Decoding ‘Saawariya (Beloved)’
Two bloggers are beavering away at the themes of a movie which doesn’t quite deserve it. Vinod Khare says it isn’t easy being blue:
The city, as we see, is Blue. Blue, in this movie, is the color of life. It is a color of sorrow… After he burns the love-letter that Sakina writes to Iman, we see him clad in Blue himself, a color that he’s wearing for the first time in his life. [Link]
The colors of Sin City are Black and White… in keeping with the noir tradition, the moral framework of Sin City is divided into two… The same color symbolism is used in Saawariya but it is Raj who is Black and White and who lives within a simplified moral framework… the colors [the prostitutes] wear… [range] over the entire spectrum. Their moral framework is not Black and White, it is multicolored and very superficial. It is deliberately constructed to protect themselves from the kind of choices that Raj and Sakina find themselves to be making. [Link]
Headmistress says the lead metrosexual is a puppy, not a man:
There doesn’t seem to be an aggressive bone in his well-honed body - when he is ganged up on, all he can do is lie down and take it. (Though of course, Beauty escapes without so much as a scratch or a bruise.) And the only pelvic thrusting we see (this was always something I found so gross in all those 80’s and 90’s masala flicks) is when he’s in an utterly vulnerable and pretty comical position, dancing around his bedroom, in the nudders except for his towel…
I’m left with a sense of emasculation, a terrible powerlessness. He’s split between this inane, giddy infantile behaviour, and these small flashes of an inarticulate (potential) violence. He grabs Sakina by the arm when he confronts her about the absurdity of her infatuation with an invisible man… this only comes across as a childish tantrum, futile and impotent. This is why the towel scene feels so uncomfortable to me. In spite of its apparently overt sexuality, the much hyped bum etc, it feels like an empty parody of male sexuality, a eunuch fooling about. [Link]
on Sunday, November 18th, 2007, 5:35 am in Film › 
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No, the film doesn’t deserve this. It’s a biggest cut & paste job ever seen on the Bollywood cinemascape to date. Bhansali simply rehashed his infatuation with Mughal-E-Azam’s dialogues and tight screen shots with Devdas’ poor attempts at thesaurusized script & cinematography alongside his miscalculated hope of capitalizing on the global success of Moulin Rouge. Virtually every shot, every line, every costume, every lighting has been lifted from these and other films. Bhansali is tired of working. He sadly has nothing left to give, which is a shame because Khamoshi was such a break out film to begin with.
I would pay good money to see the reactions of the Sony execs, who know have to find ways to recoup the cash. My vote says it’ll be out on DVD in time for Valentine’s Day promos.
I don’t know whether the film deserves it or not - I still can’t decide whether I actually enjoyed it at all. I can’t comment on how it fares alongside the rest of Bhansali’s oeuvre - only half watched ‘Black’ when it came on tv a while ago, though I did love Devdas.
I do agree that Saawariya was a disappointment. the set, seething with a wasted budget; the school-drama club level of acting; the overdone fanboy tributes throughout. And lots more. And I doubt any of these thematic concerns figured remotely in SLB’s mind when he decided to churn out a half-baked blahdeblah attempt at a modern fairytale. But on my part at least, that’s just by-the-by. My own fascination is in a way, just because of its absurdity. I think SLB intended it as some twee, twinkling little story about love and innocence and other fuzzy Hallmark-ready abstractions, but it comes across to me as something so surreal, so strange, that I can’t quite believe or understand what I’m seeing. Hence the babbling it’s triggered.
I’m sure Sony will recoup their pennies. There is even a cute little tee for the film. http://www.desiwear.com/UK/detail.aspx?ID=161
I was referring to this article I read a few days ago on costs:
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=304478
“However, Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed Saawariya, is headed for trouble.
“Sony Pictures will not recover the cost of production, while Eros International will certainly recover and earn profits…”
God help us, the level of delusion and pomposity in Bhansali’s films is elevated even higher by Karan Johar in this defence of his ‘art’ in Tehelka
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main36.asp?filename=hub241107sevenmen.asp
What is it that means this overblown hubristic Liberace embarassment can be served up by this industry by such thin skinned derivative pompous Emperors naked in their new clothes?
Satyajit Ray, we miss you so much.
I thought the film was visually beautiful in every way. I enjoyed the cinematic ride.
http://solshine7.blogspot.com
I agree with both reviews..as vinod points out the use of colors, the scenaries, the cinematography through out the movie was just great. It is a visual treat and Iam glad indian directors are experimenting on making movies like saawariya, I enjoyed every scene in the movie , it was like watching a series of paintings. I also liked the dark streets and in general the picturization of the movie in the night, it had great visual effect specially on a melancholy movie like this one.
I have to agree with headmistress too that half naked Ranbir kapoor dancing in a towel was just such a wasted scene, cant even understand why bhansali choose to have this scene, it has a negative effect on the hero, he appears all feminine, overemotional, over excited..like sharukh khan half naked in om shanti om which was just not worth watching….both the hero’s character and the heriones character in saawariya and dialogues between them were written so badly that the whole movie becomes boring despite great visuals. Bhansali did not have a great story or screenplay in this movie nor great songs or dances. It seems like he wanted to make a musical sort of broadway ballet kind of movie with no story or drama and picturize it like romeo and juliet ballet.. and it does not suit indian audience well.
Yaar the movie sucks. Why blame the Indian audience? The Indian audience may be stupid, but it knows bullshit when it sees it. Unless of course when it is glycerin-soaked family drama- there they’ll buy anything.
I am not blaming indian audience..Iam just saying that the movie will not appeal much to indian audience who are not used to watching ballets or musicals or operas..my mom and some of my indian friends didnot like saawariya at all, but some of my americanised indian friends liked it. It is just a matter of getting used to it..the cinematography in this movie is brilliant. story and acting, music and dance are bad making it a boring movie but otherwise this movie is not definetely bullshit..In the genre it was made (musical or ballet) it is at its best, but that genre is hard to absorb or enjoy for indian audience..it is definetely not a bullshit movie.. again this doesnot mean that indian audience are bad…it is just a matter of taste..
I meant bullshit not as in total bakwaas, but as pompous but essentially pointless. Going by your description, I’d say we agree :).