Sadma (1983)

Director:

Balu Mahendra

Writers:

Gulzar (dialogue)
Balu Mahendra (screenplay)
(more)

Genre:

Romance

Plot:

A head injury causes a woman to regresses to childhood. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher.

Plot Keywords:

Brothel | Tragic Ending | Train | Teenage Girl | Car Crash

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kamal Hassan	...	K. Somprakash 'Somu' (as Kamal Haasan)
Sridevi	...	Nehalata Malhotra
Gulshan Grover	...	Balua
Silk Smitha	...	Soni
Paintal	...	Paintal
Arvind Deshpande	...	J.K. Malhotra
Viju Khote	...	Police Inspector David
H.J. Imam
Birbal	...	Shamu
Leela Mishra	...	Somu's Neighbor 'Nani' (as Leela Misra)
Ashalata Wabgaonkar	...	Mrs. Malhotra (as Asha Latha)
Padma Chavan	...	Madame (as Padma Chauhan)
Jansi
Iftekhar	...	Train Passenger
Somayajulu
Anand Balraj	...	Nehalata's friend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shreeram Lagoo	...	Dr. Khandeparkar (uncredited)

Directed by
Balu Mahendra

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gulzar		dialogue
Balu Mahendra		screenplay
Balu Mahendra		story

Produced by
Raj N. Sippy	....	producer
Romu N. Sippy	....	producer

Original Music by
Ilayaraja		(as Ilaaiyaraaja)

Cinematography by
Balu Mahendra		(photography)

Film Editing by
D. Vasu

Art Direction by
A. Ramaswamy

Sound Department
S.P. Ramanathan	....	audiographer

Stunts
Kripanandam	....	stunt coordinator (as Kiruba)

Music Department
Asha Bhosle	....	playback singer
Kamal Hassan	....	playback singer (as Kamal Haasan)
Sridevi	....	playback singer
Suresh Wadkar	....	playback singer
K.J. Yesudas	....	playback singer (as Yesudas)

Other crew
M.L. Govind	....	production executive
Hrishikesh Mukherjee	....	presenter
N.C. Sippy	....	presenter
Raju Sundaram	....	choreographer (as Sundaram)

Thanks
B.G. Sathya	....	thanks: bangalore
K. Seshadri	....	thanks: Ooty

Distributors

• Shemaroo Video Pvt. Ltd. (2003) (India) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Nilgiri School  thanks: Ooty

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Certification:

India:A

Trivia:

The original choice for the lead role was Dimple Kapadia. Because she had committed to Saagar (1985) and couldn't allot bulk dates to the film, 'Sridevi' was signed instead.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Moondram Pirai (1982)

Soundtrack:

Aye zindagi gale laga le

How heart-breaking it can be when a dreamlike experience becomes a never-been...

Sadma has one of the greatest and most unusual stories ever in an Indian movie. It is well directed, well narrated, and naturally acted. The film has bits of comedy, drama, but it is better described as a realistic, enjoyable and beautiful journey which remains keepsake-less. It lets the viewer experience a real pain on-screen. I'm obviously talking about the climax scene which is so touching that nothing can be good enough to explain what you feel about it. It can be really difficult when an experience of a lifetime, a story of love and a relationship of pure humanity are gone with the wind as if they had never been. I can easily relate to this because I experienced something similar in life. Don't know where the writer had taken his inspiration from to write this extraordinary story and this fine script, but Balu Mahendra must be applauded for handling it so well on-screen.

Kamal Haasan and Sridevi are nothing short of spectacular and superb in their respective roles. As the caring and worldly school teacher Somu, Haasan plays his role with depth and visible understanding of his character, and his final scenes are of the film's strongest. Sridevi, in one of her most memorable roles, plays a young woman, who, as a result of a head injury loses her memory and is in a mental state of a five-year old girl's. That means she actually has two roles to play (which this actress has done plenty of times). As the conscious woman before the accident, she is graceful and beautiful, but it is the other role that marks this performance. To play a little girl trapped in a young woman's body must be very difficult for any actor, but Sridevi does it with incredible ease and conviction, making her character both funny and moving.

It's extremely difficult to lose someone, but to lose someone who does not even know he may have ever had even an opportunity to interact with you is much more saddening. This is the basic concept of Sadma. All I can say is do yourself a favour and go watch it.