Satyam Shivam Sundaram: Love Sublime

When I first saw this movie in 1978, I did it because it had two of my favourite actors in it - Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman and at the time I enjoyed it, But watching it after a very long time, I realised why I had enjoyed it.

A village priest's wife dies in child birth - the child being a daughter who is named Roopa. As the baby grows up, she is ignored and called names by everyone in the village except her uncle Bansi. One day a there's a celebration that takes place in the temple for a rich man's son and Roopa is forced to sing when her father is unable to do so. People get mesmerised by her voice and her father trains her to sing. But disaster strikes when she asks him why she is not able to celebrate her birthday like everyone else and in response, Bansi promises to do just that and when cooking oil spills on Roopa's face and she is disfigured.

The movie stars: Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Kanhaiyalal, A.K. Hangal, David Abraham, Leela Chitnis and a very young Padmini Kohlapure and is directed, edited and produced by Raj Kapoor. The songs by Lata Mangeshkar are worth listening to but the most memorable one is by the late Mukesh: "Chanchal Sheetal, Nirmal, Komal." Every R.K. movie that I have watched has had a story and a meaning involved and Satyam Shivam Sunderam was no exception. It depicts the saying "beauty is in the eyes of the holder" but in reality it is what we see from the outside. What one needs to see is the inner beauty. Zeenat plays the role of "Roopa" whose face from one side looks beautiful but when the other side is shown is ugly as she is disfigured but yet has a beautiful voice. She has acted this role superbly as has Shashi Kapoor the role of a man who loves beauty but hates ugliness and disfigurement. This movie also goes on to portray the meaning of "Satyam" - truth, "Shivam" - god and "Sunderam" - beauty and hence the title: "Satyam Shivam Sunderam." When this movie was first released there was a lot of discussion and many said that too much body parts were revealed by Zeenat Aman and some even said that more censorship was needed and more so with the kissing on the lips scene. Also the song "Chanchal, Sheetal, Nirmal, Komal" was the last song that the late Mukesh was to sing for a movie for he passed away soon afterwards in the USA during a tour with Lata Mangeshkar.

Conclusion: Worth while to watch, listen and try and understand the message that Raj Kapoor has tried to pass to the audience.

Eyes, as humans are we really gifted to be bestowed with them? Or do they blind us and stop us from listening to our heart? Are they a boon or bane? Raj Kapoor takes these questions and weaves a love story to illustrate the point.

The human mind cannot bear too much of truth and precisely on this premise Shashi Kapoor's character Rajiv is based upon. He is unable to see the beauty beyond the skin and fails to see the truth. Raj Kapoor juxtaposes the same logic and toys with the audience. Ample innocent skin show is thrown in for the eyes to feast upon. However does the audience look beyond and see the underlying sublime message? Or suffer from the same predicament as Rajiv. The message has been told since time immemorial. With "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" Raj Kapoor makes his sincere attempt.

Zeenat Aman:: As always with Raj Kapoor's films, the female characters get fleshed out in greater prominence and hence tend to steal the thunder against the male counter-part. Zeenat Aman gets a role of her lifetime and perhaps might now be thanking her stars for having got an golden opportunity to work with Raj Kapoor. Her character is called "Rupa" which is aptly chosen.

The rest of the star cast lend adequate support.

The music and lyrics have always been forte of RK Films and "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" is no exception. Raj Kapoor manages to extract the best out of Laxmikant-Pyarelal to delivery a rich, soulful and haunting melodies. The lyrics by Pandit Narendra Sharma carry a deep meaning. Lata Mangeshkar renders the songs in top form, as always for Raj Kapoor.

The movie was a commercial failure when it was released. It was the time action films ruled the roost. The film was certainly well ahead of its times. The audience lacked the maturity and sensibility to grasp the underlying message. Nonetheless, "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" is a best masterpiece created by the greatest showman of Indian Cinema.

Truth, godliness and beauty. An unconventional Hindi film about inner beauty. Zeenat Aman's character Rupa is a village outcast having burnt one side of her face leaving her disfigured. She lives life in the shadows of others hiding her scars by veiling one side of her face. Enter the vain Shashi Kapoor as Ranjeev who falls madly in love with Rupa after hearing her angelic singing at the temple but remains unaware of her disfigurement. Rupa then literally leads two lives in order to maintain his love.

When released in India it caused much controversy over the mix of religion, the semi-clad Zeenat Aman and erotic symbolism in some sequences. True, no chance is wasted in showing as much of Zeenats inch perfect body as possible. For many this compromises the message of the film however it is never vulgar. The portrayal of her own self-loathing and sense of worthlessness tugs at the heart strings. There is a small minus in Shashi Kapoors total miscasting as the big engineer he looks continually bemused and his sudden conversion doesn't quite ring true.

The film is beautifully shot and the sunrise colour schemes give it a surreal and dream like quality. The dialogues are well done and complimented by some great songs. Highly recommended.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram review :

Known mainly for Zeenat Aman's abundant skin exposure, the legendary Raj Kapoors Satyam Shivam Sundaram (SSS) is actually an intense philosophical look at the pristine soul beyond the ordinary body. Raj Saahab explains the theme in the opening scene itself where he talks about faith and devotion in an idol which may appear to be a piece of rock to an atheist.

Some say Raj Kapoor got the idea in the 1950s from his favourite singer Lata Mangeshkar who had a divine voice but was not particularly beautiful face. The basic idea of inner beauty vs physical body stayed with him for decades and finally, in late '70s, he decided to translate his vision on screen.

Surprisingly, Zeenat Aman was not the first choice and Raj Saahab had Hema Malini as well as Vidya Sinha in mind. Zeenat literally grabbed the coveted role by dressing up as the village belle Roopa and directly landing up at RK Studios, Chembur to stun Raj Kapoor who instantly signed her.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram remains Zeenat's career best performance though she got her share of criticism for exposing without any inhibitions. In one scene, her breasts are clearly visible yet the Censors were liberal to pass the film without a single cut.

Shashi Kapoor was earnest as Rajeev, the civil engineer who visits a village on duty and falls in love with a beautiful voice whose face he hasnt seen till he marries her. The girl is Roopa (Zeenat) who had burnt a part of her face in childhood and on seeing her, Rajeev shuns her..

Raj Kapoor's collaboration with Laxmikant Pyarelal yielded some excellent music and the duo won the Filmfare award that year. Radhu Karmakar also took home the best cinematographer award that year.

The social drama was released with lot of fanfare at Mumbai's prestigious Metro Cinema. The star studded premiere at Metro had the entire Kapoor family standing at the entrance welcoming their guests for the evening. The film wasn't a big hit commercially but didn't burn a hole in Raj Saahab's pocket like his magnum opus Mera Naam Joker (1970) did.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram is one of my favorite Raj Kapoor film after Shree 420 (1955) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). Only a legend like him can make such an aesthetic piece of work without stepping the line of vulgarity. Kudos!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Review By Kamal K

Very nice movie. I like the concept depicted so beautifully. Brilliant performance by Zeenat Aman and Shashi Kapoor. Beautiful melodious voice of Lata Ji adds to the beauty of the movie...Love is the gentle smile upon the lips of beauty. It lies in the eyes of the beholder.... Excellent work.