If a veteran of Shatrughan Sinha's status known for his witty intelligent remarks and good sense of humor approves this kind of below average movie for the launch of his own son Luv Sinha, then it seriously raises many questions to be asked from the still active actor turned politician. And further if the project is supported by the famous exponents of the art such as Hema Malini, Rekha and Rishi Kapoor, then it clearly indicates that Bollywood is still walking on a dualistic path, where both modern and old thought cinema is being made at the same time for the changing viewers.
Sadiyaan is a perfect example of the fact since it has been strictly made with the decades old mind-set of amalgamating emotional drama with a love story. Set in the 70s of the last century, the movie tells the same ages old story of two mothers of a boy, where one is Muslim and the actual mother who has given birth to the child and the other is Hindu (or confusingly Sikh), who has raised him with her selfless love and affection. Along with that the writers add the element of Indian Partition of 1947 to give it a more original and historical feel. But sadly nothing really works in this uninteresting project apart from the few scenes towards its end where both Hema and Rekha share the screen presence together. Right from the start, the movie fails to generate any kind of curiosity or impact among the viewers. Commencing with a voice over speaking about Punjab, its history of martyrdom and the importance of the state in Indian Independence, Sadiyaan makes you remember several similar projects you have witnessed in the past revolving around the partition. In the first half, it has all seen before story and content of a lost and found child, a family of different religion looking after him, his introduction as a young boy, romance with a Kashmiri girl in the beautiful valleys of Kashmir, the girl posing as a blind girl at first, their early fights leading to the eternal love, more songs and then the good old family drama in the end.
In fact it's only in the second half that the movie holds some ground when both Hema Malini and Javed Sheikh enter as the real parents of the boy coming all over from Pakistan. But till then most of the viewers in the theater have already gone out for their more importance engagements. The writing is the weakest part of the flick, where the characters keep on moving around a completely predictable formula without anything exciting in store to offer. The director even makes them speak a mixed lingo with words from both Hindi and Punjabi language in a single sentence which sounds very absurd at times. The most amazing and questionable sequence comes towards the end, when everyone in the Muslim family of the girl, who were even ready to call for communal riots against the inter-caste marriage, suddenly undergo a heart transformation with only a few lines spoken by Hema and Javed. All the hatred and confusions get solved within seconds in the end in only one scene, as if the director was in a great hurry to finish it all.
Nevertheless Rishi Kapoor, Rekha and Hema Malini, shine in their respective acts and prove their individual worth once again. It's sheer delight to watch both Rekha and Hema Malini posing as the two mothers together on the screen. But even then the director is not able to exploit the presence of all these veterans together in a project to the best of their abilities. The debutant Luv Sinha still has to go a long way and should concentrate more towards sharpening his acting skills. He picks up fast and manages to give an OK performance. Feren is also just fine as Luv's girl but can surely do much better. Javed Sheikh is perfectly cast as the Pakistani father of the child. Deep Dhillon and Vivek Shauq both have repeated their routine acts. Musically, Adnan Sami wastes another opportunity to make a mark as the music director in Bollywood. Cinematography and Art direction are also not able to create any touching impact about the horrifying days of partition.
In the end, I can only say that director Raj Kanwar, who has been associated with good emotional dramas and many newcomers in the past, is not able to help any of the youngsters featuring in his movie this time. So Luv Sinha will have to start afresh with another project in the future and next time he should choose his script and subject with an extra care.
