Feb 04, 2006 10:04 PM
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(Updated Feb 04, 2006 10:04 PM)
Saudagar(old) starring Nutan, Amitabh Bachchan, Padma Khanna
This movie is a Rajshri classic which came out in 1973.
It is an offbeat story of Motalef, fondly called Moti who is the most skilled tapper in the village and Maju Bibi, a young widow who prepared `gur' for him. Moti is a bachelor even though he loves Phoolbanu because he can not afford the ''meher'' her father wants. He wants desperately to raise the money but can't figure out how till he realises that he pays a large commission to Maju for her labour in making the gur and that he could save lot more if he didn't have to pay that commission. So he comes up with a plan to marry Maju and because she can't see through his plan , she marries him. He takes lot more contracts that year and Maju works without rest for her husband whom she has come to love.
Once he has enough money saved, he divorces Maju on false pretenses and marries Phoolbanu. The two lovers spend their days lost in ecstasy and Maju marries an old widower and goes away to the other side of the river. The next gur making season comes and Moti stars working with renewed enthusiasm but finds out soon enough that Phoolbanu has no knack for making gur. He gets more and more frustrated and feels helpless cause even though Phoolbanu tries her best, nothing works and no one buys his tasteless gur. Soon matters reach to a head and Phoolbanu decides to go to her father's house for a few days.
You should see the movie to find out what happens then. Can one really have a happy life after causing so much pain to another innocent person? Is outer beauty enough to sustain a relationship? Isn't there more to marriage than just physical attraction?
The movie has great and filmfare award winning ( when the filmfare awards still meant something) performances from Nutan and Amitabh. I am a die-hard Amitabh fan and it is a tribute to his performance that he made me hate him in this movie. I just wanted to reach out and hit him for doing what he was doing and for being so manipulative and scheming. Nutan was graceful as ever and even Padma Khanna enacted her role of a young, bubbly newly wed girl very well.
The movie has a simple story line and none of the flash and glitz we assosciate with bollywood but manages to hold your interest till the last scene. It is a story filled with infatuation, love, greed, cheating, repentance and forgiveness.
The movie has some really hummable songs like
Sajna hai mujhe sajna ke liye----
Tera Mera Saath Rahe---
Har haseen cheez ka---
