Sadma

Sdama is the story of an idealistic young man Somu (Kamal Haasan) who rescues an amnesiac young girl, Reshmi (Sridevi), from a brothel and takes charge of her life. She has the mental age of a five year old and her parents are looking all over for her. Reshmi gets in and out of trouble. Somu has to deal with her pranks and misdemeanors. He is pursued by the very sexy young wife (Silk Smitha) of his boss. Eventually the amnesia will go away - we have been told that it is just a matter of time. But when memory returns will the memories of Somu fade from Reshmi's mind?

What can one say about Kamal? The man wrote the book on acting. Here he is young, very good looking and absolutely perfect as the idealistic school teacher who decides to rescue a girl in trouble. Stalked by Silk Smitha, he also get ample opportunity to flex his dancing skills in a fantasy item number! Sridevi is very good as the five year old trapped in a young woman's body. She has the expressions and gestures down pat. Maybe there is exaggeration in the acting, but I can see her as a hyperactive 5 year old. Then she provides a perfect contrast as the young woman who wakes up from this nightmare. Silk Smitha has ooomph in ample measure and there is also an ampleness to her. One wonders how good some of today's anorexic leading ladies would look with those curves! The ultimate tragedy of the film leaves one in shock and mourning for what could have been while at the same time Reshmi's return to normalcy is celebrated.

The film is well directed and the camera work is extremely beautiful. Kamal still has traces of his South Indian Hindi accent, but is miles ahead of his Ek Duje ke Liye days. All in all this is a very satisfying cinema experience. Yes you will be saddened by the story but the beauty of the film is a joy that must be experienced.

An extremely well-done movie (although not terribly intellectual), both lead actors do an excellent acting job with good material. Very simply, the plot focusses around the relationship between a single man and a girl he takes in, who has lost her memory. I was recommended this as an Indian film that is very non-Bollywood, and that is certainly true. (The unbelievably improbably coincidences are kept to a minimum, and there is no long-lost twin brother or dying mother or any of the inevitable Bollywood cliches.)

Be warned though, after watching this you might feel vaguely depressed for the rest of the evening.

After reading all the above comments I also felt like to comment on the film that I grown up watching. I watched this film when I was just 8yrs. old and one scene that still fresh in my mind is the climax. It is so heart wrenching and sad that you just can't stop the tears blow out of your eyes. Though I watched the film several more times but you can understand the magic of this film which left a strong impact in 8 yrs' old boy's mind. Kamal Hasan and Sridevi are at their best in the film. And Another clap for the superb directions of Balu Mahendru & Hrishida. Film's music also out of the time and goes pretty well with the film's each and every scene. What more to say, just watch it for your own sake if you are a true cine-lover.

Sadma has one of the greatest and most unusual stories ever in an Indian movie. It is well directed, well narrated, and naturally acted. The film has bits of comedy, drama, but it is better described as a realistic, enjoyable and beautiful journey which remains keepsake-less. It lets the viewer experience a real pain on-screen. I'm obviously talking about the climax scene which is so touching that nothing can be good enough to explain what you feel about it. It can be really difficult when an experience of a lifetime, a story of love and a relationship of pure humanity are gone with the wind as if they had never been. I can easily relate to this because I experienced something similar in life. Don't know where the writer had taken his inspiration from to write this extraordinary story and this fine script, but Balu Mahendra must be applauded for handling it so well on-screen.

Kamal Haasan and Sridevi are nothing short of spectacular and superb in their respective roles. As the caring and worldly school teacher Somu, Haasan plays his role with depth and visible understanding of his character, and his final scenes are of the film's strongest. Sridevi, in one of her most memorable roles, plays a young woman, who, as a result of a head injury loses her memory and is in a mental state of a five-year old girl's. That means she actually has two roles to play (which this actress has done plenty of times). As the conscious woman before the accident, she is graceful and beautiful, but it is the other role that marks this performance. To play a little girl trapped in a young woman's body must be very difficult for any actor, but Sridevi does it with incredible ease and conviction, making her character both funny and moving.

It's extremely difficult to lose someone, but to lose someone who does not even know he may have ever had even an opportunity to interact with you is much more saddening. This is the basic concept of Sadma. All I can say is do yourself a favour and go watch it.

Well I guess worrying too much on what people might think about a movie made from India is going too wayward. Whether anyone likes,appreciates,admires this movie or not it will still stay true to be one of the best movie genuinely made for actors portrayed. Well most of the South Indian movies are story based and increasingly character(actors) based. This one was just made to match the wits and acting skills of Kamal and Sridevi. Personally one of the saddest ending scene seen in films (Yes it includes international movies too). Plot revolves around the relationship between a single man and an amnesiac girl in a hill station and how things turn out in the end against the lead actor. Class Direction,Class acting,Class scenery... Just a Classic Master Piece 10/10 from my side....

All Kamal needs is one good role in a International movie to show the world what are the standards set for Indian actors in Indian movies(not just Bollywood)