Sauda - The Deal Review

This could well be a week of remakes and inspirations. While Lucky Ali starrer 'Kasak' had its source in a Polish film White [directed by Krzysztof Kieslowsky], 'Siskiyaan' was an adaptation of 'Death and the Maiden'. And now comes 'Sauda - The Deal', which has the basic storyline similar to 'Indecent Proposal'. Incidentally this indecent proposal had also been made by Sanjay Kapoor's elder brother Anil Kapoor in Rakesh Roshan's forgettable 'Karobar'. This time around it is the turn of Sanjay Kapoor to pop up 'million dollar' question to petite but no more 'chui-mui' Preeti Jhangiani!

Deja vu? Very much! And this is what takes a lot away from the movie because despite director Jai Prakash [Market, Chahat-Ek Nasha] coming up with his trademark loud-cinema, the movie doesn't hold much of the viewers's interest till it reaches the finishing line.

If you have seen Indecent Proposal or even the promos of Sauda-The Deal, you already know the basic storyline of the movie. Sameer [Aryan Vaid] and Devika [Preeti Jhangiani] are married to each other. Inspite of their middle class setting, they are happy in their lives with immense love for each other. Both Sameer and Devika are professionals and while Sameer (inspite of being well educated) feels he is not getting what he richly deserves, Devika is an upcoming painter.

In one of the painting exhibitions, she comes across Vijay Oberoi [Sanjay Kapoor], a flamboyant business tycoon. He falls for her but backs off as he gets to know about Devika's marital status. Meanwhile Sameer, in his quest to reach the top gets into a messy situation as he is unable to return the loan that he had taken from a gangster Dayabhai [Makrand Deshpande] in order to start a new business. Even his bungalow is at stake as he had mortgaged it for the loan.

Help comes in the form of Monica [Suman Rangnathan] who belongs to the Page 3 variety and has the right contacts at the right places that help her make in-roads into the lives of the high profile. She loved Sameer from the college days and has not been able to come out of the fact that Devika got married to him instead. Getting to know about Vijay's problem, she approaches Vijay to bail him out. This is where Vijay comes up with a proposal! No prizes for guessing what's the proposal. He offers the money in lieu of Devika spending a night with her!!!

Devika is obviously shocked at the proposal while Sameer is adamant that she accepts the 'Deal'. Will Devika agree to the offer and get her husband's dreams fulfilled and in return sell her body and soul? Will Sameer tolerate this deal to fulfill his ambitions by selling his love? Will all of Vijay Oberoi's wealth help him satisfy his obsession?

One can't blame the choice of a subject for the makers of the film. After all Indian audience have become tolerant to bold subjects over the years, 'Aitraaz' being one of the recent examples. In this context even 'Sauda' could have been an exciting fare. But then for a complex subject like this, it is required to have competent performances coupled with water-tight treatment. Also the movie is required to be presented aesthetically sans any titillation/item tracks. But such has been the image of director Jai Prakash and his starcast from his previous flicks that family audiences may just shy away from the movie. Also the publicity of the movie too has catered to the B and C center segment of audiences that takes a big chunk of the moolah away, that could have otherwise come from A grade centers.

A few sequences have been handled well too like when Preeti realizes that she is required to sleep with Sanjay Kapoor, the Preeti-Suman confrontation or the court sequence where Sanjay displays good histrionics and one doesn't mind over-the-top drama. But because of a now-predictable turn of events, the final outc