Sooryavansham

Sooryavansham review :

A Padmalaya production featuring Amitabh Bachchan in a father- son role; Sooryavansham came in summer of 1999 just a couple of months after Big B's Lal Badshah which managed to make money in the Northen interiors despite the heavy criticism. Sooryavansham wasn't that lucky and it tanked at the box office in no time!!

Surprisingly, the film became a rage when it premiered on Sony Max and must have been screened atleast thousand times on this channel. Today, it has become a cult classic with memes popping up on the poisoned kheer and what not!!

Amitabh Bachchan was terrific in the older avatar of Thakur but seemed out of place as his youngster son. Maybe, a younger star like Ajay Devgn or Akshay Kumar would've worked here but then jaane bhi do yaaro!!

Curiously, Rekha dubbed for the lead heroine Soundarya as well as Jayasudha who played the mother. Her familiar husky voice elevated both the ladies performance to a significant extent. Anupam Kher and Kader Khan provided the comic quotient efficiently. Current heartthrob Ishan Khattar's parents Rajesh and Neelima appear in small roles.

Sooryavansham is also memorable for Bachchan crooning his own number "Chori se chori se"... it was his lean phase when he was trying to gain his ground in his much touted second innings. But as they say, legends never go. They just adapt to the time. That's exactly what Bachchan did after facing failure since his ill fated Mrityudaata (1997). He re-invented himself with Kaun Banega Crorepati and Mohabattein in 2000 and hasn't looked back since!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.