Sooryavansham

This movie teaches us many things. I can't explain all of it , here. Watch the movie , you'll understand yourself. A must watch.

Sooryavansham released at a time when Amitabh Bachchan made a series of Flops. Insaniyaat, mrityudaata, Major Saab, Lal Badshaah, Bade Miyan chote miyan and Kohraam were all duds in the box office. A percentage of the audience were not keen on his next release since all those flops in a row, coming from a Bollywood legend. The trailer of Sooryavansham didn't look too good, mainly because of the setting in a village and unknown actresses. This is the reason the movie did not do well financially. Majority of the people watched this on Video rather then Cinema. The reviews turned out to be Excellent. The film had a great storyline, great acting and nice music. Amitabh in a double role delivers yet another brilliant performance. The supporting cast were quite good especially Kader Khan and Anupom Kher, who gave us the comedy. Sooryavansham is a heart warming family movie, which you can enjoy watching with the family.

Though a flawed film. This movie is the best Bachchan film in years, with the Big B giving a restrained performance. The comedy sequences are out of place, with little relevance to the plot. It's a shame that this movie flopped. Die hard Big B fans will enjoy this film

This has to be the best Amitabh Bachchan film since his comeback. Amitabh's acting is superb in this film. The songs are not that great with exception to one (Koray Koray Sapne). These are the kind of films Amitabh should be choosing, the kind where his characters grow. If you have a chance to watch this movie, do it, because it is a great movie, with great dialogue. I give it an 8 out of 10.

Sooryavansham review :

A Padmalaya production featuring Amitabh Bachchan in a father- son role; Sooryavansham came in summer of 1999 just a couple of months after Big B's Lal Badshah which managed to make money in the Northen interiors despite the heavy criticism. Sooryavansham wasn't that lucky and it tanked at the box office in no time!!

Surprisingly, the film became a rage when it premiered on Sony Max and must have been screened atleast thousand times on this channel. Today, it has become a cult classic with memes popping up on the poisoned kheer and what not!!

Amitabh Bachchan was terrific in the older avatar of Thakur but seemed out of place as his youngster son. Maybe, a younger star like Ajay Devgn or Akshay Kumar would've worked here but then jaane bhi do yaaro!!

Curiously, Rekha dubbed for the lead heroine Soundarya as well as Jayasudha who played the mother. Her familiar husky voice elevated both the ladies performance to a significant extent. Anupam Kher and Kader Khan provided the comic quotient efficiently. Current heartthrob Ishan Khattar's parents Rajesh and Neelima appear in small roles.

Sooryavansham is also memorable for Bachchan crooning his own number "Chori se chori se"... it was his lean phase when he was trying to gain his ground in his much touted second innings. But as they say, legends never go. They just adapt to the time. That's exactly what Bachchan did after facing failure since his ill fated Mrityudaata (1997). He re-invented himself with Kaun Banega Crorepati and Mohabattein in 2000 and hasn't looked back since!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.