Storyline

Shalini Saxena lives a wealthy life-style with her brother Rajesh. She attends college and writes a few poems under the name Seema as part time activity, she meets her fellow collegian an orphan called Arun Kumar who sings for important occasions usually following the words of her poem. Shalini loves Arun wholeheartedly but is unable to express her feelings to him and thus she secretly helps Arun to not only become a popular singer but also rich. And then Arun gets married to the college principal daughter Meena; this breaks Shalini's heart and to make matters worse she is diagnosed with throat cancer and does not have any longer to live.—gavin (racktoo@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords

beautiful woman, brother, singer, love interest, poet, sister, melodramatic, heartwarming, india, household, stage, college, romance, music, poetry, love triangle, brother/sister relationship, wealth, love, discovery, 1990s

Short Review

I saw this movie as a kid and hated it, barring the title song. Now that I'm currently stuck in a "90s" phase and am watching all sorts of stuff over again, I decided to give this a try as well. Was it worth it? Totally.The story is as follows:Shalu (Divya Bharti) and Rajesh (Suresh Oberoi) are siblings. Their parents passed away when Shalu was very young, so Rajesh raised Shalu with the love of a parent and considers her his daughter rather than a sister. He is a very successful man and gives Shalu everything and anything she desires, spoiling her. She has unpleasant encounters in college with Arun (Prithvi) and the two cannot stand the sight of each other. The principal of the school took Arun under his wing, as Arun is an orphan and had no one to guide him. Arun likes to sing, while Shalu likes to write poetry, which she has published in a newspaper under the pen name of "Seema." Somewhere along the line, Shalu falls in love with Arun and begins sending her poetry to him as material for his songs under her anonymous name. Arun admires Seema, but is never able to find out her true identity. Rajesh finds out about Seema's interest in Arun and goes to meet Arun to see if he's a likely choice for his sister. He returns from the meeting and tells Shalu that she will have to keep her affections to herself until Arun can make something of himself. Shalu begins to sponsor Arun's concerts as "Seema" and takes his career to great heights. On the night of Arun's concert, Rajesh decides to take his family and ask for Arun's hand for his sister. However, on that night, it is announced that Arun has gotten married to the principal's daughter, Meena (Sanam). Shalu is shattered. What will happen when Arun finds out about "Seema's" true identity? Will Arun & Meena's marriage withstand the news?The narration moves at a smooth pace and is interesting. Divya Bharti proves with this performance that, had she lived, she really would have been the next female superstar. She performs with such ease that you really believe she is Shalu. Her transformation from a spoiled, bratty rich girl to a soft-spoken, lovelorn girl hiding her identity is believable, only due to Divya's performance. She's a natural.Prithvi, on the other hand, cannot get the same sort of praise. He's not a bad actor, but he's not a great actor either. His performance can only be described as flip-floppy. His reactions in the final 20 minutes of the movie leave you flabbergasted! One moment, you think he has affection for Shalu and the next, you believe he simply pities her. And his lip-synching and dancing is slightly terrifying. Did I mention that he's the complete opposite of eye candy? Enough said.Sanam as Meera is good. She's not an attractive girl, but her performance is sincere. She plays a character that may have gotten in between the two leads, but she's a complete innocent in the entire situation and her performance makes her a very likable and genuine character.Suresh Oberoi as Rajesh is his usual, perfect self. He played the role of Rajesh earnestly. His love for his "sister" shone through and you could honestly feel his pain in the second half of the movie for letting his sister down. Fabulous acting.Satyendra Kapoor was good as "Kaka." He played a good support to Suresh Oberoi. The girl who played Suresh's fiancee was good as well, though I don't know her name. It's very rare that I dislike Laxmikant Berde in a movie, but he was horribly annoying as Murli. I don't even think his role was necessary, except to later grieve for putting such a "curse" on Shalu.....which, by the way, that scene was completely unnecessary and over-the-top.The songs....I've always loved this soundtrack! The only song I don't like is "Milne Ki Tum Koshish Karna" and, unfortunately, it's just as impact-less in the movie as it is as a song. The rest are all great: Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Mera Sanam Sab Se Pyaara, Gaa Raha Hoon, Dil Jigar Nazar.....The direction of this movie was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly good, because a lot of the movies in the 90s, barring the big-wigs, suffered from poor direction which makes them hard to watch in today's times. That's not the case here. Lawrence D'Souza did a good job here.I'd recommend this movie if you're ever in the mood to watch a good 90s flick and experience Divya Bharti's natural talent. If this movie left me with any lasting impact, it's the re-confirmation that Divya Bharti left this world (and the industry) too soon. She was horribly talented and would have had a very bright career ahead of her.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership