Sadiyaan

Genre: Social / Romance

Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Rekha, Hema Malini, Luv Sinha, Ferena Wazeir, Javed Sheikh

Director: Raj Kanwar

Being screened at Gopi Krishna

KATHMANDU: Those who are used to enjoying exotic locations abroad, designer outfits and lavish houses might be a little taken aback by the 1970’s

setting. Director Raj Kanwar has dedicated the movie to the favourite subject of Bollywood — love. True to its name, Sadiyaan takes you to a different era when the warmth of relations mattered the most, when blood was thicker than water, when promises were meant to be honoured.

Sadiyaan is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on the love story of Ishaan (Luv Sinha) and Chandni (Ferena Wazeir), which falls on the predictable

Hindu-Muslim angle. But director Kanwar saves the best for the second part, when the two mothers — a Hindu mother Rekha and a Muslim mother Hema Malini — meet and the story takes rapid turns.

A period drama, it based on an incident that happened during the partition of 1947. In the chaos and bloodshed, Benazir (Malini) leaves behind her child in the mansion she lived in before moving to Lahore. The child is rescued by Amrit (Rekha) and Rajveer (Rishi Kapoor), who try hard to locate the child’s parents but in vain. They decide to raise the child themselves. The child becomes Amrit’s life, her meaning for living.

The first half of the movie is same old run-of-the-mill but the second saves it. With the entry of Benazir, the story takes an interesting turn. Chandni’s parents are strictly against the union of Chandni and Ishaan since Ishaan is a Hindu. Amrit and Rajveer decide to reveal the truth to Ishaan and also to Chandni’s parents.

Rekha beautifully maintains her character throughout the movie and so does Kapoor. Malini’s screen presence is a sigh of relief. Debutants Sinha and Wazeir have a lot work to do on their acting skills. Adnan Sami’s music fails to soothe our ears this time. Some locations are spectacular though.

The emotional drama fails to bring anything new to the screen. So if the old-fashioned stories

still excite you, then you might give it a thought. You could even watch it for the sake of talented actors of yesteryears.