Saathiya

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!

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.

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.

With Mani Rathnam and A R Rehman linked to a project, one cannot be in to much doubt that if nothing else the music is going to be mind blowing.

But that was not the case with Saathiya. It not only had mind-blowing music and score it was one of the best movies of 2002.

The music and the respective picturisations are excellent, especially in the case of the title song ‘Saathiya'. My other favorite song is the tongue in cheek song ‘Choori pe Choori'. However all the other songs are very pleasurable as well. The main question was how would first time director Shaad Ali perform on this story, that would be a remake of Mani Rathnam South-Indian movie be as good as the original? Would he produce an art movie piece as his father (Muzaffar Ali) has done with movies like Umrao Jaan, or would he deliver a commercial piece? What one can be sure of is that Shaad has taken the craftsman of his fathers art movies and put them to commercial use, and delivered a movie that is unique, professional, modern and outstanding.

The acting is excellent as is the story line. Having liked Rani from Ghulam to K3G, is wonderful to see her finally taking the lead in a role that does her justice. Her realistic portrayal of Suhani, a modern genre women dealing with the trials and tribulations of married life is excellent. Having not seen anything of Viveks before, is was a surprise to see an actor of his young caliber holding such presence on screen, that it overshadowed SRK. It is evident that this actor will reach high strides in his coming career.

For a change this movie actually delivers a subconscious message, something not commonly done in bollywood movies. The message is ‘lifes to short, tell those around you how much they really mean to you'. Taking this to heart, I can truly say that I loved Saathiya.

All same old stuff...love love and hell lot of songs.. Pata nahi kab sudhrenge yeh loooooog.. Now a days all the love stories are the remake of the movies from south india.