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+--- Thread: Saawariya (2007) by Sanjay Leela Bhansali [Hindi] (/showthread.php?tid=2819)
Saawariya (2007) by Sanjay Leela Bhansali [Hindi] - cranefly - 05-14-2013
Saawariya is based on Dostoyevsky's short story "White Nights." With this movie you get two -- not one, but two -- Kapoors, who are the Baldwins of Bollywood. And it proves that there can be too much of a good thing.
Ranbir Kapoor plays the male lead, and I have mixed feelings about him. Though clearly talented as a singer and dancer, he is just too expressive and emotional, without any real core, and it takes its toll on the viewer. In the end, one finds oneself rooting for the strong and silent stranger who is threatening to whisk his love away.
Likewise, the prostitute with the heart of gold (who in large part narrates the tale) is equally over-expressive, making certain the viewer catches her drift with an assortment of coy looks and fingers to the chin and winks and whatnot. Methinks she needed to sleep with 100 men prior to each shot to subdue her mood a bit, or spend ten minutes with me in a dark room which would be the equivalent.
Sonam Kapoor, who plays the female lead, nails her part. She is beautiful and shows a nice acting range. My favorite part of the movie is when, enthralled by a meeting with the strong silent stranger, she dances around in an alley full of hanging rugs, beating them joyfully with a rugbeater (but alas, this only lasts a few seconds).
The surprise performance is by Salman Khan, who takes time out from his steroid injections and the killing of rare and exotic animals to deliver a restrained and very effective performance as the strong and silent stranger who sweeps Sonam Kapoor off her feet (literally).
But that is hardly enough to save this cloying piece of puerile blather (there's endless talking throughout). Nor can the blame be placed on Dostoyevsky ("White Nights" has been adapted to film at least 7 times before).
And with that I'm calling it. That's it; no more. Never ever again will I venture into the Hindi stacks at the library. It just isn't worth the return on investment. I'm done with Bollywood.
needed a sword fight, right? - Drunk Monk - 05-14-2013
bet the bollywood number was good tho...
Bollywood number my butt - cranefly - 05-14-2013
There were numerous Bollywood numbers, but all by Ranbir Kapoor. That's right. He did all the singing and dancing, to ecstatic excess.
The prostitute didn't dance or sing. Nor did the woman lead.
I almost committed sepuku during Ranbir's numbers -- which could conceivably have improved the movie by providing something bordering on a swordfight.
ouch - Drunk Monk - 05-15-2013
you are clearly watching the wrong bollywood flix.