Sargam

Review By Kamal K

Really fantastic movie, emotional, heart-touching, and good story...

The music is the main reason why I watched this film. Whenever Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed music, they always took careful consideration of the plot outline of the film. That may not seem like a big deal but it is when there are few music directors in Bollywood who dont have even the faintest idea of what the film that they are producing music for is about. As Rishi Kapoor plays a dafli-wala (drum-beater) in the movie, the music includes a lot of drum sounds. And as Jaya Pradha plays a mute girl who adores traditional Indian dancing, there are classical elements in the music too. Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar excel in the songs they sing. My particular faves are "Mujhe mat roko mujhe gaane do (Do not stop me, Let me sing)", "Ham to chale pardes, hum to pardesi hogaye (We have become foreigners)", and "Dafliwale dafli baja! Main naachoon tu nachaa (Beat the drum and make me dance)".

The plot is pure hokum schmokum. Almost everything is thrown into the plot- evil stepmothers, illnesses, deaths, poverty, unrequited love etc. This is Jaya Pradha's Bollywood debut and she does not utter a single word. Just as well because her Hindi accent probably would have been a bit rough at this early stage in her career (she is originally from the South). In the 1970's and 80's, the Hindi film industry often made films where a disabled character would by some form of miracle be cured by the end of the plot (Amar Akbar Anthony and a more recent example being Koyla). But it's nice to see that Jaya's character remains mute in the happy ending. It enhances the director's message that she is not really disabled, after all, she is capable of expressing herself.

A very ordinary film this but made watchable by the melodious music and the lead pair (Jaya and Rishi Kapoor).

Sargam (1979) : Brief Review -

K. Viswanath's musical and dramatic masterclass. Sargam is a Hindi remix of the Telugu film "Siri Siri Muvva" (1976), directed by Viswanath, which became famous at the time. As we all know, Viswanath is a legendary director, but I'd like to focus on one of the signature styles that's related to music. How beautifully he has used art forms like music and dance through his films, and that too with abnormal or helpless characters. You can notice that through his films, such as Sankarabharanam, Sagara Sangamam, Jeevan Jyothi, Swathi Muthyam, and Swathi Kiranam, and learn that music can be one of the main elements in human life. Sargam is simply based on that theory. A mute girl expresses her love and views through her dance. A pupil expresses his needs and care through his instrument. They are in love, but they don't know that. When the girl realizes, the boy denies, making the entire scene highly emotional. You can't find a better musical and artistic proposal scene than seeing a girl putting a varmala on Dafli and keeping her anklets there. The film is filled with many dramatic and emotional moments like this that move you. They haven't got much to do with a theoretical sense, but you don't really care much because the film is set in a certain musical zone and you believe everything that's happening out there. The scene when Raju begs the doctor to marry Hema and she is eavesdropping from the room is so beautiful. In the next scene, she realizes her love and even expresses it. Sargam has got one of the best music albums of the decade. The legendary Laxmikant-Pyarelal gave us "Dafli Wale," "Parvat Ke Uss Paar," "Hum Pardesi Hi Gaye," "Koyal Boli," and "Ramji ki Nikli Sawaari"-a total of 5 evergreen songs, and look at the choreography and the videos of those songs. You'll enjoy every single moment. Don't miss this one if you love musicals with an allegorical touch.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

A very beautiful and touching film about a deaf and dumb girl with a passion for indian classical dance. ufortunately her stepmother and step sister do not like her and treat her like an invalid. She meets an simple good hearted street musician who plays the dafli(hand drum).after his promises to her dying father make sure that she was happy. the story takes on several turns through several hardships faced between the two. Before he realises the love shared between them.The soundrack to this film is beautiful and combies the sound of the dafli(hand drum) and the ghungroo(ankle bells) beautifuly. especially in the song "dafli wale!" Its a shame that they dont make interesting films like these anymore...