial debut of Shaad Ali, and it shows he has not gone far from his father (the great Muzaffar Ali) in terms of talent and imagination. He extracts good performances from his actors, he has a sense and understanding of emotion and clearly has a knack for capturing the complexity of marriage and relationships, which are infused with impressive lifelike sensibility in this film. Basically the story's success boils down to the fact that Ali portrays it with authenticity. This is a fantastic directorial debut (although he would ruin that image in his future projects BAB and JBJ). Rani Mukherjee is the main highlight of the show, the soul of the entire film. This is her career-best performance. She is simply flawless in every single scene - beautiful, vibrant, natural and convincing. Vivek Oberoi is a talented actor and acts very well, though he is not as good as his female costar. He does have to work on the more emotional expressions, but otherwise gives a complete performance. Gulzar and A.R. Rahman give life to the film with a superb list of songs, each of which is a gem. My favourite songs include "Saathiya", "Aye Udi Udi", "Chhalka Chhalka Re", "Chupke Se" and "O Humdum Soniyo Re". To sum it up, Saathiya is a very impressive, entertaining and realistic picture on relationships and marriage. I highly recommend you to see it.

Saathiya is a romantic drama film directed by Shaad Ali. The film stars Rani Mukerji and Vivek Oberoi with Tanuja, Sharat Saxena, Sandhya Mridul, Satish Shah, Swaroop Sampat in the supporting roles and Cameos by Shahrukh Khan and Tabu.

Aditya and Suhani runs away and get married as they weren't supported by their parents. However, cracks soon begin to develop in their fairy-tale romance.

There is no doubt that Hindi film industry specially big giants like Yashraj films and Dharma production has a long obsession with romantic films and they have even gave some of the memorable films to Hindi cinema such as Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Veer Zaara from Yashraj films with Kuch Kuch Hota hai, Kal Ho Na Ho from Dharma prodution and in 2002 Yashraj Films comes with another romantic film Saathiya which might not be in the league in these class films but still has a cult following and often considered as one of the good romantic films if not best.

The good or bad with any romantic film is that the films are very predictable and almost all the films have happy ending as none of the film maker wants to take risks by trying any unconventional method of film making in this genre and Saathiya is no exception. The film has some good twists and turns but soon gets into the conventional method of film making and will surely be liked by the set of viewers who likes romantic films but for the rest this will be other predictable cliched drama.

The screenplay of the film is good with a superb climax but the end of the film might pinch to few of the viewers as though the film ends on a happy note but ends abruptly and off course we would've loved to see Shahrukh and Tabu little more on screen.

The acting in the film is top notch and all the characters were superb with Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukerji the most impressive of them all. Vivek Oberoi is one of the most underutilized talent of Indian Cinema and the true lovers of Hindi cinema will never forgive Salman Khan for ruining the career of this supremely talented actor. Supporting cast like Sandhya Mridul, Satish Shah, Sharat Saxena, Tanuja and Swaroop Sampat were also very impressive.

Music and BGM were good. The title track of the film along with Chalka Re, Aye Udi Udi Udi and O Humdun Suniyo re are treat for ears. Thanks to the music maestro A. R. Rahman for such mind blowing music and the wizard with pen Gulzar Sahab for such mesmerizing lyrics.

For the typical romantic films fan they will surely like the film but for the others this will be another one time watch predictable film.

When you come across a film like first-time director, Shaad Ali's offering, `Saathiya', you want to stand up and cheer. Now, Shaad Ali is the son of Muzaffar Ali who made the exquisite 1981 film `Umrao Jaan', so perhaps his sensibilities and instincts were genetically acquired! Amidst the dreck that is churned out relentlessly by the world's movie industries, a `Saathiya' is that rarity: a simple film, devoid of pretension, that quietly goes about its business and disarms the viewer with its honesty and intensity. `Saathiya', which translates into `partner', deals with every aspect of the partnership involved in marriage.

As the film opens, a young man, blissed out on the music from his earphones, weaves his way through the heavy Mumbai (formerly Bombay) traffic on his motorcycle. He is on his way to the train station to meet his wife, who commutes to her job as a pediatrician in the city. When she isn't on the first train, or the next one, or the next, we watch him, as the night wears on, go from mildly irritated to anxious to completely distraught.

Inter-cut with the scenes of his harried efforts to track her whereabouts, is the story of how they met, how he wooed her, their marriage and evolving, perhaps crumbling, relationship. Through the flashbacks you get to know them, and with rising apprehension, witness his frustration and fear at not being able to find out what has happened to her. Has she left him? Was she abducted? Is she lying wounded or, worse, dead, in some ditch?

As the film takes you back two years, you see him-young, brash, immature, but essentially good-hearted-meet the young woman for the first time. This first encounter takes place at a friend's wedding, where she snubs him. She is brainy, sensible, focused on her studies, and wants no part of a silly romance. Now this is nothing new: countless movies have begun in this manner, but where it takes you and how their story is told, is where this one differs from the rest.

The film worked for me on every level. That it is mesmerizing should come as no surprise: the screenplay is by Mani Ratnam, while the dialogue is by Gulzar. These masters take the commonplace and turn it into pure gold. With such superior writing, the characters spring into vivid, recognizable life, and give the director and actors so much to work with. The writers have kept everything grounded in a solid, everyday reality: the different social milieus from which the leads come are familiar to all of us. The young man is spoilt and comes from an upper middle-class family. But, his father's affluence is believable-he is a successful lawyer-in the manner of the everyday world. There is not a trace of `Devdas'-like excess in this film. The young woman's father is a railway employee, and they live in the railway staff housing. Her family, too, in their simple, unglamorous routines, is credible in the way of millions of people are the world over. At the only meeting between the two sets of parents, the lawyer carps that it was difficult to find the other man's house because all the dwellings in the area look alike. The girl's father takes no offence at this; he merely tells the lawyer that that's how the other half lives. Unfortunately, it's downhill from there: the visit ends with an impasse. The parents actively dislike each other, and an alliance between the two families looks unlikely.

Once their backgrounds are established in quick, broad strokes, we get down to the business of seeing the lead characters evolve. His ardour melts her resolve; they encounter resistance from their parents, they elope and set up house on their own. We watch them go from young, hopeful lovers to stressed-out, bickering married people. Life in the big city is not easy, as they find out, and neither is marriage. `Poor dears, come join the club!' you think, as they take faltering, tentative steps toward adulthood. Just like the rest of us, they are trying to muddle through. You root for them and get genuinely caught up in their lives.

The young leads are perfect. Rani Mukherjee has always struck me as an actress with potential. Though most of her films only require her to look good, something she accomplishes with ease, she has impressed in films like `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and Kamalahasan's self-indulgent yet brilliant-in-patches `Hey Ram'. Rani fleshes out the character of Suhani Sharma beautifully and makes her someone you care about deeply. Likewise, the new actor Vivek Oberoi, invests his character Aditya with poignancy and great feeling. Though Aditya is callow, even silly, you see his passion; despite his posturing, you glimpse his insecurities and vulnerability. This young man is a fine new addition to the ranks of Indian actors. The supporting cast does not have much to do, as the film focuses entirely on the lead pair, but Sandhya Mridul, as Suhani's older sister, Dina, is quite lovely. Tanuja, who plays Suhani's mother, perhaps defines what is meant by the term `working actor': someone who takes an acting gig to either pay the bills, keep busy, or just wishes to be involved in any way at all with a quality project. I'm hoping that it's for the last reason that she took this job. The part offers no scope for her talent and could have been played by an actress of far lesser skills. Sharat Saxena, who plays Suhani's father, has come a long way from the inconsequential thuggish roles he played in the eighties, and displays an unexpected gravitas (and a full head of silver hair!) here.

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I'd like to say that this was a film that could have been made without songs. It needed no embellishment, and the songs don't further the story or offer any expository detail. Having said that, A. R. Rahman's music is pretty and a couple of the songs linger in the memory. I recall a quote from either Gulzar or Javed Akhtar that A. R. Rahman is the only contemporary film composer who is not daunted by lyrics in blank verse. May his tribe increase! Gulzar's lyrics, as usual, are sublime, so I suppose it's good that songs were included. I can barely believe my luck that within a 24-hour period, I saw TWO excellent films: `Saathiya' and the Pedro Almodovar gem `Talk To Her'. This does not happen often, you can be sure!

This film -- which I had heard almost nothing about before seeing it -- turned out to be a powerful, moving, and important love story. Rani Mukherjee's performance as Suhani -- the young M.D. and wife struggling to reach out to her husband after they elope -- is top notch and clearly deserving of an Oscar. Likewise, Vivek Oberoi does a wonderful job portraying her husband Aditya as he oscillates between playfulness and workaholism. Ali and Rathnam's story is superb -- combining drama and social commentary in a complex and satisfying tapestry. As always, Anil Mehta does a fabulous job lensing the story -- his cinematography captures a wide range of urban landscapes that subtly adds depth and context to the story (and be on the lookout for an in-joke concerning his name in the film). And, of course, A. R. Rahman's score is terrific -- particularly when pouring out of a theater's surround-sound system! Not to be missed!