Sadiyaan

Crazy comedies, hi-fi action flicks and too much of candy-floss is what appeals to the junta these days. A simple tale set in a rural background is not understood by all and is hardly welcomed. But Raj Kanwar returns with 'Sadiyaan' a rustic periodic tale that stars the very talented Hema Malini, Rekha and Rishi Kapoor along with Luv Sinha and Ferena both on debut. While the promos have failed to create much of curiosity, the only hype surrounding the movie is the debut of veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha's son Luv Sinha.
With a Hindu-Muslim communal angle attached to it, Sadiyaan is divided into two parts - the first being the love story and the second is the reunion. During partition Benazir (Hema Malini) had to abandon her son and move to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Rajveer (Rishi Kapoor) and Amrit (Rekha) who migrate from Lahore to Amritsar find the child with none to take care of and hence they decide to raise the child and take shelter at Benazir's home. Year's pass by and the small boy is now a young smart lad Ishaan (Luv Sinah) who falls in love with a Muslim girl. Her parents oppose their union in the name of religion and then onwards begin the fight for love and the fight against religion.
Sadiyaan with its old world charm is high on emotions and melodrama which is a big no for the multiplex audience today. The movie packed with all the ingredients of a 70's flick brags too much about Punjab, lacks realism, is overtly stretched and hence dreadful to sit through. Despite this, the very reliable star cast doesn't live up to the expectations putting across dull lifeless performances.
The first half of the movie is spent mostly on the young couple - the hero riding a horse in slow motion making his grand entry, heroine stroking her cheeks with a flower and giving petty looks at him, their impetus love songs running around trees, all of this just evokes a big yawn. The second half has something better to offer with few well acted and executed emotional scenes and just when you expect the ongoing to get better, the writing begins to stagger leading to a sloppy climax. Dialogues are clichéd and filled with way too many Punjabi stereotypical words. Cinematography is okay but the locales are amazing. Music by Adnan Sami lacks melody.
Hema Malini manages to put across a decent performance. While Rishi and Rekha look great together, their performance is strictly okay. Rekha could do with less make up for a change.
Nobie's Luv Sinha and Ferena need no words of mention. They ham with consistency. Luv Sinha neither gets his diction nor his looks right. He looks camera coy and definitely needs to take acting lessons before he ventures into anything new. Ferena looks pretty but is woody when it comes to showing emotions and gets her dialogue delivery horribly wrong.
To sum up, Sadiyaan is yet another snob that has hardly anything to offer. Don't bother watching.