Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story ‘White Nights’, ‘Saawariya’ is like a dark and surreal fable that enchants you with its visual beauty, but doesn’t touch you where it matters the most – heart. And the reason for this is that Sanjay Leela Bhansali gives more importance to creating the right ambience rather than capturing the essence of the story.  Viewing Sanjay Leela Bansali's Saawariya is like watching Ludwig van Beethoven composing music, William Shakespeare writing poetry, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti sculpting a David, Leonardo de Vinci  painting  the Mona Lisa and Anna Pavlovna Pavlova doing a pirouette of an extravagant ballet. Sanjay Leela Bansali gives a masterpiece of soulful screenplay. As usual, he navigates the sublime oceans of spectacular, yet subdued, tsunamis of extravaganza, Talk about cinematic excellence in its absolute entirety. You have it, in an opulent abundance. The disarming delicacy with which art directors Omang and Vinita Kumar and cinematographer Ravi Chandran have built the blue foundations of the film's ravishingly romantic imagination lifts Dostoevsky's play to the sphere of poetry.

Which part of the country is this straight-out-of-a-fairytale town located? And what era are we talking of?  Even if you subscribe to the theory that it was love at first sight for Salman and Sonam, what is it that keeps their romance going?  Why does Salman disappear suddenly? Besides his name, the girl knows nothing about him. Not his home/native place, work/profession/work place, relatives, nothing absolutely. It's like falling in love with a shadow, isn't it?  Why does Rani Mukerji abandon Ranbir, when he comes knocking on her doors and admits that he wants to spend time with her? Why does she lose her temper, although she secretly loves him?  And Salman returns. The sequence that follows and the culmination to the story leave you completely disgruntled and perplexed!  Saawariya is an exhilarating cinematic experience. The film, an avant-garde audio visual art of exceptional brilliance, transports you into a misty aura of compulsive catharsis, where the observer and the observed transform into a transcendental unified entity.

The story of ‘Saawariya’ is about the test of love, about the pain of unrequited feelings and about the women in waiting. Be it Ranbir’s landlady (Zohra Sehgal), be it Sakina’s blind mother or be it Sakina herself, everyone is waiting for someone. 

The film could have been a cinematic masterpiece if Bhansali had focused more on developing the characters in depth rather than resorting heavily to their dramatic presentation. The silhouette of a veiled girl waiting on a bridge is appealing to the eye, but it doesn’t make your heart flinch. 

Music, by Monty, could have been another strong point of the film. But there, too, is overkill. Too many songs and heavy background score dominate the story.
Among the newcomers, it is Ranbir who handles his role with confidence. Sonam, though undoubtedly gorgeous, seems ill at ease with her part. In one close-up shot just after her introduction, her face – supposed to express sadness – is completely bereft of emotion. In the second half, however, she manages to sink her teeth better into her character. 

Ranbir performs much better for a debutant. He is the quintessential charming boy who keeps smiling and tripping and unexpectedly showing a gift of gab.
Salman Khan plays his usual self while Rani is partly impressive. It is Zohra Sehgal, the ‘now-stern-now-mellow’ landlady who wins your heart over. Alas, she is kept only on the margins.

Despite the flaws of ‘Saawariya’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali ought to be praised for his technical finesse and his sense of visual representation. The look of the movie will be a subject of discussions and debate for students of cinematography and art direction. And it is for this overwhelming visual appeal that I chose to give the film more than two stars. Otherwise, ‘Saawariya’ is a film with emotional moments few and far between.

Ranbir Kapoor gives an exhilarating performance. Then comes Sonam Kapoor. She is simply fantabulous. Did someone say thespian genes are mutating? For the first time in his filmi career, Salman Khan communicates with his eyes and facial muscles. Rani Mukherjee, as a split personality of body-hire occupation and mindful of never to receive love, excels in every thing she does. Are there any other actors? 

You are so immersed with the hero and heroine, the agony of their ecstasy and the ecstasy of their agony, that you do not want to see anyone in the picturesque frames. Those who are there simply carry forward the dreamy narration.

Salman is hurt, Because SLB cut his roll in Saawariya

Just to explain it in detail to you… “Salman Khan’s role in saawariya was cut”  And even Salman himself wasn’t aware of this until he watched the final cut, at the premiere 2 days ago. Salman walked out of the theatre before the film reached interval point and was not at all happy… with Bhansali.

Salman later told a television channel that his role in Saawariya had been cut and that his fans should not go to see the film, instead they should go and see it for Ranbir and Sonam. Salman gave 2 months of dates to the shooting of this movie, and in the end his fans only get to see 5 minutes of himself.

Salman has been hurt… his fans have been robbed… and a good film has been termed a disaster. Only and only Bhansali is to blame

Saawariya has been panned by the critics and harldy anyone is going to the cinema to watch it… even when the first screening was held, for cast and crew, the audience was yawning and leaving before the intermission. Salman Khan was one who left much much earlier, but that was for other reasons. But what do the parents make of this dismal flick… the parents of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor… let’s find out.

Anil Kapoor is currently not talking to the media, and is very disappointed with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He didn’t expect this kind of movie but he has taken heart from the fact that his daughter Sonam has been appreciated for her acting and that she has or will sign more movies very soon.

Rishi Kapoor is laughing it away, and is not showing much emotion. He has spoken to the media and has tried to put a positive angle on it. He has confirmed that his son Ranbir Kapoor will re-launch the RK banner. Ranbir is currently writing the script himself, he will star in the movie himself, and Rishi Kapoor will direct. Rishi should be more than happy because Ranbir is the only one good thing to come out of Saawariya. 

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