# Saawariya

Saawariya (transl. Beloved) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language romance film produced and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1848 short story White Nights. The film marked the debut of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. It was the last film appearance of both Zohra Sehgal and Begum Para before their deaths. Co-produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, it is the first Bollywood film to receive a North American release by a Hollywood studio and is one of the first Bollywood films to be released on Blu-ray Disc.
Saawariya was released on 9 November 2007, and turned out to be a commercial disaster. It received mixed-to-negative reviews upon release, with praise for its soundtrack, production design, grand artistic approach and performances of the cast; however, its story, screenplay and pacing received sharp criticism.
At the 53rd Filmfare Awards, Saawariya received 6 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Rani Mukerji) and Best Music Director (Monty Sharma), and won Best Male Debut (Ranbir Kapoor) and Best Male Playback Singer (Shaan for "Jab Se Tere Naina").

## Plot

The story is narrated by Gulabji, a prostitute who frequents RK Bar, the town's most luxurious club. The bar's lead singer, Raj, whom she affectionately calls "Saawariya" ("beloved"), is a free-spirited and kindhearted man. Despite knowing what Gulab does, Raj is friendly to her, and unlike other men, is kind to the other prostitutes, trying to brighten their sad lives. When he tells Gulab that he needs a job and somewhere to stay, she tells him that there is only one woman who'll give him a place to stay: Lillian – but she allows only those she likes.
Raj meets Lillian and they have an emotional conversation, during which Lillian reveals she had a son who left her many years ago to join the army and never returned. She lets Raj stay with her because he reminds her of her long-lost son. That night, Raj meets a mysterious girl. He tries to talk to her, but under the wrong impression, she shouts at him to go away. Raj tells her that he will, on the condition that he would escort her to safety, lest someone with bad intentions trouble her. As predicted by Raj, a drunkard begins following her and Raj saves her from him. After that, she allows him to escort her home. Raj discovers her name is Sakina and falls in love with her.
Raj decides to confess his feelings to Sakina. He resigns from his job to meet her and calls her but she ignores him. He gets angry with her but the pair reconcile. He takes her to his favourite place, on the top of the clock tower. There, Sakina reveals that she is in love with a man named Imaan. Imaan had left but promised to return for Sakina on Eid. It has been a while but she is still waiting for him faithfully. Hearing this, Raj becomes heartbroken and does not confess. However, he refuses to believe that there is an Imaan. He asks Gulab for advice, who advises him to tell Sakina how he feels. With the entire neighbourhood cheering him on, Raj decides to propose to Sakina on the night of Eid.
He takes Sakina to RK Bar and sings his favourite song for her: "Saawariya". Sakina remembers that it is time to meet Imaan and leaves. Following her, Raj tells her that he has discovered that there is no Imaan. Sakina tells him to let her go. Hurt, Raj goes to Gulab, saying he wants to sleep with her. Gulab, who loves Raj, is deeply hurt and gets Raj thrown out onto the street, where he is beaten up by a few of Gulab's henchmen. He returns to where Sakina is waiting. Imaan has still not arrived. Sakina, heartbroken, becomes sure that Imaan will not come back so she decides to be with Raj. Raj tries to make Sakina happy and succeeds. When they are returning home, they pass the bridge where they first met and see Imaan waiting for Sakina. Sakina hesitates as she steps toward Raj. Raj however tells her to go with happiness and Sakina reunites with Imaan. Imaan asks her if she is willing to accept a sad life with him to which she says yes and they both walk away together.
The movie ends with Raj walking away while reminiscing about the sweet moments he spent with Sakina in a style similar to Raj Kapoor from the film Shree 420 (1955).

## Cast

* Ranbir Kapoor as Ranbir Raj Malhotra
* Sonam Kapoor as Sakina Khan
* Rani Mukerji as Gulabji
* Salman Khan as Imaan Pirzada
* Zohra Sehgal as Lillian a.k.a. Lillipop
* Begum Para as Nabila/Badi Ammi
* Vibha Chibber as Naseeban
* Atheya Chaudhri as Jhumri Aapa
* Kenny Desai as Mr. D'Costa

## Production

Bhansali initially wanted Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan's extended guest appearances to be hidden from the public, but later announced that they would appear in the film in supporting roles.
Elaborate sets for the film's imaginary city, complete with lakes, streets, shops, signages and a clock tower, were designed by the production designer Omung Kumar, who had previously worked with Bhansali on Black (2005).
The first official teaser of the film was accessed by New York Times on 25 August 2007. The first screening was held on 28 October 2007, though only for those associated with the film.
This film was released on 9 November 2007, clashing with another Bollywood film Om Shanti Om, starring Shahrukh Khan, and Deepika Padukone.

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack album of the film is composed by Monty Sharma and lyrics were written by Sameer. The soundtrack was released to mixed reviews on 19 September 2007. Indiafm gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "The title song would be remembered for months to come, if not years, the others do not really go that extra distance." According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 10,00,000 units sold, the film's soundtrack album was the year's fourteenth highest-selling.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 21 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's consensus reads: "It's pleasing to the eye, but Saawariya struggles to fill its runtime with a story whose clichés unfortunately outnumber its points of interest." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express criticized the screenplay of the film calling it "static", adding that "Saawariya is an act of supreme self-indulgence". Jaspreet Pandohar of BBC rated the film 2 out of 5 writing, "It's a clear case of self-indulgence and theatrical style over substance; with the director paying little attention to fleshing out the skeletal screenplay, preferring instead to focus on coaxing 'good-looking' performances from his young muses."

## Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Supporting Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [16] [17] |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Male Debut | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [16] [17] |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Female Debut | Sonam Kapoor | Nominated | [16] [17] |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Music Director | Monty Sharma | Nominated | [16] [17] |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sameer Anjaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [16] [17] |
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2008 | Best Male Playback Singer | Shaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Won | [16] [17] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Supporting Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Male Debut | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [18] [19] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Music Director | Monty Sharma | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sameer Anjaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Male Playback Singer | Shaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Won | [18] [19] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6–8 June 2008 | Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal – ("Thode Badmash") | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Male Debut | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Music Director | Monty Sharma | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sameer Anjaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sandeep Nath – ("Yun Shabnami") | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Male Playback Singer | Shaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Won | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Art Direction | Omung Kumar, Vanita Omung Kumar | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Choreography | Ganesh Hegde & Pappu Mallu – ("Yun Shabnami") | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 30 March 2008 | Best Sound Recording | Resul Pookutty | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Male Debut | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Female Debut | Sonam Kapoor | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Music Director | Monty Sharma | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sameer Anjaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Male Playback Singer | Shaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Cinematography | Ravi K. Chandran | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Art Direction | Omung Kumar | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Screen Awards | 10 January 2008 | Best Choreography | Ganesh Hegde & Pappu Mallu – ("Yun Shabnami") | Nominated | [22] [23] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Dream Director | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Nominated | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Best Supporting Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Superstar of Tomorrow – Male | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Superstar of Tomorrow – Female | Sonam Kapoor | Won | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Standout Performance by a Music Director | Monty Sharma | Won | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Standout Performance by a Music Director | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Nominated | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | Standout Performance by a Lyricist | Sandeep Nath – ("Yun Shabnami") | Won | [24] [25] |
| Stardust Awards | 25 January 2008 | New Musical Sensation – Male | Shail Hada – ("Saawariya") | Nominated | [24] [25] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 26 April 2008 | Best Male Debut | Ranbir Kapoor | Won | [26] [27] [28] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 26 April 2008 | Best Female Debut | Sonam Kapoor | Nominated | [26] [27] [28] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 26 April 2008 | Best Lyricist | Sameer Anjaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Nominated | [26] [27] [28] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 26 April 2008 | Best Male Playback Singer | Shaan – ("Jab Se Tere Naina") | Won | [26] [27] [28] |