Saathiya

Yes, the film is almost like any other hindi film and yes its unbelievable how far better it is, than any of its contenders. A fabulous love story of a boy and a girl who marry each other against the wishes of their parents and society, 'Saathiya' shows the human side of love, stressing on the problems human beings deal with and work through in order to maintain a relationship.

The songs are amazing and their picturization magnificent. The movie has good doses of fun, emotion and tragedy. Rani Mukherjee looks ravishing and will take your breath away, she almost looks and acts like the perfect wife for any young man. Vivek Oberoi, who is very clearly the find of 2002 as far as the Hindi Film industry is concerned, turns in another great performance, he is absolutely flawless in the film, portraying the many emotional facets of his character 'Aditya Sehgal', with an almost unrecognizable ease. Shaad Ali puts in a fantastic effort for his first film, picking the perfect actors with the perfect locales to create a near perfect film. I cannot yet comment on the replayability of this film as I have only seen it once, but it is almost a surity that the movie would be as good on the second watch. A 10/10 film, and a must watch.

This film -- which I had heard almost nothing about before seeing it -- turned out to be a powerful, moving, and important love story. Rani Mukherjee's performance as Suhani -- the young M.D. and wife struggling to reach out to her husband after they elope -- is top notch and clearly deserving of an Oscar. Likewise, Vivek Oberoi does a wonderful job portraying her husband Aditya as he oscillates between playfulness and workaholism. Ali and Rathnam's story is superb -- combining drama and social commentary in a complex and satisfying tapestry. As always, Anil Mehta does a fabulous job lensing the story -- his cinematography captures a wide range of urban landscapes that subtly adds depth and context to the story (and be on the lookout for an in-joke concerning his name in the film). And, of course, A. R. Rahman's score is terrific -- particularly when pouring out of a theater's surround-sound system! Not to be missed!

Saathiya, a movie that i wanted to see because of its beautiful songs. I never expected that the story would be as enjoyable as the songs. This movie is made as simple as they could and yet made it look nice without any huge sets, or without of having characters in the story who are like supposely equivalent to Bill Gates. This is a movie which most of the people could relate to especially considering most of the indian population living in india lives through middle class values which is addressed in the movie. The romance is not overexaggerated. Basically, talking about the movie a viewer would not be disappointed. The direction was very veteran like considering it was Shaad Ali's first film. He did a fabulous job at the climax point. To bring out the performances worthy of awards and praises from the leading actors, Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukherjee. Rani Mukherjee has done her part better then her male counterpart but I would not dare take anything away from Vivek Oberoi. Vivek lends a good support but it is clear that movie's driving force was Rani Mukherjee, movie belonged to Rani Mukherjee arguably her best performance ever till date. Overall, it is a good heartwarming experience with good tunes to hummm in isolation. Characters will easily relate to you, it is that beautifully played out.

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.

Very simple love story, but shown in an angle that makes it interesting and definitely worth watching. And it has great music. The singers and musci director, AR Rehman, all do a great job. The choreography is also great. Most of the songs are well-placed in the film...probably apart from the Chori Pe chori one. It's got the high quality you would expect from Yash Raj, and the sweet simplicity of Mani Ratnam... Definitely worth a watch.