Saathiya (2002)

I would usually rate this a 5, but I'm gonna give it a 6. Only because of the outstanding music score by A.R Rehman, which I applaud. Otherwise, it definitely would have got a 5 from me.Aditya (Vivek Oberoi) is a bright, popular, flirtatious, good-looking young man. His parents are wealthy, and he lives a pretty decent life. One fine day, he meets Suhani (played by Rani Mukherjee). She is the complete opposite, she is practical and hardworking, whereas he is cool and a go-with-the-flow type guy. However, upon meeting her, Aditya is completely smitten with Suhani. Although knowing that Suhani does not feel the same way about him, Aditya is determined and eventually, she confesses that she is attracted to him as well. They fall deep into a blissful path called young love, and soon the time comes and the two make their parents meet, to arrange a marriage. Unfortunately their families don't get on, mainly because of the change in status between them...however, the two simply can't bear being apart, and soon they find the perfect solution - eloping together. They run away and get married, and all seems well, until the stresses and tensions of married life dawns on them. One day, after a big argument, Aditya can't seem to find his beloved, even after searching all over the city. Where is she? Is she alive? What is going on? Why has she left? Will Aditya ever find his wife? Despite the good reviews, I cannot understand and like this movie. Saathiya had the potential to be a much better and easier to understand movie imo. But somehow something seems to be wrong. Personally I couldn't tell which parts were flashback and which weren't. Also, many parts did not seem realistic. And what was the whole train business? How does one fall in love like that? And to be honest, the ending disappointed me slightly. The acting was decent enough. Rani Mukherjee gave the best she could to her role, I guess, she is acceptable. However it was Vivek Oberoi who stole the show. Saathiya was not an AMAZING movie, and I don't understand the hype, nevertheless I think he did very well and was the best performance out of the lot. Sandhya Mridul, Satish Shah, Sharat Saxena, and Tanuja make small appearances.Could have been made better.

I have just seen SAATHIYA, and I never new that I could be so gripped by a Bollywood type movie. I was loving almost every minute.EXCELLENT.I just wish I could find love like that. Gave me a lump in my throat when I thought Suhani was going to die. Rani Mukherjee ( Suhani ) is gorgeous,and boy can she dance.I hope I can get it on DVD. I gave it 9 and not 10 because I did not like the hospital part. When Suhani crosses the road and gets run over by the van I could not believe what I just saw. HOW did they do that. Looks very real. The film is very colourful. The dancing gets you jumping about in your seat. Lovely to watch good looking women dance together.Everybody needs to see this film if only to make us all realise how ugly it is to argue and be grumpy in life.

*Spoiler Warning*Saathiya is a film about a couple who have the courage to follow their heart but discover themselves and each other - that is they mature - as they go along. The film itself has a lot of maturity in how it deals with the subject and for once young adults are shown as intelligent human beings rather than the DTPH, KKHH or DDLJ type plot-driven puppets. But the film's director Shaad Ali lacks the courage to make a really honest film down to the last reel. The script is an original, the acting is superb and Rahman's music fits in very well with the narrative. Rani Mukherjee's performance in the film reminded me of what she did in Hey Ram. You give this lady a role of substance and she knows how to portray it beautifully. And I am really impressed by Vivek Oberoi as a very secure and mature actor. In Road as well as this film, he very subtly takes a backseat to the more high profile Bajpai and Mukherjee and gives them a chance to feed off of him.One thing that had me a little ticked off was why couldn't the songs be picturised in continuation with the narrative instead of some fantasy costumes, backup dancers and abstract movements that seemed out of place. Also the Shamita Shetty song was totally out of place and unrequired. But inspite of that, the way the Adi-Suhaani relationship unfolds had me totally glued until the last twenty minutes.I didn't mind when they used Suhaani's accident as a plot device for the ending. Although they could have done with a 5 minute scene involving some more of the beautiful dialogue of Gulzar and Vivek and Rani's superb chemistry onscreen. Anyways, even if you go along with the accident, why the heck did we need Shahrukh and Tabu all of a sudden. To me it showed that Mr. Shaad Ali was not confident enough of his film standing on its own merit and therefore he needed to add some solid starpower to draw in the audience. Or maybe it was pressure from Yash Chopra or Mani Ratnam. In any case I totally felt betrayed on what had been an almost brilliant film till the last 20 minutes. To Ali's credit though, his use of flashbacks was very well-done. From seeming like one of the best Bollywood films of the year, Saathiya ends up being an average entertainer. On my part, I will try to delete the last 20 minutes from my memory of the film. 7/10.

Yes, the film is almost like any other hindi film and yes its unbelievable how far better it is, than any of its contenders. A fabulous love story of a boy and a girl who marry each other against the wishes of their parents and society, 'Saathiya' shows the human side of love, stressing on the problems human beings deal with and work through in order to maintain a relationship.The songs are amazing and their picturization magnificent. The movie has good doses of fun, emotion and tragedy. Rani Mukherjee looks ravishing and will take your breath away, she almost looks and acts like the perfect wife for any young man. Vivek Oberoi, who is very clearly the find of 2002 as far as the Hindi Film industry is concerned, turns in another great performance, he is absolutely flawless in the film, portraying the many emotional facets of his character 'Aditya Sehgal', with an almost unrecognizable ease. Shaad Ali puts in a fantastic effort for his first film, picking the perfect actors with the perfect locales to create a near perfect film. I cannot yet comment on the replayability of this film as I have only seen it once, but it is almost a surity that the movie would be as good on the second watch. A 10/10 film, and a must watch.