Woh Saat Din   Producer: Surinder Kapoor Director: Bapu Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Anil Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure, Nilu Phule, Ashalata, Master Raju, Jagdeep. Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal Lyrics: Anand Bakshi Genre: Comedy Recommended Audience: General Reviewed by: Amit  - Rating: 9.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review

Wholesome entertainment has always been the aim of  producers Boney Kapoor and Surinder Kapoor and it was evident through the 80´s and the 90´s with movies like Woh Saat Din, Mr. India, Pukar or even

Judaai. Though Boney failed badly on some occasions (Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Prem), there is no doubt that Woh Saat Din will remain one of the top entertainers from his production unit. The movie directed by well known director Bapu, has Naseeruddin Shah, Padmini Kolhapure

and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles and is a remake of writer-director K Bhagyaraj´s Tamil movie "Anda Ezhu Natkal". By this time, Naseeruddin Shah had already established his credentials as one of the best actors in the game and this was his third movie with director Bapu (Hum Paanch, Bezubaan). Padmini Kolhapure was already a well known actress after working with some of the top banners like R.K. Films (Prem Rog) and Subhash Ghai (Vidhaata). Anil Kapoor had done several small roles in Ramesh Sippy´s Shakti and Bapu´s own Hum Paanch, but this was his first movie in Hindi cinema as a leading hero.

The movie starts off with a typical lower-middle class marriage ceremony in a traditional Indian style showing a rather depressing Maya (Padmini Kolhapure) getting married to Dr. Anand (Naseeruddin Shah). On the first day of their marriage, Maya tries to commit suicide. Being a doctor, Anand does a timely rescue of Maya but is highly disturbed by the incident. Already troubled with the health of his ailing mother (Dina Pathak) lying on her deathbed, Anand reveals to Maya that it is only on his mother´s request that he decided to get married again. Grossly troubled by Maya´s actions, the highly compassionate doctor promises to help her out if she told him the truth that led her to such drastic actions. On demanding explanation, Maya tells Anand about her past life and her romantic involvement with Prem Pratap Patailawale (Anil Kapoor). The movie goes into a flashback showing Prem Pratap Patailawale and his sidekick Chottu (Master Raju) coming to Mumbai with the dream of becoming a music director. Looking for a room to rent, they find shelter in Maya´s house. After a series of hilarious sequences and some lovey-dovey scenes, Maya falls for Prem Pratap and with the help of Chottu tries to win over Prem Pratap. However, Maya´s family doesn´t approve their relationship and forcefully get her married into the wealthy family of Dr. Anand.

Touched by her story, the benevolent doctor promises to find Prem Pratap and unite Maya with her lover. However, Anand makes a sincere request to Maya and asks her to stand by him as a wife in course of his mother´s illness until she departs for her heavenly abode and that is when he would fulfill his promise. What happens next ? Does Anand find Prem Pratap ? Does Prem Pratap accept Anand´s utopian offer ? Bapu answers these questions and much more in a remarkably efficacious manner and the way he has handled the subject display his adroit narrative skills.

The script/screenplay is written with tremendous sensitivity by K. Bhagyaraja (also the writer of the original movie) and has a very well fabricated and interwoven relationship between the lead characters. The characters have been defined with remarkable depths and the resonating dialogues enrich the depth of the characters multi-fold. Witness Naseeruddin Shah deliver "Climax ka Matlab yeh hota hai ki ..Do jismon ko alag karna aur do dilon ko milana" or watch the emotive depth of each character when Anil Kapoor delivers "Meri premika bhale hi kisiki patni ban jaaye...Kisiki patni meri premika kabhi nahin ban sakti...Bin bihaye ladki ka dil hota hi hai aaine ki tarah..jo bhi samne pad jata hai usiki parchayye usmein dikhne lagti hai". The flow of the movie is maintained extremely well and while the first half is full of light hearted comedy sequences, the second half has an extremely strong emotional punch. The comedy sequences in the first half are some of the most natural and genuine comedy sequences you might have witnessed. The famous "Nada" sequence between Anil Kapoor- Nilu Phule and Anil Kapoor´s mannerisms when adjusting the same, will have you in splits.

As a director, this has to be Bapu´s best work in Hindi cinema. Being a veteran from Telugu cinema, Bapu has handled the emotive sequences with remarkable ability. Without going overboard in any of the emotional scenes, his treatment of the climax makes it into a very expressive, emotive and well-enacted sequence, leading to a well-presented and a convincing denouement. Another amazing aspect of his ability can be noticed with the way he has developed the character of Padmini Kolhapure. Throughout the second half, she has been given very few dialogues and most of the times, he makes her talk through her facial expressions and expressive eyes. As an instance, witness the climax with the face-off between Anil Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah, Bapu makes sure that the character Maya emotes through her facial expressions without a single dialogue. Not only does this give the character of Maya the required emotive depth, but at the same time Bapu is successful in creating the dramatic impact that is required at the denouement of the emotionally charged climax. In case you didn´t notice, Raj Kanwar has lifted the climax sequence and used it in reverse in Judaai with far lesser impact, wherein Anil Kapoor does the "Padmini Kolhapure act" with his amazing facial expressions and Sridevi/Urmila doing the talking.

Another visible effort is seen in the editing done by N. Chandra (also the assistant director). Having served as an assistant director to Gulzar for several years, N. Chandra uses the flashback as the narrative technique through various instances of the movie, which has been the hallmark of most Gulzar movies. The flashback sequences as seen through Padmini Kolhapure´s character Maya provide the necessary punch that is rigidly felt through Naseeruddin Shah´s character. The editing for the most part in the movie is quite crisp. The music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal is quite enjoyable and made the rounds of the hit parade back in 1983. "Pyar Kiya Nahin Jaata - Ho Jata Hai", being the pick of the lot, is the well-known number and picturized well. Other songs "anadi ka khelna..khel ka satyanash", "meri dil se dillagi" are also quite enjoyable.

Coming to the performances, the lead characters have delivered one of their absolute best performances. Naseeruddin Shah has given an amazingly restrained performance as the compassionate Dr. Anand. This was the time when Naseeruddin Shah was at his very best and delivered some absolutely great performances one after the other and his portrayal of Dr. Anand is no different. He takes the character of Dr. Anand to amazing depths and brilliantly encompasses the frustration, the anguish and the benevolence of the character. Witness the way he breaks down at the death of his mother, not only signifying the sorrow for the loss but displaying the anguish about the "climax" approaching it´s end. Being his third movie with Bapu, they shared a good rapport and as seen from his earlier performance in Bezubaan (a very good movie and performance in its own right), Naseeruddin becomes Dr. Anand.

 Anil Kapoor delivers one of his finest and most natural performances till date and can be termed as his career defining performance in every way. To many, Anil Kapoor became a household name with Mr. India but for many others who have grown up watching cinema from the early 80´s(like myself), Anil Kapoor IS Prem Pratap Patailawale. From the correctly pitched outspoken Punjabi act to the understated and thoughtful ex-lover, his absolutely natural performance details every bit of innocence, subtlety and maturity as required by the numerous shades of his character. Another aspect of this performance is the way he diligently portrays the vulnerability of his character and has been his trademark ever since. Anil Kapoor and Bapu teamed up once again with the enjoyable Mohabbat, but was nowhere close to match the brilliance of Woh Saat Din.

Padmini Kolhapure delivers one of her most sensitive performances in her relatively short career. As said earlier, her facial expressions do most of the talking (though some credit must be given to the director) and she plays the various shades of Maya with tremendous consistency. From the fun-n-frolic next door girl Maya to an evolved "Bhartiya naree", she is convincing. One must add, her sense of comedic timing is good too. Nilu Phule needs a special mention. He is hilarious as the typical Maharashtrian next door and the guy is a great comedian. Of course, if you are conversant with Marathi you could appreciate his one-liners, "A popta udu nakos" or "khalche samose varthi gelech kashe kay" even more. Dina Pathak does well as the ailing mother. Master Rajoo is great as the sidekick to Anil Kapoor and his one-liners are great too. Jagdeep,

Ashalata (Marathi actress) and others lend good support.

Overall, Woh Saat Din remains a thoughtful entertainer and can be enjoyed at many levels. It remains one of my most favorites movies and I am sure for many others. Nice screenplay, rib-tickling comedy, sensitive treatment with a great deal of emotional punch and absolutely natural performances make Woh Saat Din an absolutely memorable endeavor.