Saathi

Last week, I just happen to rediscover this film directed by Mahesh Bhatt and I must confess that I still can't get the film out of my mind. To me, it's a solid piece of 90's film-making in India. The film is loosely based on the film Scarface (1983) which was directed by Brian De Palma and was written by Oliver Stone. Though, the similarity between the two films is just restricted to the 'rise of a gangster' part. Saathi, essentially is the story of Suraj (Aditya Pancholi) and Amar (Mohsin Khan) and their friendship which also reminds me of Sholay's Jai and Veeru in a vague manner, especially the earlier part.

The film chronicles the journey of both the friends together from street urchins to petty thieves to life of some serious crime. At a certain point Amar refuses to tread this path of crime and Suraj is hell bent on going on and on. The characterizations of Amar and Suraj also share similarities with Ravi and Vicky respectively from Bhatt's previous film Naam (1986), incidentally written by Salim Khan.

The strength of the film lies in its brisk and relentless narrative, good performances and good music. The way Bhatt has used the songs to take the narrative further is also commendable. Every song adds up to the narrative in its own way despite of there being six songs in the film. 'Yaarana Yaar Ka', 'Aisa Bhi Dekho Waqt Jeeven Mein Aata Hai' and 'Zindagi Ki Talash Mein' are among the best of the songs in the film.

Aditya Pancholi's Suraj and Mohsin Khan's Amar balance each other quite well. Aditya's reckless, impulsive and nervous portrayal of Suraj is one of the actor's best till date. Mohsin's mature, restrained and underplayed interpretation of Amar compliments Suraj quite well. The highlight of the film is the scene where Suraj goes way out of control and shoots the policeman who was responsible for his father's death.

The explicitness of violence and drugs portrayed in the film is typically 80's-early 90's which was very much required by the film to make its point regarding connections between poverty, crime and class conflict.

Saathi review :

Al Pacino's Scarface (1983) caught the fancy of quite a few Bollywood filmmakers in the late 80s and we got four Scarface adaptations in less than two years. No surprise there!!

Mithun Chakraborty's Mujrim was the first to come in mid 1989 followed by Amitabh's Agneepath in early 1990. Next came Shatrughan Sinha's Atishbaaz (1991) and then Mahesh Bhatt's Saathi which were also inspired from the same source. Infact, a couple of scenes in Saathi and Atishbaaz are exactly same.

Anyway, Saathi is best remembered for Aditya Panscholi's solid performance as the Tony Montana styled anti hero. The role suited him perfectly and this is his career best act after Aatish (1994)'s Nawaab.

Marathi star Varsha Usgaonkar was cast as the heroine but she was paired with Mohsin Khan who played Panscholi's best friend turned foe. Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal formed the supporting cast.

The film ran in to controversy for having a Pakistani actor Mohsin Khan and there were threats to ban it.

I saw the film at Badal Bijlee cinema, Matunga only for Varsha Usgaonkar who besides being a fellow Goan, was also my childhood crush and most favourite heroine of Marathi cinema. I have watched most of her Hindi endeavors also like Doodh Ka Karz (1990), Shikari (1991), Ghar Jamai (1992), Sone Ki Zanjeer (1992) and Honeymoon (1992). Asli fan!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

One of the major success for the Lead actor Aditya pancholi though he appears in the several commerical Successful movies like Malammal(1988) , Lakshar(1989) , Ladaai(1989) , Taqdeer kA Tamasha(1990) , Maha Sangram(1990) , Veeru Dada(1990) , Baap numberi Beta Dus numbri(1990)& Akayla(1991) but Saathi gave most recognition for him as a Lead actor

Both leading actors have given good performance. Specially Mohsin Khan who was a crickter. The script is tight enough to ensure there is no dull moment. Dialogues by Robin Bhatt are great. I am sure it deserves a higer rating.

This movie is a perfect example how to make a meaningful movie even without a big starcast. This is Aditya Pancholi's best movie. He is perfect in his job and portrayed the regret of doing his misdeeds. Mohsin Khan honestly did his work. He is as a foil to Suraj. Mahesh Bhatt is excel in making movies on crime and relations. Kumar Sanu and Anuradha Paudwal gave beautiful songs.

Nice. This movie is a perfect example how to make a meaningful movie even without a big starcast. This is Aditya Pancholi's best movie. He is perfect in his job and portrayed the regret of doing his misdeeds. Mohsin Khan honestly did his work. He is as a foil to Suraj. Mahesh Bhatt is excel in making movies on crime and relations. Kumar Sanu and Anuradha Paudwal gave beautiful songs.

Nice.