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Well I watched the film last night as well, and so here are my thoughts/review of the film
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SAAYA
Produced by: Vikram Bhatt
Director: Anurag Basu
Starring: John Abraham, Tara Sharma, Mahima Choudhary
Can true love bring back the dead?
Vikram Bhatt's SAAYA is a film of the supernatural, and revolves around Dr. Akash [John Abraham], who is grief-stricken when his pregnant physician wife, Maya [Tara Sharma], working as a volunteer in a relief camp in Nagaland, dies in a tragic bus accident.
Unable to bear her loss, Akash starts devoting all his time to the hospital. Gradually, Akash starts receiving messages about Maya trying to contact him from another world. The ill children in the hospital ward start speaking of seeing her in a tunnel during near-death experiences.
Maya's friend Tanya [Mahima Chaudhary] thinks Akash is crazy, but a nun [Zohra Segal] explains that Maya wants to convey a message to Akash, which is why she sends messages through the children.
Akash decides to get to the bottom, to search for the answers behind the signs the children have made, the questions that haunt him.
While originality, on the Bhatt's part, has never really been a strong point, it is usually the handling of a subject that tells the difference on their parts. Even with 2002's blockbuster RAAZ, the story, while not original, was made with the indian audience in mind and made the story in a way that is unique to the indian crowd.
In this manner, SAAYA is no different. It is a direct lift of Hollywood Films DRAGONFLY [Kevin Costner] and THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES [Richard Gere]. However, in terms of filmmaking style, it is made with the indian audience in mind. The handling and major moves within the plot of the story are made with an indian sense, while many of the scary and spine tingling points remind us of scenes in RAAZ.
Music by Anu Malik (and guest appearance by M.M.Kreem) is powerful and subtle, gelling very well with the storyline. The best of the lot are "O Saathiya", with lyrics by the late Anand Bakshi, along with "Aye Meri Zindagi". For those who are fans of subtle music, this is undoubtedly one of the most powerful scores of the year.
When it comes to performances, one cannot help but sit up and take notice of JOHN ABRAHAM. We have to remind ourself this is only his second movie, simply because he enacts like a veteran in many scenes. With the role requiring an emotionally empowered yet restrained performance, it is a challenging role for a newcomer, but John made it look easy!
Tara Sharma has more to her role than her debut movie OM JAI JAGADISH, but has little opportunity to emote.
Mahima Choudhary is fully in form and does very well in her own performance. Supporting cast all lend able support.
The downfall to the film comes in the unoriginality of the script, and some parts may seem to drag on. Overall however, for the enticed viewer of a supernatural tale such as SAAYA, these are small sacrifices.
Overall, Vikram Bhatt's SAAYA is a powerful supernatural tale divulging more into the love and faith stream. It is a rare tale of symbolism, love, emotion and supernaturalistic nature. A treat!
Rating: ****
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