'Saavariyaa.com', A Feel Good Film

by RAMNATH N PAI RAIKAR
Posted on 2008-12-01
Producing a film, which would be a worthy successor to ‘Alisha’ and ‘Antarnaad,’ both national award winners in the regional film category, was definitely a tough task for producer-director, Rajendra Talak. ‘Saavariyaa.com,’ clearly belonging to the Basu Chatterji/Hrishikesh Mukherji genre of movies, nevertheless succeeds in giving the audiences a feel good experience.
The plot of ‘Saavariyaa.com’ takes off from the American film ‘You’ve Got Mail’ (1998), where the romance is being conducted through the internet, which, in turn was based on the 1940 movie ‘Shop Around The Corner’, with the post office box playing an important role in place of the web.
The story however diverts from here and has the leading lady Pritam Priyolkar (Priyanka Bidye) going through a situation which was earlier faced by Vidya Sinha in ‘Rajanigandha’ (1974) and Zarina Wahab in ‘Chitchor’ (1976) - Inability to select a suitor from the two candidates.
Pritam is unable to make a choice between Jayesh Prabhudesai (Aniket Vishwasrao), a collage mate and Pankaj Kakodkar (Subodh Bhave), a London based Goan introduced through a matrimonial website. The film tries to evaluate the importance of her physical proximity with Jayesh as compared to the web relation with Pankaj.
The choice is finally made just in time, as Pritam is about to get married to Pankaj, with the three lead players, the supporting cast and probably the audiences finding that all is well that ends well.
In spite of a good story line (Rajendra Talak), taut screenplay (Sanjay Mone), crisp dialogue (Meena Kakodkar) and rich production values, the film sorely misses the element of conviction.
On the positive front, the film has lush photography by always bankable Debu Deodhar and lilting music by Ashok Patki, though the title song, a tandem by Sonu Nigam and Mahalaxmi Iyyer - ‘Phool he Phooltana’ and ‘Manacho Mand Mand’ by Nihira Joshi reminds one of the soft compositions by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
Priyanka Bidye, as a confused girl and Subodh Bhave as her London based suitor do what they are expected to. However, it is Aniket Vishwasrao, who fits like a glove to his character, displaying a plethora of emotions, effortlessly.
Of the supporting cast, Devika Daftardar comes out with a stunning performance as Prajakta, the elder sister of Pritam, who shuns marriage. Anand Abhyankar, Dr Ajay Vaidya and other actors, most of whom are Goans, enact their roles faithfully and keep the story in motion.
Finally, the direction by Rajendra Talak is impressive. He has definitely matured as a filmmaker; the shot taking techniques and frame compositions in ‘Saavariyaa.com’ being proof of this improvement. ‘Saavariyaa.com’ is a movie that can be watched by all family members, together. Well, that’s a big achievement in these times. Isn’t it?