Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Clevercell Very disappointing...

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

vikasjoshi-99705 Mahesh bhatt created a oscar level movie ...Such a intense portrayel of complexity of life ..Pain ,grief ,never ending struggle of life ,great great ...Direction & story by mahesh ji Huge applause for Anupam kher such a outstanding debut by him..Stellar performance..great actor he is..Great work by mahesh ji ,anupam kher & Rohini hattengiri . A genuine masterpiece..Must watch it..

MartinHafer I thought "Saaransh" was a terrific movie, but as I watched it I also worried about other viewers. After all, it's one of the more depressing films I've ever seen and if you are already seriously depressed, it could push you over the edge! So, if you want a feel-good movie, keep looking! However, if you don't mind that the film is numbingly depressing at times, then you should definitely give it a look.A word also about this film and other Indian films from this era. While the Bollywood formula today is very well established today, this is not what you'll necessarily see in older Indian movies. Giant choreographed song and dance numbers aren't in this one and the musical interludes (there are a couple) sound very canned. I've seen this before in films from the 70s and 80s and don't mind it--just don't expect a romance or the same vibe you get from more recent films.The film begins with Professor Pradhan having trouble sleeping yet again. This is because his son was murdered three months earlier and he still is struggling with the depression. His wife, on the other hand, is more optimistic and buries herself in religion. But, as he is an atheist, he feels alone and miserable. Eventually he sees the only way out is suicide.Fortunately, something snaps him out of his depression. The couple recently took in a border and now he sees the woman need their help. It seems that she's pregnant and her fiancée is a weak man with a horribly evil father. In fact, the father is prepared to do ANYTHING to stop the baby from being born--and because he's a government official, he seems ready, willing AND able. Poor Mr. and Mrs. Pradhan don't stand a chance against him and his power--yet, inexplicably, they stand firm--defying the powers that be.As far as the ending goes, I won't go into it here--it would spoil the film. Just be prepared--it IS depressing. So, this combined with the son's death, the father's suicide attempts and the violence that the politician unleashes upon them, it is a lot to take in one film. But, it also provided a wonderful opportunity to see a truly remarkable performance. Anupam Kher played the professor and appeared to be about 70 years old more or less. However, he was only 29 at the time!! You can't tell he's wearing makeup and coloring his hair--and he ACTS like a depressed elderly man. In fact, he is the reason to watch the film--a really special performance that you need to see to appreciate. It's also interesting to see just how cynical an Indian film can be about government corruption--a theme I've actually seen in quite a few Indian films.By the way, although I strongly recommend the film, I should point out that the captions were terrible. They were significantly delayed and occasionally sentences weren't even captioned. It's a real shame.

vinodmohankunal Mahesh Bhatt's Saaransh is undoubtedly his best work along with Arth. Saaransh deals with some complex emotions that we human beings go through in life.Though not as much as the lead characters in this film,we do experience such emotions of loss,grief,love,betrayal, frustration,sense of support,overcoming our fears and being a coward,etc. This film is about a couple Professor B.V.Pradhan and Parvati Pradhan (Anupam Kher and Rohini Hattangadi) who have just lost their son in some riots in New York.They are unable to digest the fact that their son is no more with them.They feel that their lives have lost their meaning and that they are worthless human beings as they could not save their son. Just then,a small time actress Sujata Suman (Soni Razdan) moves into their house as a paying guest.She has a boyfriend Vilas Chitre (Madan Jain) who is the son of a local politician Gajanan Chitre (Nilu Phule). She becomes pregnant with Vilas' child, but his father is unwilling to accept neither her nor her baby.At that time the Pradhans come to her help.But is it easy for an old helpless couple to make such an influential politician accept Sujata and her baby.What all problems do they face during their fight against Gajanan Chitre? Why are they ready to risk their lives for a paying guest whom they have known just for a few days? What are their motives behind it? What is the conclusion to all of their problems? Do the Pradhans finally overcome their loss,i.e, their son's death?This is what the rest of the film deals with.Mahesh Bhatt should return to directing films,because this film is easily one of the best films made in this world.His direction is very sensitive and touches upon even the minutest of details in the film.His direction is very impressive.The editing by David Dhawan is good.Adeep Tandon's cinematography is also good.Since the film has been shot at real locations, it enhances the storytelling and gives a grounded appeal to the film.The film looks good.Anupam Kher and Rohini Hattangadi (who were in their 20s then) look very convincing and also act very convincingly.A salute to them.They are easily one of the best actors we have.Soni Razdan,Nilu Phule,Suhas Bhalekar,Madan Jain,Alok Nath,Akash Khurana all of them perform very well;it is a delight to see them all perform on the screen.The story,screenplay,dialogues,art direction,lyrics and make-up are also top notch.Last but not the least the music of the film by Ajit Verman is haunting.There is only one song in the film -" Andhiyara Gehraya " which is a very beautiful soul-stirring song.The music takes the film to a different level altogether.Overall,the film is a masterpiece and a must watch for every cinema lover.

Sherazade You can't help but wonder, especially as an immigrant, what happens to the family of the people who get killed in a foreign country. You see this on the news nearly everyday and this film tells you just that story you've always imagined but never like this. I saw this film recently on Zee TV, I can't believe how old it truly is when I looked at the year it was acted. Anupam Kher hasn't aged a single day. He looks exactly the same in 2006, the way he looked back in 1983. Shocking! His acting is very compelling here, as he plays the father of a young man who was murdered while studying abroad by goons who jumped him for his wallet during a festival he attended. You slowly watch the father sink deeper and deeper to the depths of bereavement and disbelief in the truth that surround him. A lot of this is to be blamed on the lack of solace that he experiences in the wake of his son's death. The impersonality in the way the news was broken to him (over the phone). Plus the fact that his son was cremated in New York and the ashes sent to him(the father) in India, which is part of a sequence of events that affect him and his wife psychologically and lead them to plan an unthinkable chain of events.