Sooraj Barjatya presents the modern Ayodhya Kaand. Review on Hum Saath Saath Hain

Now when the buzz is around for the inauguration of the newly built Ram temple in Ayodhya, I came to remember this movie which was a favorite of myself and my small family(containing wife and daughter) when released way back in 1999. This movie is Hum Saath-Saath Hain which is clearly inspired by the Ayodhya Kaand of Raamayan containing the episode of queen Kaikeyi's asking her husband king Dasharath to coronate her son Bharat instead of Ram and send Ram on a fourteen years' stay in forests.

Sooraj Barjatya had earned a name for himself for making lavish family dramas containing a lot of happy moments with his previous movie Hum Aapke Hain Koun?(1994) and for a major part, this movie appears to be an extension of that only. There are family gatherings, songs and dances and the portrayal of the loving relations among the family members. The real drama inspired by the Raamayan comes in the last one hour of the movie only. Prior to that there are only celebrations whether of the 25th wedding anniversary of a couple or a marriage or any engagement or birthday party. However all this entertains a lot. So no complaints.

Like the kingdom of Ayodhya in Raamayan, here is a business empire in which the post of the Managing Director is going to the eldest son. Like Raamayan, the mother of another son(Rima) feels aggrieved by it and creates trouble for her husband(Alok Nath) which finally leads the eldest son to relinquish his claim on that post and he moves with his wife(and the youngest son of the family) to their ancestral village where a new factory is being constructed by this business family. The incident to affect the mother's mind in this way is the problem faced by her married daughter(Neelam) and son-in-law(Mahesh Thakur) in their house when the son-in-law is forced by his elder brother to leave their business and house. The mother's melodramatic friends and a family friend-cum-relative also misguide her. Like Raamayan's Bharat, here also the mother's son refuses to accept the position in place of his elder brother, the rightful heir. Anyway, everything is set right in the end and the reunion of the family takes place.

As said earlier, the film is highly entertaining and before the twist comes, it's all eating, singing, dancing and sharing happy moments.In the final phase, the melodrama created by the mother's friends(who are society girls) is irksome. However the portrayal of loving relationships among most of the family members(including the would-be wives of the other two brothers) is touching and keeps the viewers connected to the happenings on the screen.

The characters of the three brothers have been developed in the most satisfactory manner and therefore, the bond between them appears to be quite natural. All the three actors playing these modern Ram, Bharat and Lakshman(Mohnish Behl, Salmaan Khan and Saif Ali Khan respectively) have done exceedingly well. The jolly performance of Saif Ali Khan as the youngest brother deserves special admiration. All the other actors playing various characters have also done full justice to their roles. The heroines(Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Karisma Kapoor) did not have much to do except romancing with the heroes but they have also done well. The melodramatic performance by Kunika, Jayshree T. and Kalpana Iyer as the three female friends of the mother is clearly the fault of the director, not theirs. In fact, there is a plethora of actors in the movie and it must have been a challenge for the director to accommodate all of them properly in the story.

The musical aspect(songs and dances) is the biggest asset of this movie. Raamlakshman has prepared melodious songs for the beautiful lyrics of Ravindra Rawal, Dev Kohli, Mitali Shashank and R. Kiran. Jay Borade's choreography for them is also excellent. If not for anything else, this movie can be watched multiple number of times for its songs and dances only. Art direction, cinematography, background score and other technical aspects of the movie are also up to the mark.

Hum Saath-Saath Hain(we are together) is a feelgood movie and a decent watch with immense repeat value. Sooraj Barjatya has been a good director but could not think original stories for most of his movies. He should be thankful to Goswami Tulsidas(or Maharshi Valmiki) for providing him the story for this movie.

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