Nothing like the sun
Saawariya is a series of postcard-pretty images by a cinematographer who fancies himself a director. It’s better without sound; leave it running as a screensaver and glance at it while you do something else. The movie’s gorgeous and airless, a hermetically-sealed snow globe. Its claustrophobic love story is filmed entirely on sound stage in a land of matte paintings and permanent night. It’s Bombay Dreams on film, Black again with that foreign snow; it’s as if Sanjay Leela Bhansali has forgotten about natural light. The classical form which worked in Devdas becomes ham-handed in Black and Saawariya.
On one hand, Saawariya rivals House of Flying Daggers and Hero for pretty visuals. A scene where Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) beats carpets into golden dust is gorgeous, as are the many overhead shots, and a scene in an alley with walls of blue. On the other, too much dessert, not enough entrée means the loveliest scenes don’t stand out. The mirror strings from ‘Maar Dala‘ (Devdas) make an encore. The Venetian city relies on an inverse palette; an accent color, bright Arab blue, so dominates the color scheme, the female lead is forced to wear black in a dance scene just so she’s visible. A Vinay Pathak or a Satish Kaushik would be as attractive here as a brown man in Iceland, to break up the tyranny of the beautiful.
This movie is Taal or the Umrao Jaan remake without their charming lead. It’s told fairytale style, a kiddie film like the opera version of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Sonam’s face is a revelation. She’s got a generic Indian beauty, but from different angles there are hints of Juhi, Sheetal, Rekha, Dia, Vasundhara, a Lux soap ad, Kate Hudson. Sadly, she can’t act. Her giggles are forced and two seconds too slow, and her character comes off bipolar, not impulsive.
Hollywood screen romances are left insipid so a tween demographic can project, and Indian romances are even more naïve. Sakina is as annoyingly juvenile as a cosplayer, an overgrown teen. This blankness is terribly sexist. It gives women no credit; you’re shown a face and told to love her for its golden ratios, not her humanity.
Raj (Ranbir Kapoor, no direct relation) plays an infatuated puppy. Though he’s spent copious hours flexing and threading, as a scion launch vehicle, this is no Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. He can’t really dance, and the choreographer’s dorky moves sully the film. Ranbir plays his part like Hrithik as goody two-shoes. Imaan (Salman Khan) is from the school of acting without moving your eyes. His barely-there character is little more than a MacGuffin.
This movie swims in the usual Hindi film cheese. Ranbir is filmed flexing his abs, lats, pelvis and buttocks. His towel drops; not trusting the audience, the director serves up a side of beef and cuts away a quarter second later. There’s no kissing, just tacky sexual metaphor — Sakina rhythmically yanking a fan cord next to her lover.
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Raj Kapoor |
The movie is a pastiche of references: the Umrao Jaan æsthetic, the An Affair to Remember situation, the showy Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam sacrifice, the Moulin Rouge windmill, lines name-checking Mughal-e-Azam, Umrao Jaan and Dil Se, a song (’tumne kisi se pyaar kiya hai? (have you ever loved someone?)’ which quotes Ranbir’s dad in Karz, the hat worn by his grandfather Raj Kapoor in Shree 420. The name ‘Sakina’ and the humor of ancient Zohra Sehgal cussing make me wonder whether Bhansali recently took in the pleasures of Toronto Masala.
I once called Bhansali an auteur, and he is a Christopher figure, but he rivals Doyle, not Nolan.
Here’s the trailer:
on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007, 3:52 pm in Film, Video clips › 
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that’s what i thought of santosh sivan after i saw terrorist.
You didn’t mention that Ranbir looks like a younger, handsomer Sylvester Stallone.
Also, there was yodelling.
sonam/sakina as the bipolar cosplayer is spot on. I was shocked by what a (self)destructive portrayal her character was. Ranbir too turns a bit scary, psychotically obsessive, but he gets a beating so it’s ok :)
I’ve never seen the trailer before - but this is the first trailer I’ve seen which absolutely sums up the whole film - random, rhapsodical, beautiful abstractions, laced through with total gobbledegook - “and when they meet, what echoes is….” uuh?? pretty squiggles and a big nothing?
headmistress, it’s based on a short-story by Dostoevsky apparently, I would have expected it to be a little dark, although I get no sense of this from the trailer.
headmistress: it’s remarkable how much our reviews overlap. I’m less original than I thought :)
lol. you with the yodeling obsession. enough already! :)
Exactly! When I was watching Devdas I was thinking that this guy should be an art director or a set designer or some such thing. He is not terribly interested in telling a story - he just wants to make pretty picture.
manish - pah, originality is like, so last century anyway :)
bobby - i know, but from what I can dredge up from my teenagnst days, Fyodor was more brooding, depressive melancholia, and less Patrick Bateman in love. I’ve know plenty of people like Sakina and Raj, and the violent shifts between manic extremes can be scary :/
hmm maybe rather than going for some star-cross’d lovers fairytale, SLB really meant to evoke some probing arty exploration of manic depression and paranoid schizophrenia, what with the claustrophobic feverish dreamscape, the general incoherency, the crazy dancing… you could even wangle in some clever comments about sexuality with the army of dancing prostitutes, Sakina wandering the streets all night, and Ranbir’s ass.
or maybe I should get back to work!
thanks for the review manish, Iam hoping to see it tomorrow.
finally saw the movie tonite..u are right Manish, its beautiful cinematography..picture perfect memorable scenaries through out the movie…but no substance or story…I liked those dark blue streets, those venitian bridges, the dim lighting throughout the movie, those street lights and setting and the city stills looked pretty..reminded me of devdas…but the songs are too many at wrong places interrupting the story, dance choreography is bad, the actors cannot dance..it was like watching phantom of the opera or romeo and juliet ballets at murat theatre or like chicago movie..I thought Randhir kapoor was cute, his acting skills are ok..he looks totally like his mother neetu, but his dancing skills are terrible..I just dont even know why he had to be with no clothes or bare minimum clothes in one song, finally bollywood trend is changing I guess, finally instead of women, men are badly dressed in this movie..sonam was well conservatively dressed so randhir made up for her by flaunting his body..he reminded me of raj kapoor in one song with that famous hat…sonams smile was pretty but she cannot act well..yes her laughs seem forced..her character was not well written..I dont know why bansali choose to make a film on one such a story…there is almost no story there..the dialogues are stretched between the two leads and so unnecessary at many places..I guess it is just a visual treat more like a musical or a stage ballet than a movie…probably the first hindi movie made this way..but worth watching just for the cinematography than for anything else..
he is a Christopher figure, but he rivals Doyle, not Nolan.
Wait…and that’s a bad thing?