When I think of Subhash Ghai's Saudagar two things come to mind. Firstly is the immensely popular song Ilu Ilu, secondly is the coming together of two titan of Bollywood, Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar. Dilip Kumar had previously acted by Ghai's Karma and Vidhaata. Saudagar came out in 91 where Subhash Ghai was still a trusted director that churned out hit after hit,Karz, Hero,Meri Jung and Ram Lakhan. The story of Saudagar goes like this. Two childhood friends fall out due to a misunderstanding created by Amrish Puri. Decades pass and they are now sworn enemies. Then their grandchildren(newcomers Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koraila)meet and fall in love without knowing their families legendary dispute and they conspire to make their grandparents friends again. Subhash Ghai always had a good ear for music and out of all his movies in my opinion Saudagar had the best music. All the songs are simply sublime, my favourites are Ilu Ilu and Teri Yaad. Subhash Ghai even managed to assemble a great cast together(most of whom are veterans of Subhash Ghai movies). The cast consisted of Jackie Shroff(in a special appearance)Deepti Naval,Amrish Puri,Dilip Tahil, Anupum Kher and many many more. Saudagar is very long but with a movie as entertaining as Saudagar I say the longer the better. Watching Saudagar is a sad reminder of how Mr Ghai's career has taken a turn for the worse over the past couple of years.
