Saaz

I am a big fan of Sai Paranjpe movies and TV shows but this was off mark in many ways. For one the story is too slow and almost has a TV serial effect with the sets.

A movie about two singers should have brilliant music but the movie really falls short on same. I am reminded of Telugu director K Vishwanath whose movies were on Indian music and dance. The key factor in all these movies was the outstanding music. Unfortunately Hindi music does not have a female singer like Vani Jairam or Chitra who can balance classical with commercial to great effect.

The casting is horrendous. If we are supposed to think Aruna Irani is portraying Lata Mangeshkar and Shabana Azmi Asha Bhosle, what were they smoking while casting. Aruna Irani is a good actress but she completely failed to get the character. There is simply no depth in her acting. This was a complex character done with frivolity. Shabana Azmi tried but I could not see a passionate singer in her, looked more like she was doing Arth again. The Indraneil actor has one expression and one way of dialogue delivery given any situation.

And the cake was Zakir Hussain, by what angle did the director think he could act. The guy is a great musician but has zero acting skills.

Highly recommend watch South Indian movies on this subject to understand the drive and passion for music and how it is portrayed especially K Vishwanath Telugu ones. Watch Manju Bhargavi is "Sankarabaranam" or Kamal Hassan in "Sagar Sangamam", thats how you do it.

I don't care how true it is to the two real women, both were scheming ones who didn't allow anyone to prosper so doesnt really maater.

Saaz is for the most part a wonderful film - simple, real and interesting. Sai Paranjape is a master of her craft - the film is excellent in writing, direction, acting and execution. The film relates the story of two loving sisters, Mansi and Bansi, the daughters of a village singer who is no more. Since childhood, both have had dreams of pursuing a career in music. But as they grow up, things change. Mansi, as the elder sister who is a lot like a mother to Bansi, in a sense has always felt threatened by Bansi's singing ability, and she gets her married to a man who turns out to be alcoholic and abusive. Her claim is that both should cherish their father's memory - Bansi by carrying on their family name, and Mansi -- by singing. Somehere between the lines the reader may get the impression that Mansi is one monster of a woman, but it's totally incorrect. She loves her sister and is of course loved and respected in return, but her ambition to make it to the top of the music world is stronger. The story follows their relationship, professional rivalry as Bansi becomes a singer as well, and towards the end centres more around Bansi's relationship with her daughter Kuhu, who also becomes a singer, and her affair with a young music director with whom her daughter also falls in love.

Set in the musical backdrop of Hindi cinema's playback singing world, Saaz may seem to be based on the lives and careers of two musical legends, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, two of the greatest and most prolific singers in the world. That makes the film much more fascinating, and Paranjape might really have taken some inspiration from their life for the basic idea of the plot, but that's as far as it goes. There is not more than just a rivalry between two sisters, which could be portrayed in any film between any kind of sisters who work in the same profession. Moreover, the film actually centres more on the life and tribulations of the younger sister, Bansi. Technically the film is brilliant. The sets, the dialogues, the costumes and the characters are very simple as they should be in a family drama of this sort, and they successfully give the film a sense of everyday realism. The cinematography is fantastic. But how can a movie with music in its soul succeed without good music? The music in this film is stupendous. "Kya Tumne Hai Kaha", "Raat Dhalne Lagi", "Nindiya Hai Sapna Hai", "Baadal Ghumad Badh Aaye" are all wonderful songs, but I particularly liked the on-screen presentation of "Room Jhoom", which perfectly epitomises the rivalry between the sisters.

The loving relationship between Mansi and Bansi is one of the best-portrayed sibling relationships that I have seen in a Hindi film. Every interaction, conversation, hug, kiss, argument is so aptly and genuinely displayed on-screen that they really seem to be sisters in real life. They deeply care for each other, they would actually give their life for each other if necessary, yet their desire to leave a greater mark as singers, their most fundamental identity, defeats them. That's what makes this film so real and moving. And what makes this relationship even more convincing is without a doubt the rapport between Aruna Irani and Shabana Azmi and their authentic performances. The film belongs to Shabana as she is the main protagonist, and she unsurprisingly shines. But I was more interested to see Aruna Irani. An actress who has often been given not more than typical mother roles those years (with the exception of Beta, 1992), here, given a great role of substance, she excels with her natural acting. Additionally, one must note that many actors and actresses can learn from Azmi and Irani how to lip-sync convincingly. They look as if they were performing the songs themselves.

Apart from the songs, I liked many moments in Saaz, my favourite being the scene in which the sisters reunite for the first time after not talking to each other for ten long years. The subsequent song number and scenes were very moving. That was according to me the perfect timing to bring the film to its end, but unfortunately it did not happen. That brings me to the next point: Saaz was not uniformly great and had its share of flaws. I did not like the turn the movie took with a new rivalry restarting (now between Bansi and her daughter), and the film's last 40 minutes (post an incident of which you will know when you see the movie) could have been easily avoided. I also disliked the many romantic relationships Bansi was given. These were according to me unnecessary sub-plots in a film which was far more interesting as a portrayal of the complex relationship between two sisters. Bansi's affair with the young musician Himen Desai particularly annoyed me, as did his stupid character which made me wonder how both a mother and her daughter could fall for. Anyway, the film does repair in the final scenes and we get a nice ending. Saaz is definitely a good film. I would change some things in it, but it's still a worthy picture.

This is a Hindi language film starring Shabana Azmi, Aruna Irani and Parikshit Sahni, the main protagonists in the film.

The film is primarily a mature exploration of relationships. And if you see it from that point of view, each of the sub-plots in the film start making sense.

It starts by beginning exploring the relationships of a happy family, where they seek a son and how loss of life destroys the family.

The film them gets into the central theme of exploring the professional rivalry between sisters which in turn impacts their personal relationship.

Around that theme, the film explores abusive marital relationships, live-in relationships and even the bond that aunts share with their nephews/neices.

The film than starts exploring how loss of a relationship to death overrides all and thus a message of why in petty worldy issues we shouldn't let the essence of a relationship dissolve.

The film is narrated within the relationship of a psychiatrist and his patient, and even explores how even that can grow into friendships and how even relationships across generations can get complex.

The elevating music binds the film together. I'm surprised to see such few ratings and low overall rating on IMDB.

I would highly recommend this film!

Sisters fight. But who'd have thought that the bitterness would seep down to everyday life! Saaz is a sensitive portrayal of how fragile relationships, even the most real ones, can be and how they can cripple. Shabana's portrayal of the younger sister, subjected to torture by a selfish, scheming older sister deserves mention. Her fight for survival,the complexity of relationships she gets into, really tell a compelling tale.It doesn't end with that, her failed affair with a younger man, loved by her daughter,brings the focus back on relationships, this time, between mother and daughter. So eventually, one is left wondering at the complexity of life and an individual's struggle to establish her own identity. Very well told.

The concept and story of the movie seem to be based on the bonding between real life singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

However, it seems to be from Asha Bhosle's point of view.

In real life too, many times Asha bhosle as passed unpleasant remarks towards Lata Mangeshkar in public. She was also one of the most opportunist singers of her time. The way she used R. D Burman for her career is not hidden from anyone.

In this film, if we imagine the character of Bansi to be based on Asha Bhosle, the character is shown to be a victim where her sister does bad to her out of jealousy. Like her marriage to a bad man. But in reality, Asha was in love and had ran away with the assistant of Lata Mangeshkar. It was her own choice. Lata Mangeshkar was angry with her because she expected her to share the financial responsibility of the family members. They didn't speak for long because Asha Bhosle never took any responsibilities. She just wanted all goodies and wanted in an easy way.

I can go on writing about it but feel that it is not worth to give attention to an opportunist, greedy lady whom we can call a pros**tute for the way she used (give and take) people to defeat her sister's career.

Overall you can watch this movie as a generic family drama but if you start matching with the real life singers, it seems to be mere a propganda film.