Being the remake of a Mani Ratnam superhit, directed by debutant Shaad Ali (son of Muzaffar Ali) and presented by Yash Chopra, the movie held a lot of potential. However, Saathiya is a big letdown save the music and the performances.
A movie about relationships, Saathiya deals with the subject of post nuptial trials and tribulations. Falling in love is easy, but sustaining it through times, good and bad, is no cakewalk. Saathiya is a refreshing change from the done to death romance capers.
The story is revealed in flashbacks as Aditya (Vivek Oberoi) searches for his wife Dr. Suhani (Rani Mukherjee) at a railway platform. Aditya fell in love with Suhani and after considerable wooing, they married on the sly against their parents’ wishes. When Suhani refuses other marriage proposals, their marriage is exposed, and they leave their houses and live together in a humble abode. After the romance and honeymoon, cracks start developing in their relation. The pair drifts apart after many avoidable small fights.
Moving on, Aditya gets a big project that will enable him to stand on his own feet and Suhani realises that the girl she had once seen him with is her own sister. They are ready to run into each others arms when Suhani meets with an accident. This incident makes Aditya realise his true love and a happy ending is conceived. This is where the film fails, the reasons for getting together are not convincing enough. Not as convincing as the believable reasons for drifting apart.
The music by A.R.Rehman is divine. No wonder he won the best music award over Ismail Darbar for Devdas. Performances by the supporting cast is adequate. Sharat Saxena as Suhani’s father is good, so is Sandhya Mridul as Suhani’s elder sister. What the hell was Shahrukh Khan doing in a miniature role. Well, seems like he was taking acting lessons from the talented lead pair. Rani Mukherjee and Vivek Oberoi deliver stellar performances. I was told by a colleague that the performance by Vivek dwarfs in comparison to Madhavan’s in the Tamil original. Well, so much for a copy being a copy.