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Saajan Ki Saheli

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1980 Indian film
Saajan Ki Saheli
Directed bySaawan Kumar Tak
Written bySaawan Kumar Tak
Produced bySaawan Kumar Tak
StarringNutan
Rekha
Rajendra Kumar
Vinod Mehra
Music byUsha Khanna
Release date
  • 27 November 1980 (1980-11-27)
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Saajan Ki Saheli (meaning "Love Interest of The Lover") is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film produced and directed by Saawan Kumar Tak. The film stars Nutan, Rekha, Rajendra Kumar, and Vinod Mehra.

Plot

Kunti gave birth to Munmun, whom she disowns after birth. A kindhearted lady named Champa adopts her and raises her. After many years when Champa is ill and dying, she confesses that she is not the biological mother of Munmun. From this scene, the story of this movie takes a dramatic turn.

Cast

Production

The film was made at the peak of Rekha's stardom, which was used for the film's publicity. This coincided with Nutan and Rajendra Kumar's shift to character roles. The film was shot, among other locations, in Mauritius.

Themes

Premarital childbirth was one of the film's main themes. Scholar Veena Singh included Saajan Ki Saheli in her discussion of four films which reflect the radicalization of the Indian family. Singh described the character of Kunti as a woman "who has a materialistic bent of mind" for whom the purpose of marriage is to get "a big car, a bungalow and other luxuries" and concluded, "For Kunti, the life of an Indian woman begins after marriage - an implication that a woman's past is to be cut off, buried and forgotten lest it should hamper and dampen her married life".

Soundtrack

Music of the film was composed by Usha Khanna and songs were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. According to Mrityunjay Bose from Deccan Herald, it is one of Khanna's memorable soundtracks. The songs performed by Mohammed Rafi were his last collaboration with Khanna.

# Title Singer(s)
1 "Boonden Nahi Sitaare Tapke Hain" Mohammed Rafi
2 "Jiske Liye Sabko Chhoda Usi Ne Mere Dil Ko Toda" Mohammed Rafi, Sulakshana Pandit
3 "Aise Naa The Ham Jaisi Hamaari" Mohammed Rafi
4 "Marne Ke Baad Hamari Yaad Mein" Usha Khanna, Suresh Wadkar, Mahendra Kapoor
5 "Nautak Mangta Ke Pau Ser Mangta" Asha Bhosle

Reception

The film was well-received. Nutan's character was described by Subhash K. Jha as a "slinky, vampish mother". In a retrospective list of Rekha's roles, Rediff.com wrote positively of her performance in a scathing review of the film: "Rekha breaks the monotony of the soap opera-like narrative of Saajan Ki Saheli with her chic appearances as Nutan’s point-proving daughter." Film historian Gautam Chintamani said the film was among director Tak's venture into "women-centric" films. Film critic Ranjan Das Gupta says the film is not considered memorable in Nutan's repertoire.

References

  1. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. p. 639. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7.
  2. Usman, Yasser (2016). Rekha: The Untold Story. Juggernaut Books. ISBN 978-81-932841-8-6.
  3. Raheja, Dinesh (9 July 2002). "Bollywood's Jubliee Kumar". Rediff.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. ^ Chintamani, Gautam (26 August 2022). "Saawan Kumar Tak: Why this filmmaker matters despite largely forgotten and having no dedicated fan base today". Firstpost. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  5. ^ Singh, Veena (2002). "Towards the Radicalization of the Indian Family". In Jain, Jasbir; Rai, Sudha (eds.). Films and Feminism: Essays in Indian Cinema. Rawat Publications. pp. 95–105. ISBN 978-81-7033-713-3.
  6. Bose, Mrityunjay (12 September 2019). "Music director Usha Khanna to get Lata Mangeshkar award". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  7. Dev, Sujata (1 October 2015). Mohammed Rafi Voice Of A Nation. Om Books International. p. 96. ISBN 978-93-80070-97-1.
  8. Chopra, Jaskiran (12 April 2021). Galaxy Golden Stars of the Silver Screen. Idea Publishing. p. 148.
  9. Jha, Subhash K. (4 June 2021). "Nutan, unmatched unvanquished". National Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  10. "Birthday Special: Bollywood's Queen of Glamour, Rekha". Rediff.com. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  11. Das Gupta, Ranjan (19 February 2011). "A rare resonance". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

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