Saraswatichandra TV review: A clichéd grandeur?
We ask only because the first episode was barely enough to draw a well-informed conclusion
Yesterday, Sanjay Leela Bhansali debuted on television. And to witness the miracle of how this larger-than-life filmmaker fits into our unflattering idiot boxes, women (me inclusive) dodged the rush hour traffic to make it to the finish line drawn in front of their TV sets. Many of us made it too.
But to see what? A measly 25-minute segment filled with cocktailed moments drawn from Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam? And that too without Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan or Ajay Devgn! Time to boohoohoo? Not yet.
So we sat there heaving a sigh of relief for having made it, and in one piece. Slowly the sets of Saraswatichandra rolled out like an expensive brocade woven in a plush Kashmiri carpet on which the characters – who shone like they were polished for the longest while – strolled wearing the finest of dresses. Phew, it was a welcome respite from the gaudy colours that serials nowadays throw around with elan. And we duly handover a tiny brownie point to Mr Bhansali for that.
But apart from this larger-than-life look and feel, what else is this ooh-la-la show all about? Well, the person who’s not seen the first episode is as informed as the person who has painstakingly seen it in this case. And that’s ‘coz the unabashedly long trailers displayed far more of the virginal first episode than they should have. So yeah, there was no love at first sight for Saraswatichandra because, heck, it was by God the umpteenth sight.
Saraswatichandra (Gautam Rode), the pious hunk, is getting onto his aristocratic father’s nerves. And according to Mr Dad, marrying off his dhoti-clad son is the only way to cure him of the good-for-nothing piousness. So, in comes the girl (Jennifer Winget), who is an Aishwarya Rai Bachchan caricature from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, as the perfect match. While the guy’s side follows the Devdas kinda set-up, the girl’s family gets inspirational dope from Hum Dil…. Background music takes you back to Devdas. Sigh.
Even so, we don’t really hate the show. Not yet. And primarily because it has a nice and comforting Bhansali-feel to it. The characters too performed well. And we developed a special liking for Monica Bedi – the undisputed vamp – in this one.
Now the only question that remains to be answered is – will the grandeur, the performances and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s tag help us overlook the perfumed whiff of a clichéd script that’s just around the corner? We wait and watch!
Reviewed by Latika Payak
* Poor
** Average
*** Good
**** Very good
***** Excellent
First Published: 11.07 AM IST 02.26.2013
Arindam
Posted at 10:15 PM on March 16, 2013
Plz plz dnt make da ending sad dnt apart dm plzz da ending is jst 2 sad 2 handle so hope da ending won’t make the audience sad unite thm plz plz plz
rudra
Posted at 11:17 AM on March 7, 2013
Seriously speaking…..bansali sir u r amazing…i love the way u r picturizing the serial…every character in the serial were so so good in their roles….especially the main leads of the show…i heartfully congratulate you for this grand success of the show…Sir,a big request to you…plz plz plz dnt give a sad ending to this show…i read somewhere dat u will twist the story somewhere…hoping dat the two main leads will unite…i am totally impressed by this show…love is such a beautiful feeling…and ur way of picturization gave more beauty to it…and shirya goshal ke voice gave life to this show…very very touching…hope u rock at the trp….love this show a lot and waiting for todays episode….
Meher
Posted at 9:15 PM on March 5, 2013
Phir bhi Latikaji,1 ya 2 episode dekhkar puri series par comment karana thik hoga?
Mayur
Posted at 9:15 PM on March 5, 2013
Phir bhi Latikaji,1 ya 2 episode dekhkar puri series par comment karana thik hoga?
Happy
Posted at 4:24 PM on March 4, 2013
kumud please Aishwarya ko copy krna band kr do woh tum kabhi kar nahi sakti Aishwarya ROCKS
Niketan
Posted at 4:22 PM on March 4, 2013
Boring serial Kumud look really bad and dark and saras look really dhilla dhala their parents are good actors really like Saras father’s acting
mpm
Posted at 11:05 AM on April 17, 2013
i agree witch this serial is too boring good is to end this serial asap
Nidhi Mehta
Posted at 10:58 AM on February 27, 2013
Sarasvatichandra is a very good and beautiful serial which sanjay sir only can make very smoothly and intelligently. I must congratualate sir. I know whole story because I am also Gujarati and I read this story long back.
But sir there is one reuest from me that have you read story of author Shri Kaniyalal Maneklal Munshi called (K.M. Munshi) name ” Patan Ni Prabhuta ” ? If you hv not read then pls go through this story also. It is also marvellous story. It is historical story and in this story there are two main characters i.e called Kak and Manjari. When I was reading this story for Manjari character I just imagine Madhuri Dixit for this role and for Kak Anil Kapoor only. So if it is possible tomake serial or film from this story it will great of you.
amit
Posted at 3:10 AM on February 27, 2013
the best review i have ever read online.
obviously it isnt a paid review. nd thankfully, it isnt biased or prejudiced. nd ya, i got the same general impression frm the first two episodes.
there r bits tht impress u, for example, saraswatichandra’s love for his late mother, nd kumud wanting to preserve her dads gift frm childhood. otherwise, things were dull.
regarding monica bedi… well they could have waited a bit… i guess they felt they needed to reveal her true colors right from the start, for the sake of the story, the plot.
Sayanora
Posted at 3:56 PM on February 26, 2013
How can you’ll judge the series by 1st episode
I found that the scenes were real and looked like watching HD on a SD TV
Sanjay Leela Bhansali will bring in more twist in the coming days
tammy
Posted at 2:41 AM on February 27, 2013
i know right the quality was so good like a movie. actors are good and story seems interesting.