Saawariya: Like a Dream – it fades.
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Rupak Ghosh (New Delhi, India)
Email :
rupak.ghosh [at] gmail.com
As I left the film theater, after watching ‘Saawariya’ the first thing that came to my mind was not “…and the winner between ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Saawariya’ is…”, but the obvious similarities between the two films.
Yes, I found both of them quite alike in various respects. No, forget the fact that in both the films new faces have been launched. Am not talking about such facile similarities.
Both the films deal with ‘waiting for one’s love’ – yes, the time period differs, I agree; one is an ode to Manmohan Desai, the baap of Hindi entertainers; the other an equally unabashed tribute to the showman himself – Raj Kapoor. Even the dialogues sound the same – “I likes” anyone? A thread from Deepika Padukone’s dress gets stuck in Shahrukh Khan’s wrist; Sonam Kapoor finds her dress pinned to the bed where Salman Khan lies; OSO begins with the song “Om Shanti Om” from Karz; here Ranbir sings the first few lines from the same song…
So, what am I trying to prove here? Am I giving an entirely new spin to the now famous “rivalry” between the directors-producers-filmmakers by saying “Hello? There is a plagiarism suit opportunity right in front of you?”
No!
These similarities just go to prove that there are certain common threads (pun intended) running through both the films even though Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Farah Khan are two entirely different kinds of directors. And their recent releases stand testament to that fact.
Firstly, I could never quite understand the so-called rivalry bit between the two films. I distinctly remember ‘Dil’ and ‘Ghayal’ were released on the same day. Both went on to become huge money earners. There was then not even a hint of the verbal fisticuffs that we all have been witness to in the past few months.
Let’s face it. The two films are different. While Farah seems to have firmly settled herself on the mantle of being the protégé of Manmohan Desai; SLB, on the other hand, has gone the “painting by light” way. Instead of playing partisan to either, I think I can safely declare that in the end,irrespective of who wins at the box office, cinema has won. While one hits the bull’s eye when it comes to cinema as ‘entertainment’, the other will be quoted as an example of the art that cinema is. One is a master of the craft, the other of the art – no argument on that. So, is this that eternal debate of art film and commercial film in a new avatar? Is that what I am trying to propose?
No, again!
I have never ever subscribed to this view. I firmly hold that there are only two kinds of cinema – good and bad. An individual makes a film so that more and more people can see and appreciate it. Hence, film making is a commercial activity. Because not all of us can make a successful film, hence film is an art. But, I digress.
Coming back to ‘Saawariya’, after watching an out-and-out entertainer yesterday in ‘Om Shanti Om’ I knew I had to go with a fresh mind. And to be frank, I did not dislike ‘Saawariya’. Considering the fact that four people seated beside me at the Premier Stall of an upmarket cinema theater in Delhi left when the interval lights came on, I know I am in the minority. In this regard, I remember a particular conversation between a twenty-odd girl and her friends who had just come out after watching “OSO” – I overheard them when I was entering the theater to watch ‘Saawariya’. They were complaining about Farah Khan and the kind of films she makes – “preposterous” is the word they used.
I wonder if there is an error in judgment on our, the audience’s part, when we are going to watch either of these films. Is that the reason most of us are getting dejected, let down and disappointed?
I knew what to expect when I went to watch an SLB film. I knew I shall watch gorgeous sets, an eye for detail, spellbinding cinematography and brilliantly picturized songs. Brickbats are welcome, but after Guru Dutt, I have not seen many people picturize songs as beautifully as SLB does. But SLB, curiously enough decided to pay homage to Raj Kapoor, instead. From as in-your-face as naming his protagonist Ranbir Raj Kapoor to the huge RK neon, the bowler hat that Ranbir wears, the raising of the right hand, the usage of an umbrella, Sonam gradually arching backwards as she lay in Ranbir’s arms a la the famous RK logo, the tune of “Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi”…the showman is ubiquitous in the film.
This is a film that any aspiring cinematographer should buy a copy of and watch again and again. Ravi K Chandran has done with the camera what Omung Kumar has accomplished with the sets. Like OSO’s first half effortlessly transports you to the 1970s, ‘Saawariya’ takes you to a land which is dreamy, ethereal and simply, magnificent. This is a place where you want fire to float on water, and it does!
The male lead has a boyish charm, the female lead has pellucid eyes—a rarity in today’s cinema—but the film falters, and how! While others pointed out that the songs were too many and not too far between, I blame the story. There is not much to it, really! ‘So, what?’ as some might say. “Did OSO have a solid story line?’ (since the comparison, it seems, is inevitable, no matter how much I try to avoid it). No, OSO didn’t. But it was a different kind of film. I am a Manmohan Desai fan myself, but I, too, admit, there was never much of a story in any of his films. The problem lies in the fact that ‘Saawariya’ needed a better etched story line. Granted, it’s a tale of just four nights, but so much can happen during that time span.
I own Visconti’s ‘White Nights’. But that film ran a whole of 92 mins. This, on the other hand has a running time of 142mins. Same story, but a difference of around an hour. So much could have happened. The sets, the props, the actors – they were all there.
But brilliant cinematography does not make a film. Filmmaking after all is storytelling and I need not remind a veteran like SLB that a good film is a good story well told. You had the story, but somewhere amidst the sets and props and detailing, I think it got lost. And unlike the letter that your protagonist burnt and set sail on water, your story, respected SLB, just might not float.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
actually even i liked sanwariya , for its boldness to cast newcomers and giving us a real talente duo, SLB try and make something in a diff genre perhaps, yet retainig the basic values… and we might have a something more worthwhile:)
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Well the repeated overdose of Making of Saawariya on the Sony gave me a serious case of Heebi Jeebies. My understanding of Cinema is that is a collaboration of effort and craft of lot of people where the Director acts as the binding force. This process per se allows for realty checks and leaves space for Vision. If you see the constant telecast (repeat being an understatement) of “Making of Saawariya” you would realise that every soul coneected with the movie talks only about how Sanjay sir did it for them , including the main cast, Music Director, Choreographers , spot boys , chai wallahs and the drivers. This lead to complete absence of what we call in corporate as “Sense Check”. End product a Senseless output of a beutiful concept.
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Has anyone studied ‘EXPRESSIONISM’ in paintings or cinema? SLB’s Saawariya braves to attempt that which you’ll find in Van Gogh’s paintings or Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge ! And it’s not mere visual look! It’s one of those non-script-oriented films which break the stereotype!
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@Connoisseur
I am willing to agree with you on use EXPRESSIONISM in Cinema and it being a visual delight. But is Cinema not expected to be a audio-visual and not just visual. A still picture says thousand words , but a movie is actually expected to say all those damn thousands of words. SLB always has been a visual delight but with his scripts have had plot holes as big as one in our pockets at end of the month. Directors transform their personal experiences into concepts and then into Cinema. SLB by his own admission wants to obliterate his inadequacies by making grand Cinema,may be the world will understand his style 100 years from now but by then he would have to chop his ears off.
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i aggree with the fact that cinema needs to be an audio-visual delight…and “saawariya” could have done with a more tighter script in the first 30 minutes….and dialogues could have been better….but there is no denying the fact that i forgot these glitches as the visualization slowly engulfed me….it is “connoissur” has pointed out “EXPRESSIONISM” in cinema…and SLB is right there with Baz Luhrmann and Zhang Yimou as an exponent of that art….do not go just by seeing “the making of saawariya” that might be misleading….i have also seen the making and another way of interpreting that would be the team has worked towards realizing the director’s vision on screen….
Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer’s day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.
well the above lines do summarize some of the efforts that have gone in realizing the visuals in Saawariya.
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Opulence in this movie was not overt but covert through SLB’s mood sets n lighting..the characters themselves were not very grandly put out..in actuality it is a simple love story beneath the glam look!!
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http://desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/
read guys
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unless you like the colour blue im not sure how the visualisation “engulfs” you. if anything its suffocating..you want the actors to break out from this exxagerated, unreal, theatrical set and see that life. the background, visuals and general languish rigid scenes do not capture the mood and flow of storyline. i was one of those who walked out at interval time.
some have labelled this film one “for the mature soulful appreciative of the finer arts” type of people but fact of the matter is this film failed and under huge expectations too. we as an audience place too much on existing accomplished directors and as this film proves, its not worthy of such credit.
painfully slow and not fitting enough a tribute im afraid.
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Kudos to Bhansali for giving the world it’s first lyrical bue film!!
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Kudos to Bhansali for giving the world it’s first lyrical blue film!!
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saanwariya…wow thought would make my diwali complete watching a film by a good maker.but wait wait.:-?gross mistake.
mr bhansali you have spoilt the debut of 2 good actors by making them give in to your fantasies.
please start making real films with outdoor locations.SLB i loved khamoshi and hum dil de chuke sanam please give us more of tht.only credit to your film is tht the music is very good.
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Saawariya takes place in a “dreamspace/abstract space”( a substitute for chilling Russia)n hence is a fabulous depiction of poetry in motion,a very few dare to “paint” the happenings from the “mindspace” & heres a film-maker who under immense presurre of “economics” has tried to create a audio visual poetry…where he has gone entirely wrong is,that he has served the product to a culturally not so sensitive and not so literate audience.Mr.Bhansali tries an uphill task of educating the masses(unknowingly), raising the bar too high for them to comprehend , and there is where probably things go wrong,the hero & heroine are not flesh n blood but images..metaphors..their names could have been anything..because the space they exist in is abstract..we need time to be i tune with you mr.bhansali..hopefully we’ll b with you if we rephrase our education system..b cos we have lost the sense of poetry (thanks to the sms culture)..we need t sensitise ourself..walk off the crowded suburban mall and go to some quiet remote spot where the wind sings ,n the tiny butterfly scatters happiness ..n the setiing sun bring tears to the eyes for no reason at all.. till then you’have to wait……….
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Nobody seems to have noticed this !!!
For God’s sake, …for PFC’s sake, …Ranbir gives new meaning to the term “marionette” !
His performance comprises progressive tutored contortions which are so disjointed that he ACTUALLY BREAKS DOWN THE ILLUSION OF CINEMA !!!
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A MUST MUST MUST READ :
http://www.naachgaana.com/2007/11/12/defending-sanjay-leela-bhansali-and-saawariya/
There’s no prejudice behind my suggestion to anyone to read this. It’s just a suggestion to everyone : ‘It’s time WE EVOLVE!’! And it hardly has anyhting to do with SLB or Saawariya as much as it has to do with doing ‘IGNORANT’ reviewing or criticism without doing thorough research or educating oneself enough!
I hope you guys take this positively! It’s a sincere request.
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@Sofi…i love the color BLUE….but that’s not the only reason I was “engulfed” by the visualization…..if you have gone through Van Gogh’s painting you will find that blue and it’s different shades make an entry to most of his famous paintings….that the set is “unreal”, “exaggerated” and “theatrical” makes the story more believable….if the story would have occurred in the normal confines of space and time this would have come a cropper….
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@Sofi
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@Connoisseur…a very well written article and timely too….it’s time our critics grew up….of all the TV reviews I saw over the weekend only Anupama Chopra’s was a balanced perspective…..
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i do believe too many folk, and especially those are who are obviously attempting to label it a “deeper” and a more elitist experience than it is are mere romanticists.
its also insulting and offensive to deem this movie “too intellectual” for the masses as it is these very masses who hate or rate the movie. im sure SLB wont be basquing in glory when he notices how small his takings are compared to his last few. perhaps i dont appreciate all art but i do love my theatre. this movie however, was an unengaging and farcical approach to even be compared to any form of art. it failed to live up to hype and couldnt sustain interest.
ranbir kapoor was the light though. his performance was good under the circumstances and he will go far, imo.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
Given the nature of people who are attached to “Romanticism” it is a compliment for “Saawariya” if it fits into that genre.
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No matter how much some people defend Saawariya, it will still remain a very mediocre-to-bad film. This has nothing to do with relishing the art, enjoying the serenity, visualising a city that doesn’t exist, suspending oneself from reality, beautiful sets, etc.
Every movie has to have a purpose. If the purpose is solely exhibitionism, it is not good cinema. And to all who say there was a purpose behind Saawariya and that I have failed to see it… ignorance is bliss.
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Saawariya has given SLB a new name: Sanjay Neela Bhansali
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Once again the Indian media has revealed it
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Problems with Saawariya
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I respect Bhansali for his hard work, and for what he puts in to each of his films.I liked Devdas immensely. I think his staging in Devdas in brilliant.Black was good, but it some how appeared to me that it was made for international audience than for Indian audience. But saawariya completely disappointed me. I tried to like it. I deperately wanted to promote it. But after watching film I hinestly felt its not worth it. I think the problems with Saawariya are:
1)Length of the film is too long
2)Characterization’s of Raj is far from Dostovesky’s Dreamer.Although in Visconti’s ‘Le notti bianche’ the hero’s character is far from FD’s dreamer, he is lonely and introvert. Where as in Saawariya Raj is an extrovert and too talkative. I think this took away the soul of the whole character of the Dreamer.
3)Saawariya or any of Bhansali’s films somehow resemble Moulin Rogue in one aspect or other. Saawariya would have been a great film with the story line of Moulin Rogue.
4)Although SLB claims that Saawariya is based on FD’s white nights, I think this film is highly inspired by in Visconti’s ‘Le notti bianche’. I think in a way that was the main reason for the failure of the film. SLB should have had his one vision for the story.believe me or not if you watch ‘Le notti bianche’, you will feel cheated. Any scene that is not there in the novel but in Saawariya goes back to ‘Le notti bianche’ but not SLB.
5)Finally there is only one thing that will help SLB to come up with one more good film; he has to throw away the ‘Moulin Rogue’ DVD from his collection and try to make a film with in a budget of 2-3 crores.
Venkat
www.24fps.co.in
www.24fps.co.in
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I watched OSO first day first show, to be very frank with u guys, I found the film to be average. I wanted to watch Sawariyaa on the same day. But after so much of negative press, dont wanted to spend my money. But, after watching its making online, I decided to go for SAWARIYAA today and FRIENDS….I liked it……I liked that film better than OSO…
Eventhough, I am married, I found a new soul touching love story.
Its really unfair to give Sawariyaa this much of bad press.
I hated critics like Taran Adarsh for judging film so badly and also judging Sonam Kapoor’s performance. And I belived today that Khalid [ Hindustan times big name critic ] is ball licking CHAMCHA of SRK. Also, Taran got loads of money to bad mouthing Sawariyaa in front of OSO
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I do think twice before writing this but..what the heck PFC is the place for opinions….so here i go. I absolutely hated OSO and I cant believe that it is such a success. Why r we talking about Manmohan desai when we talk of OSO which is nothing more than an unsuccessful spoof with scenes and moments which the director fails to connect. U sit and laugh in the first half but what r u laughing at…? you think,is there a story,well u need not have a strong story to tell with every movie you make, ok, is there a thought..na…there is nothing…A dated story, some pointless humor and SKR, well ,looks like the perfect ingredient to make a big budget movie. And ya whats the big deal with a song with 21 actors????? Khalid, in the next day’s newspaper called it magical and some kind of a tribute to the industry which takes us back to the 70s…..come on …give me a break !!Some scenes reminded me of Janeman,but that was good and this :-w …On the other hand we have sawariya(I saw them back to back the same day).I have to admit that it took me some time to adjust to Bhansali’s dream land,characters who come out of nowhere in the middle of the night, his colours, the set, the dresses, the long dialogues but SLB captivated my imagination.I was seeing his dream and the urge to make it look like what I want to see it as, disappeared. I accepted it !! Infact the beauty of Sawariya lies in the Dictor’s use of impressionism and metaphor… The characters to me were an alter ego of lovers and the movie is a simple tale of love which is timeless and placeless. What is further commendable about the movie is that despite the elaborate set and fairly tale characters it focus on emotion all the time. This makes it real and identifiable ! A brilliant love story set in a fairy land…but still real, as Salman does come back and the dream I was seeing with Ranbir crashed…I will have to agree with khalid that sometimes I did feel that we were waitiong for Godot but is it not great that the hope… this time.. was that Godot should never come!!! Kudos to SLB for he made me live,hope and dream with his characters.
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Sawaria is a shit film and Ranbir kapoor is the shittest actor!!!
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Dear Author…
I’m afraid, if u still believe that filmmaking is about tell good stories… what makes me laugh that you’re an author from PFC, and I guess u’ve gt hold of world cinema, and u show no regret in stating ur statement….
Do check ur aesthetic sense for a change… and yup, if ur looking for good stories, go grab some fictional books… Good Luck!
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