Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Dingataca I would usually rate this a 5, but I'm gonna give it a 6. Only because of the outstanding music score by A.R Rehman, which I applaud. Otherwise, it definitely would have got a 5 from me.Aditya (Vivek Oberoi) is a bright, popular, flirtatious, good-looking young man. His parents are wealthy, and he lives a pretty decent life. One fine day, he meets Suhani (played by Rani Mukherjee). She is the complete opposite, she is practical and hardworking, whereas he is cool and a go-with-the-flow type guy. However, upon meeting her, Aditya is completely smitten with Suhani. Although knowing that Suhani does not feel the same way about him, Aditya is determined and eventually, she confesses that she is attracted to him as well. They fall deep into a blissful path called young love, and soon the time comes and the two make their parents meet, to arrange a marriage. Unfortunately their families don't get on, mainly because of the change in status between them...however, the two simply can't bear being apart, and soon they find the perfect solution - eloping together. They run away and get married, and all seems well, until the stresses and tensions of married life dawns on them. One day, after a big argument, Aditya can't seem to find his beloved, even after searching all over the city. Where is she? Is she alive? What is going on? Why has she left? Will Aditya ever find his wife? Despite the good reviews, I cannot understand and like this movie. Saathiya had the potential to be a much better and easier to understand movie imo. But somehow something seems to be wrong. Personally I couldn't tell which parts were flashback and which weren't. Also, many parts did not seem realistic. And what was the whole train business? How does one fall in love like that? And to be honest, the ending disappointed me slightly. The acting was decent enough. Rani Mukherjee gave the best she could to her role, I guess, she is acceptable. However it was Vivek Oberoi who stole the show. Saathiya was not an AMAZING movie, and I don't understand the hype, nevertheless I think he did very well and was the best performance out of the lot. Sandhya Mridul, Satish Shah, Sharat Saxena, and Tanuja make small appearances.Could have been made better.

yoshielavumkal Remakes, remakes and remakes. Some from Hollywood and some from South India. And the results at the box-office are mostly the same. FLOP! But why? Because these remakes can't achieve the status of the original versions (although good story, good performances or good music). Therefore directors are remaking their own films in Hindi but are failing, as well, because there is too much South Indian touch (Nayak – Mudhalvan; Rehna Tere Dil Main – Minnale; Dil Hi Dil Mein – Kadhal Dhinam; Doli Sajake Rakhna – Aniathiypravu etc.). Saathiya, a Mani Ratnam creation, is a great movie. The film's strength is that it is suitable to North Indian milieu but fails to reach the quality that `Alai Payuthey' spread. So where is its weakness then? Vivek Oberoi? Certainly not! It's a difficult job to top Madhavan's great performance in `Alai Payuthey'. Vivek won where Madhavan failed. Rani Mukherji then? She portrayed her character, Suhani Sharma, completely different as her counterpart Shalini did in the original version. Both were great and for me difficult to say who was the better one. So A.R. Rahman? He was the one who gave the wonderful scent to `Alai Payuthey' which you won't forget so easily. The songs and the background score which is filled with soulful tunes are absolutely great. It's one of Rahman's best works and he knows that he can't top it. As a result he didn't bring too many new songs which would destroy his early work. His new songs are nice to hear and fit to the North Indian milieu. The orchestra in the climax where Vivek apologizes to Rani is absolutely mind-blowing. Gulzar then? I must admit that I don't understand Hindi and not much Tamil (thanks to English-subtitling) but the songs have good meanings and are as good as Vairamuthu's work for `Alai Payuthey'. Perhaps Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu? Shah Rukh Khan is fantastic in his 10 minutes and portrayed the role differently as Arwind Swamy did. Tabu is unfortunately not as good as Khushboo who has done a superb job in Tamil. But where is then the problem? It's certainly unfair to compare a youngster's work like Shaad Ali's with that one of a genius like Mani Ratnam's. Ali's direction is very good and is the best debutant director since Farhan Akhtar for Dil Chahta Hai. But small scenes which might be unnecessary are missing to achieve a very good quality. For example, in Saathiya `Aditya' has no one whom he can tell all his sorrows and lands up as a depressed husband. `Karthik' in Alai Payuthey talks with his Malayalee neighbour/houseowner (in Hindi Tinnu Anand) about love, marriage etc. and gets new hopes to set a new beginning in his marriage. The climax also in Tamil which has a more realistic look is better than in Hindi which is too filmy despite Vivek's performance and Rahman's orchestra. A clear parallel between Shah Rukh Khan/Tabu and Vivek Oberoi/Rani Mukherji could not been attained, as well.But Ali has given the film a more youthful look than Mr Ratnam has done (more hanging out with friends, parties etc.) and like mentioned before, a suitable film to North Indian audiences and it is a film that is worth watching (though not as good as `Alai Payuthey'). Alai Payuthey 9.5/10; Saathiya 8.5/10

CAMKG *Spoiler Warning*Saathiya is a film about a couple who have the courage to follow their heart but discover themselves and each other - that is they mature - as they go along. The film itself has a lot of maturity in how it deals with the subject and for once young adults are shown as intelligent human beings rather than the DTPH, KKHH or DDLJ type plot-driven puppets. But the film's director Shaad Ali lacks the courage to make a really honest film down to the last reel. The script is an original, the acting is superb and Rahman's music fits in very well with the narrative. Rani Mukherjee's performance in the film reminded me of what she did in Hey Ram. You give this lady a role of substance and she knows how to portray it beautifully. And I am really impressed by Vivek Oberoi as a very secure and mature actor. In Road as well as this film, he very subtly takes a backseat to the more high profile Bajpai and Mukherjee and gives them a chance to feed off of him.One thing that had me a little ticked off was why couldn't the songs be picturised in continuation with the narrative instead of some fantasy costumes, backup dancers and abstract movements that seemed out of place. Also the Shamita Shetty song was totally out of place and unrequired. But inspite of that, the way the Adi-Suhaani relationship unfolds had me totally glued until the last twenty minutes.I didn't mind when they used Suhaani's accident as a plot device for the ending. Although they could have done with a 5 minute scene involving some more of the beautiful dialogue of Gulzar and Vivek and Rani's superb chemistry onscreen. Anyways, even if you go along with the accident, why the heck did we need Shahrukh and Tabu all of a sudden. To me it showed that Mr. Shaad Ali was not confident enough of his film standing on its own merit and therefore he needed to add some solid starpower to draw in the audience. Or maybe it was pressure from Yash Chopra or Mani Ratnam. In any case I totally felt betrayed on what had been an almost brilliant film till the last 20 minutes. To Ali's credit though, his use of flashbacks was very well-done. From seeming like one of the best Bollywood films of the year, Saathiya ends up being an average entertainer. On my part, I will try to delete the last 20 minutes from my memory of the film. 7/10.

gokulpod The movie is basically above two people who love each other and marry against parents' wishes. But soon after getting married, marital problems creep in and soon both Oberoi and Mukherjee think they have made a big mistake. Watch the movie to see what ensues.