Introduction
Romance as a genre has really showed a solid decline in the Indian film industry as it has shrunk from a full blown genre to merely a sub-plot in the recent past. This has resulted in a significantly lesser number of romantic films being produced per year, owing to lowered interest of the audience towards the genre and skepticism regarding the box office pull. Response wasn't too different when debutants Ahaan Pandey and Aneet Padda were announced to star in a romantic movie amidst the genre's shrinking popularity but director Mohit Suri kept hopes alive. After the release of their debut vehicle 'Saiyaara', all I can say is- as long as directors like Mohit Suri continue to display the craftsmanship they're best known for, the industry can relax!
Basic Plot
A budding but moody singer and a soft spoken but aspiring poet-cum-journalist fall in love with each other but destiny has other plans.
Positives
Direction, Writing, and Music
As the core plot of 'Saiyaara' falls and fits appropriately in the 'Mohit Suri' zone, Yash Raj Films surely planned to seal more than half of the deal when they signed him as the director for Saiyaara, and their plan has worked exactly as intended. Having directed films like Zeher (2005), Awarapan (2007), Murder 2 (2011) and Ek Villain (2014), Mohit Suri combines his sensibility and experience to craft a film, that, in spite of having classic topes of Bollywood romantic tragedies, caters convincingly to the younger people! The pattern used by Mr Suri is: 'Beginning, brewing romance between the lead pair, conflict, climax, end'- an age old wine which doesn't lose it's intoxicating power instead of rapid usage, and Saiyaara is no exception. The writing by Sankalp Sadanah is surely a positive, as it's tight and engaging (unlike maximum romantic films), which doesn't bore you even for a minute in this 156 minute film. Several small conflicts and hiccups are well established in the screenplay which keeps the flow intact, and while conflicts in a romantic film is as common as ever, they are presented very well. Honestly, I loved how the film drew itself back, every-time it became too stylized or a bit too polished. As soon as you feel the film going too western, the writing balances it with dramatic scenes led by common language dialogues, devoid of any English, reminding you that you're watching an Indian film based in Mumbai. This 'getting back to roots' strategy helps the film sail through it's runtime without losing relevance. I'm surprised to see such a well written and a properly staged drama, that is quite engaging in spite of being high-pitched. Some good plot related nuances like: composing songs from mere writing, playing cricket for motivation, and the passionate referencing of some of the show-stopper scenes in the climax is too much Mohit Suri for all the right reasons! The decision of involving Vaani's (Padda's character) family members and their obligatory dynamics in the screenplay is a nice addition from a holistic POV, as the film doesn't try to justify or showcase a 'not-yet-earning' young couple dating the hell out of each other while their families have gone for an absolute toss.
Music is one of the most important points that a romantic film should focus upon, and as director Suri is accustomed to the Vishesh Films' DNA, he knows how to have good songs and also how to use them in the screenplay to maximize the intended output, and that's exactly what he has done here! The song are good in particular, and so have been their placements in the screenplay. But what's more than that is the mood justification that the makers did with the songs, as the songs aren't generically edited and included in the writing. Each song is featured in a way different from the other, which rightfully justify the emotions at that particular moment of the story. This is some serious detailing work done by the creative team and it's a ten on ten to them for this!
Debutants and Visual Appeal
The visual appeal of this film is surely a positive aspect, with minimal use of VFX and that too, in the most subtle way possible. There's no exaggerated burst of colors or force-fed needless fake visuals, and I'm glad that the makers did not try to do any of that either. I was, honestly, done with YRF's jaundice like yellow-ish color palette and utterly below average CGI work in majority of their films that released in the recent past, and I'm genuinely happy that they chose to shoot in real locations across Mumbai and not just lazily rely on 'VFX plates' to serve fake visuals in the name of extravaganza. The 'essence' of Mumbai is not really captured through the visuals, then again, it is fine, as this is not that kind of a film which you watch for 'essence-generation'. The organic visual richness and subtly vibrant colors help the film align with it's tone big time.
The performances of the lead pair has been quite convincing. Ahaan Pandey excels as the moody aspiring singer, and Aneet Padda as a young journalist cum poet has done her part commendably. While we judged Pandey's choice of character in his debut film as it seemed 'toxic' (at least from the trailer level), we were wrong it seems as his character has dynamism (even if bare minimum), and most importantly, a heart. Aneet Padda shows the vulnerable side of her character quite well and performs good, and although I expected a tad better acting in some of the high-pitched dramatic scenes from Padda, considering it's her debut, she does well. She looks nice through out the film and majority of her act seems natural, which enhances her on screen credibility. I, however, liked how Pandey maturely performed in some of the intense and emotional scenes. The supporting cast does fine to keep up with the lead pair and while the lead pair does not perform extraordinarily well, they do well enough to match up with the engaging screenplay and leave their mark.
Underwhelming Aspects
Lesser depth and a somewhat shallow treatment
It's all fun and enjoyable until you realize that in spite of being a full blown Mohit Suri film (almost), the depth has been sort of shallow, with the treatment of the crux of the plot being kind of superficial. I mean, this isn't a red flag by any means, but you won't really get enough of the medical condition that's mentioned here. Some quick kissing scenes and a 'wannabe intimate scene' comes up posing as passionate romance, and the overall progression of the film feels quite upbeat and optimistic for a film which has such a serious issue as the main conflict. The conflict shown here is set up nicely, only to become generic in terms of how it impacts the screenplay, with improvisations in terms of writing coming in to save the day. While this isn't particularly bad for a film which generally has generally zeroed in on the younger generation to cater their product, matured audience may feel zoned out, as some amount of superficiality has always come into the writing, in the name of maturity, which was not really expected from Mohit Suri. Even the climax got impacted due to the shallow-ness of the film, which should've been all the more emotional otherwise. A more intense and passionate climax with some of the flashback scenes coming in monochrome colors (or am I thinking too much?) was surely expected, at least after watching what Pandey's character tried to achieve in the final act, but everything fell into place too easily it seems!
And even if I neglect the lack of complications in this films (coz this is a YRF production, who have always chosen to stay away from convoluted plots in majority of their films), the dialogues surely needed a step-up. There are absolutely no memorable one-liners that could make this film more than memorable for you. Rohan Shankar has written conversations in the name of dialogues and while the regular convo feel decent enough for the film's relatively young age tone and the dialogue delivery, that doesn't take away the fact that the dialogue writing could have been far better for sure.
Conclusion
In spite of some loose ends, director Mohit Suri sums up his latest venture 'Saiyaara' with solid conviction. A tight script, good songs, commendable performances, and a YRF touch, make this film a good ray of hope which can defy the current box office trend, to keep the romantic genre alive! Technical departments doing well was another plus which worked in favor of this film- the one take sequence during the song 'Dhun' is fantastic, and so are the edit, especially the transition from a mere background music to Ahaan Pandey lip synching to the song Humsafar while on video call; I loved that! Thew chemistry between the lead pair works well, and despite a fast paced screenplay, the plan of 'establishing two imperfect people who find fulfillment in each other' has met with good success. The film has some amount of superficiality and even some familiarities (if not unoriginality) with the Koren film 'A Moment to Remember' (2004), but that's just me stating my POV- the film will mainly work due to it's good enough escapism value! 'Starkids hagenge bhi toh tumlog kahoge wah kya haga hai' says Ahaan Pandey in the film, which (although ironical due to his background), for now, is the opposite to what he has done in the film- kudos to him for that!
Watch Out For
- Songs
- Screenplay
- Performances
WTF Rating
7/10