Saawariya – Beloved (2007)

Directed by: Sanjay Leela Bhansali | 132 minutes | drama, romance, musical | Actors: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Zohra Sehgal, Begum Para

Like Baz Luhrmann’s extravagant ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘Saawariya’ has an artificially romantic and fairytale set design. It even has a European feel, with a sort of Arc de Triomphe and Venetian gondolas and canals. Director Bhansali has also given his film a blue glow – which probably partly has to do with the mood of the characters, who all struggle with a variant of heartbreak – and the majority of the scenes take place in the dark, which of course means that a good excuse is to let the lighted bridges and houses light up. It ensures that the whole gets an increased level of reality and comes across as a timeless fairy tale. It is a pity, then, that the story itself does not deserve such a qualification.

The look and atmosphere of the film are about the film’s strongest points, which, however, also lose their power at a certain point when not only the story but also the locations turn out to be quite monotonous. At a certain point you have seen it as a viewer with the same bridges, the romantic lighting and the beautiful positioning of the characters against a picturesque background or under a Greek vault.

Most problematic, however, is that the film itself isn’t particularly dynamic either. Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) waits every night for heartthrob Imaan (Salman Khan), who walked into her life one day and left the next day, promising to return a year later. In the meantime, Ranbir Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) has noticed her and has fallen head over heels in love. He knows how to make contact, but what she sees as friendship is much more to him. He’s after her heart. But she is obsessed with that handsome dark man who, she hopes, will return to her. What a drama. This fact is barely elaborated. Ranbir simply hangs out with Sakina every day, chatting with her, hoping she chooses him, while she longs for Imaan. And if the viewer had invested something in that “relationship”, it could have worked somewhat. But Imaan, who only briefly meets the viewer through a flashback, comes across as a dull man, with hardly any personality. It’s hard to see what Sakina sees in him other than his looks. Ranbir seems to suit her better, or at least has had more charming moments with her that could serve as the basis for more. But here, too, the relationship barely blossoms due to Sakina’s mood swings – one moment dead serious and sad, the next hopping and giggling – and Ranbir’s somewhat clumsy demeanor. Anyway, given the characters the viewer has invested their time in, the ending is a fair anti-climax and rather unsatisfying.

The most interesting aspect of the film is the presence of actress Rani Mukherjee, who creditably played the lead role in director Bhansali’s previous film, the tearjerker ‘Black’. In that film she played a blind and deaf and dumb girl who started to lead a whole new life and here she is a (luxury) prostitute, Gulabji, who tries to lead Ranbir on the right (love) path as a kind of mentor. Teasing, somewhat sarcastic, and with a sensual aura, she sometimes pops into Ranbir’s life to ask him about the state of affairs. Fun is the scene in which she answers Ranbir’s landlady when she constantly makes condescending remarks about her when she visits Ranbir. Her thesis is that they are not that different: the landlady was alone and had only a large house at her disposal, which she made a living by letting customers stay overnight. Gulabji does the same, but uses her body instead of a house. They both do what they can to survive, with the resources at their disposal.

Unfortunately, it’s one of the few intelligent, inspired moments in the film, which looks nice but has little else to offer. This first Bollywood film produced by a major Hollywood studio is unfortunately far from the best the Indian film industry has to offer. Better luck next time.