Queen_of_pentacles Review of Saudagar

Saudagar (1973)

Very Realistic, true to the Indian soil, a touching drama, on a rustic back drop !

[8/10 · 23 December 2006]

This my all time favorite movie, especially for the performances of Nutan, and Amitabh ! Nutan played all kinds of roles in her career, from playful, romantic, with Dev Ananad, Raj, but this is, perhaps an exceptional role, in her filmography, which she did with the superstar Amitabh, when he was not awarded that status ! Amitabh has lived the role of Moti, a rustic youth, making his living,by selling jaggery, after working hard to collect the extract from the palm trees ! but there is more to it, to his personality, as he has his eyes on the sexy, youthful damsel Phulbano, played by Padma khanna. Now this is not that simple as may seem, because, Phulbano's father wants a hefty sum as a token for agreeing to give her hand in marriage ! now the hero thinks of a plan, and seemingly succeeds, when he lures the poor widow of the village, not so old, but of course, no match to Bano ! she is an expert in making jaggery, and Moti exploits her talent to the fullest ! He makes enough money, on her hard, sincere work, and coolly divorces her, as it's easier in the Muslim religion, just by calling, Talaq, 3 times ! Poor, hapless woman ! she , any way, marries another mature person, with 2, 3 kids, and he takes care of her ! n Now comes the turn in the events, as we do believe, one has to pay for the wrong deeds, in this birth only ! Bano is only good looking, minus skills ! she makes burnt jaggery, Moti becomes a laughing stock, and eventually , has to catch the feet of his ex-wife, Nutan ! Though furious in the beginning, her goodness of the heart prevails, ad she does surrender, to teach Bano, how to master the art ! Similar to the realistic regional movies from Bengal, this movie was a refreshing change, both for Hindi cinema, as well as for Amitabh ! But sad , our immature audience wanted him as an angry young man, stereotype roles only, and the movie was side-tracked ! Worth watching for the great performances, and a very subtle, sensible direction !