Saathiya (2002)

What a waste of my time!!!

A Disappointing Continuation

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Well, it's got a stellar cast, an okay story and it's a Yashraj production. I have to admit, when I first heard about this film, I hoped to watch it and rate it was perfect 10. But it's far from it. It's just an average film with a power punch packing cast!Okay, Rani Mukherjee plays a young medical student who one day bumps into a mama's boy (played by Vivek Oberoi) at a wedding, and he instantly becomes smitten with her. Aboard two separate trains en route to different parts of the city of Mumbai, they spot each other again and a game of cat and mouse ensues daily until he musters up the courage to come and speak to her about his feelings. They slowly begin to warm up to each other and soon enough Oberoi's character sends his parents to go and check out his beloved's parents. His parents, wealthier than some get to the beat down shack where their son's beloved calls home with her parents and can hardly hide their resentment. It isn't too long that they begin to get on each other's nerves, and the meeting ends in a disaster. When Rani's character meets with Vivek's again, she decides to end their relationship because his parents were rude to hers. Vivek pleads with her then proposes to her, and they secretly get marriage. Everything goes smoothly until it becomes time for Rani's younger sister to get married. The potential family comes in to meet theirs and naturally they wonder why the older one isn't married yet, so the propose that one of their other sons marries her, that is when Rani's character drops the bombshell on them all that she is already married. This causes her sister's marriage deal to be canceled and not to mention the fact that her parents disown her because of this. Rani's character then goes off to live with her husband (Vivek) and things go smoothly for a while until they start dealing with issues that surround every married couple. Rani becomes insecure about the marriage and herself that she begins to see things that aren't there. One afternoon, she spies her husband hugging a woman at a train stop and mistakes it for an affair, when she later finds out that the woman her husband was hugging was none other than her little sister, she races home to make things right with her husband again but meets a very bad accident. That's when the Yashraj Peep whip out one of two people who probably brought Saathiya the crowd it did at the box office. The car that hit Rani's character was being driven by Tabu (in a special appearance) and she is married to Shah Rukh Khan (another special appearance) whom she races home to tell what she has done, after fleeing the scene of a crime, leaving Rani at her own mercy. SRK then races to the hospital to see if the woman is still alive, where he pretends to be her husband in order to save her life. That's Saathiya for you, yup! The much hyped Saathiya. The Best performance in the entire film belongs to Vivek Oberoi, he is just stellar and splendidly holds his own in the one powerful scene he has with the King Khan. Oh! blink and you'll miss an item number cameo by Shamita Shetty as she tries to steal Vivek away from Rani. There's also a wonderful song in the film called 'Chupke Se' performed in the film by Rani and Vivek. Listen to it and weep! Yes! it's that beautiful.

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.

The pre-release hype was huge, the soundtrack became the second best-selling soundtrack of 2002, and to add, it had names such as AR Rehman (music director), Gulzar (lyricst), and two actors with a huge fan following, Rani Mukherjee and Vivek Oberoi.The film opened with an average opening in India, UK, and the USA, because it was released alongside the much-delayed star studded Kaante. Then, slowly and gradually, the films collections picked up, and the film managed to gross Rs. 15 crores in India, £288,004 in Great Britain, and $324,111 in America, becoming a hit.Suhani and Aditya meet at a local wedding. Weeks later, Suhani moves to Mumbai to become a doctor. Aditya meets her at the train station, trying to woo her, but she won't give in. After Aditya's father disrespects Suhani's parents while coming for the alliance and Suhani going to training do they get married secretly. At Dina's (Suhani's sister) alliance, it breaks of Suhani's marriage, and the couple are kicked out of their houses, and move in with each other. Soon, their personalities clash, and an accident almost changes their lives drastically.Vivek Oberoi delivers his third great performance (following Company and Road), which is amazing for a newcomer. He emotes so well, and has a great passion in his eyes. Rani Mukherjee gives it her all, and steals your heart. She's proved herself as a true actress here.The music is amazing. All the picturisations are upto mark. The title track is best in audio and film, while other great songs 'Naina Milake', 'Chhalka Chhalka Re', and 'Chupke Se' stay with you. 'Aye Udi Udi's picturisation is perfect, and demonstrates the "shows and characters" they give each other in the bedroom!If there is any fool: whether they are South Asian, Indo-Caribbean, gori, kali, Chinese, Arab, PLEASE SEE THIS FILM! We can all learn to live life, and stop all these small problems. Because when someone you love almost passes away or does pass away, everything doesn't matter anymore.10 out of 10

Yesterday I went to see saathiya at theatre and let me tell you that it is a great movie. Debutant director Shaad Ali has done a great job in directing this movie. Ashok Mehta's cinematography is just too good. Vivek Oberoi has done an excellent job. He shows a lot of acting skills. I personally feel that he is a very promising actor. Rani Mukherjee also acted very well. Among other actors I think Sandhya Mridul acted very well and Tanuja was just natural. The only thing I didn't like the movie was its ending. The ending was too filmy. My Rating - 9.5/10