Saajan

I am far from an expert on Indian cinema. While I've seen a few hundred Indian films, each year they bring out more films than Hollywood...times three! And, there are many in India who have seen thousands of these movies. But with my experience, I can say that the style and production values of Indian films from the early 1990s and before are VERY different from newer Indian pictures. In recent decades, Indian films have improved considerably when it comes to techniques and production values. And, as a result, often their films are the equal or better to many American movies.

I say all this because if you aren't familiar with Indian films, you might be surprised by how cheap "Saajan" looks compared to later Indian movies. I am NOT saying it's a bad film but so much of it looks cheap because Indian cinema still had some catching up to do at this point. The singing, compared to later films, sounds cheap and canned. Also, edits and acting are not quite as well done as you'd see today. The same can be said for the opening and closing credits...they look far cheaper than newer Indian films. BUT, this is NOT to say "Saajan" is a bad film...just made in an older style.

The story begins at a Catholic orphanage. Aman is a sad boy because other kids are adopted but because he has a very bad limp, he assumes he'll never be. But when he meets Akash and is befriended by him, soon they become best of friends. And, when Akash's parents meet Aman, they grow to love him as well and adopt the boy. This portion of the film is my favorite, as it's very sweet and heartwarming.

Years pass and now the two brothers are adults. Aman is bookish and serious and spends much of his time writing poetry. Akash is very different and is rarely serious and spends his time chasing women...lots and lots of women!

One day Akash meets a different sort of woman...one who isn't immediately impressed by his smile and playboy lifestyle. So, in desperation, he asks his brother to help him win the lady's heart through his poems...poems to which Akash signs his name!

If this sounds familiar, it's basically the plot to "Cyrano de Bergerac"...the French tale. However, will it end in tragedy like the life of Cyrano or will it have a happier ending?

If you look past the cheaper look to the film, you will see a lot to like. Sanjay Dutt is wonderful as Akash...actually outshining the arguably more famous Salman Khan as Akash. The story also has some wonderful moments. As for the music, I personally could not enjoy the tunes as much as in later films because of the cheap tinny sound...which took me out of the moment. The choreography during some of these songs also was occasionally bizarre and not as glossy as later films. In particular, the lady hanging off the hood of Akash's car as she writhed and sang...that was pretty weird. Overall, a very good film...worth seeing.

This has to be one of my personal favourite film from the 90's era. I loved the music, just everything was great, and my mum loves the film too.

Madhuri Dixit, god i rememberer watching her when i was like 7 years old, and when i saw her i was like, she is so beautiful i wish i could be like her when grew up, anyway back to reality she looked amazing in this film, acted really well and danced beautifully.

Sanjay Dutt is a great actor, there can never be no one like him in bollywood and their never will be, he truly is one of a kind and i love him so much as an actor, he can show true emotion like he did in Shabd, wow he amazes me in every film, Salman Khan was also brilliant in the film, all 3 of these great actor were so cute back then and look hot as ever now, overall this is a classic. please do watch it.

Serious poet Aman (Sanjay Dutt) and irresponsible playboy Akash (Salman Khan) have been best friends since they were children, and were raised as brothers. When both fall in love with the same girl (Madhuri Dixit), sacrifices must be made, hearts broken, and friendship tested.

Both Dutt and Khan are excellent in their roles; the emotions they display later in the film are convincing. Dixit is a delight as always, both playful and serious. There are many musical numbers, with some lovely songs, but very little in the way of choreography. The plot, while familiar, is still engaging and moving. All in all, it's typical Bollywood--but that is a plus.

Aman(Sanjay dutt) an orphan and handicap befriends akash(salman khan). Akash's parents kader khan and reema lagoo adopts amar as their son. After growing up aman starts writing poems under the pen name sagar. While visiting ooty for a company work, he meets pooja(madhuri dixit). Pooja is a huge admirer of sagar and aman falls in love with pooja. But he sacrifices his love thinking of not being a burden for her. Akash who grows up into a playboy falls in love with pooja. Knowing this aman makes akash into sagar and introduce him to pooja. Both are in love and are about to get married. But what will akash and pooja do when they come to know the truth.

The main highlight of saajan is its innocence which today's urban romcoms in Bollywood is missing. Sanjay dutt who is famous for his macho roles was refreshing in a soft role like aman. Madhuri is beautiful and always brilliant in acting. Salman was very sweet and cute as akash despite playing the role of a Casanova. Nadeem-shravan's songs are all iconic.

On the whole saajan is a very sweet and innocent feel good love story. Its innocence helps you ignore any flaws it has.

A major chunk of the Indian movies are love stories and the idea of love triangle has also been hackneyed so much that now-a-days hardly any filmmaker must be pondering over it for his next venture. However if I have to make a list of love-triangles made in bollywood, Saajan will be my numero uno in that list.

I don't know whether the story idea was original or borrowed from somewhere else, however it worked excellently and built the premise of a sentimental love story in which the element of sacrifice became prominent between the two male protagonists who, by default, became the reluctant rivals of a girl's love. Kader Khan and his wife, Reema adopt the handicapped orphan friend Aman (Sanjay Dutt) of their son Aakash (Salmaan Khan) and foster him like their own son, showering love upon him even more than their own son. Besides, Aakash also keep Aman's friendship above everything else in his life. However Aman finds himself burdened by their obligations within his heart. He is a Shaayar (Urdu poet) and gets published under the pen name of Saagar. A middle class girl Pooja (Madhuri Dixit) who runs a book shop to make a living for herself and her mother Anjana Mumtaz in Ooty, becomes his fan and maintains contact with him through letters. Aakash, on the other hand, becomes a womanizer, not giving a damn for the real love. To take care of their new project of constructing a hotel in Ooty, Aman reaches there and comes across Pooja. Pooja befriends him when he tells her that he knows Saagar personally and he promises her to manage her meeting with him. He sees that Pooja loves Saagar. Gradually he also falls in love with her but without expressing his feelings to her.

The story takes a twist when Aakash reaches Ooty and falls for Pooja upon the very first encounter. When Aman comes to know of his love for Pooja, he decides to sacrifice his love to pay the obligations of his fostering family and he introduces Aakash to Pooja as Saagar. Pooja starts loving Aakash but under the false impression of himself being her Saagar. With the passage of time, Aakash comes to know that Aman himself is Saagar and he loves Pooja too within his heart. He immediately understands that Aman is trying to repay the obligations of himself and his parents through this sacrifice. Now it's his turn to sacrifice for his friend and he gets the lovers united.

Saajan is the first directorial venture of the cinematographer-turned-director Lawrence D Souza and his uses his cinematographic excellence to the hilt while directing this emotional drama. The different camera angles catching all the three main protagonists in a single frame. depicting their mutual relationships, their inner feelings and the peculiar equations between them is simply marvellous. Besides, the picturization of songs like Bahut Pyar Karte Hain Tumko Sanam and Jiyen To Jiyen Kaise is nothing short of outstanding. This movie is definitely a marvel of cinematographic technique and those movie buffs who have seen it on the big screen are definitely fortunate.

Another very big highlight of Saajan is the exceedingly marvellous music composition of Nadeem Shravan who were in top form those days and the lyricists Faiz Anwar and Sameer have given them excellent support. Only for one song, Bahut Pyar Karte Hain, I know that it's a copy of a non-filmi Nazm - Bahut Khoobsoorat Hai Mera Sanam. For the rest, I give full marks to this music team which includes Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik, S.P. Balasubrahmanium, Kumar Sanu and of course, the legendary Ghazal singer - Pankaj Ud-haas (Jiyen To Jiyen Kaise Bin Aapke) also. The music album of Saajan is an all time hit and even today, listening to these songs renders a soothing feeling to the listener's heart.

The movie should have been trimmed by at least 20-25 minutes. Otherwise the direction is marvellous, production value is high, the beauty of Ooty has been captured in superb way (especially in the song - Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Paagal Hai Jo Pyar To Tumse Karta Hai) and the narrative flows smoothly, carrying the audience effortlessly with it.

Performances are highly admirable. For Madhuri's dance number - Tu Shaayar Hai Main Teri Shaayari, both the choreographer and Madhuri deserve huge clappings. One of the great dancing queens of the Indian silver screen, Madhuri has acted well too. However the movie mainly belongs to the male leads. Sanjay Dutt has delivered the performance of his life-time in this movie and I am sorry to see that he did not win any award for his intense role, marvellously performed. Salmaan Khan has performed brilliantly in his Casanova role as well in the role of first a true (but irresponsible) lover and thereafter a sincere, sacrificing friend. The climax belongs to Salmaan only and he provides a memorably touching end to the story. The ending scene is able to move the sensitive audience. Among the supporting cast, Ekta as the arrogant society girl who genuinely loves Salmaan, Kader Khan as the boys' father, Reema as their mother, Anjana Mumtaz as Madhuri's mother are perfect. Laxmikant Berde and Dinesh Hingoo have done good comedy. I also appreciate Raja Duggal for his cameo as Babulal, the owner of the tea shop in Ooty.

Saajan is a treat for the romantic people who like emotion-filled mature romance. It was a blockbuster and I bet it may again prove to be a blockbuster if re-released. It has immense repeat value and can be watched any number of times for the visual as well as audio satisfaction provided by it to the viewers to their hearts' content.