Saaya

So the story goes like this: Akash Bhatnagar (John Abraham; a.k.a Akki) is a doctor who loses his wife Maya (Tara Sharma) in an accident. Unable to cope with his loss, he begins to see and hear things that convince him that his dead wife is trying to contact him. His friends, like Tanya (Mahima Chaudhary) try to convince him that his mind is getting affected by the tragedy and advise him to move on with his life. Nevertheless the strange happenings continue and eventually lead Akash to what his wife was trying to tell him.

One of the strongest points of the film is its short running time. But the beginning of the movie starts out slow and it takes awhile for the viewer to get into the story. But once in, it keeps you hooked. The scenes just before and just after the intermission are excellent. There are some scary scenes, not horror but just unexpected happenings. Otherwise, Saaya is basically a drama and a good one at that. Although the story has been copied from Kevin Costner's Dragonfly, it still seems novel when compared to the run of the mill love stories (that we all still love to watch, no matter how overdone).

Direction is good. Screenplay could have used a teeny bit of help but some dialogues were thoughtful, especially the ones about faith. Music is excellent: dark, brooding, thoughtful and haunting. Performance wise, Tara Sharma thankfully has a very small role. Although pretty, she is wooden and impassive. Mahima Chaudhary in a supporting role is good. She has this wonderful way of morphing into different roles. Here she looks very much like the young widow she plays. Lastly, John Abraham is surprising. He does well in the complex role of a widower whose faith is questioned. Of course it doesn't hurt that he is major eye-candy. I can't wait for his next movie. There is still room for improvement though.

John Abraham seems to have matured tremendously since Jism and did a great job. Mahima, as always, gave a great performance in her short yet noticable role. The girl opposite John was barely in the movie and didn't make much of a mark. The ending and theme are also interesting.

A very good and well made film. Another worthy Bollywood copy of a recent Hollywood movie : Dragonfly - starring Kevin Costner (in one of his better roles). John (Abraham) did well as main lead and supporting cast weren't too bad either. A worthy recommendation, but Costner's performance made you feel more for the character.

An adaptation of the Hollywood movie 'Dragonfly'. The movie has an okay-okay screenplay, but the movie is saved by the brilliant direction of the mastero, Anurag Basu. Without a good director, the movie could have been a total mismash, but thank God, it didn't happen!

The story is not seen many times, it is kind of story dealing with the connection between 'this world' and 'that world'. Few loopholes are there in the movie, but not a problem..

This is one of the early movies of John Abraham, but he is perfectly fine, without any newcomer feeling. The show almost belongs to him only, and he handles it well. His expression was very good in the climax. Tara Sharma had more song presence, than scenes. She is alright, but seems uncomfortable in a sequence or two. Mahima Chaudhary also does a supporting role, she does it well. Raj Zutshi irritates with his accent... Zohra Sehgal was good for her role.

Songs by Anu Malik are okay, and surprisingly, Shreya Ghoshal appears in a song, as a school girl. The song is sung by herself, she looks good, and the song too!!

On the whole, an average script, made above average with a good direction. "(Average+Good)/2= Above Average"

Anurag Basu's 'Saaya' is almost a scene by scene ripoff of 'Dragonfly'. Basu has since gained recognition as a hack director. However, this time, even after being ripped off, 'Saaya' is mind numbingly boring. It's pretty much about a man grieving his wife's death and Basu has cast one of the worst actors in this role. Abraham, though less wooden than he usually is, delivers yet another weak performance. His forced and yet clueless puppy-dog wannabe expressions are quite funny (unintentionally of course). Tara Sharma is miscast. Mahima Chaudhry is wasted in a less significant role but she is a scene stealer and acts better than the rest of the cast put together. Needless to say, she's the only one that acts at all. The song in the opening sequence has catchy lyrics while the rest of them are forgettable. The cinematography is sometimes very good but otherwise dull. Anyway, 'Saaya' is quite a waste and I'd only recommend it if you're having a hard time getting some sleep.