Sadma

Sadma

Poster
Directed by Balu Mahendra
Produced by Raj N. Sippy
Romu N. Sippy
Written by Balu Mahendra (screenplay)
Gulzar (lyrics)
Story by Balu Mahendra
Starring Kamal Haasan
Sridevi
Gulshan Grover
Silk Smitha
Music by Ilayaraaja
Cinematography Balu Mahendra
Edited by D. Vasu
Release dates
 8 July 1983
Running time
 141 mins
Country India
Language Hindi

Sadma (Hindi: सदमा; English: Trauma) is a 1983 Indian film directed by Balu Mahendra which stars Kamal Hassan and Sridevi in the lead with music composed by Ilayaraaja. The picture tells the story of Nehalata (Sridevi), a young woman who regresses to childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash. Lost, she ends up trapped in a brothel before being rescued by Somu (Kamal Haasan), a lonely school teacher who falls in love with her.

The film is a remake of the 1982 of Balu Mahendra's own Tamil Film Moondram Pirai, starring Sridevi and Kamal Hassan. Sridevi's autistic child-woman performance brought her nominations in the Filmfare Best actress award category as well as State awards and National Awards. Kamal's performance in the film's climax won him the National Award in the Tamil original. The film flopped at the box-office,but as a film-it achieved cult status and is regarded as an all time classic featuring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi's best performances. Sridevi's role was initially offered to Dimple Kapadia, but she could not accept the role due to other commitments.[1]

Plot

Nehalata (Sridevi) is a young, modern girl who meets with an accident that leaves her with the memory and intelligence of a seven-year-old. Circumstances lead her into prostitution, and in the brothel she meets Somu (Kamal Haasan). He realizes that she has been tricked into the trade. He rescues her and takes her to his home in Ooty and begins to take care of her. He knows Nehalata as Reshmi, which was the pseudonym given to her at the brothel. Reshmi reciprocates Somu's care as they spend several months together sharing an amazing and innocent relationship that treads the tender line between affection and love. The sub-plot of the film follows the wife of Somu's boss who is attracted to Somu, though Somu doesn't reciprocate her feelings. It depicts how the outside world succumbs to carnal desires which have no place in Somu and Reshmi's relationship. Somu takes Reshmi to the village's medical practitioner who cures her and brings her back to sanity as she regains her memory up to the point of her accident. When Somu comes to meet Reshmi later that day, she is unable to identify or remember him. Despite his efforts to make her understand that he was the one who had taken care of her for several months, she is indifferent to him and leaves Ooty for her hometown, thus abandoning Somu and the life and relationship that she once had with him.

Cast

Soundtrack

All music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who retained most of his compositions from the original Tamil version except "Vaanengum" and "Poongatru". The film marked the composer's debut in Bollywood.

Critical Reception

Sadma is included in iDiva's list of '10 Must Watch Movies That Weren't Blockbusters'.[3] Sridevi's performance as a child-woman suffering from amnesia was called by Indian Express "a milestone in her illustrious career".[4] Sridevi also featured in the Mid Day list of 'Challenging Roles played by Bollywood Actors' describing her act in the film as "her best performance ever".[5] In 2012, Adil Hussain, Sridevi's co-star in English Vinglish revealed that he became a fan of the actress after watching her in Sadma.[6] The Sridevi-Kamal Hasan pair also appeared on the CNN-IBN list of 'Greatest Romantic Couples on Celluloid'.[7] The climax of Sadma is included in the CNN-IBN list of 'Bollywood's 50 Most Memorable Scenes of All Time'.[8]

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Awards

Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Biswas, Soutik (15 July 1993). "A creative flowering". India Today. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.whosampled.com/sample/58292/GonjaSufi-Sheep-Asha-Bhosle-Suresh-Wadkar-Yeh-Hawa-Yeh-Fiza/
  3. ↑ idiva.com. "10 Must Watch Movies That Weren't Blockbusters".
  4. ↑ Indian Express. "The Forbidden Love".
  5. ↑ Mid-day. "Challenging Roles played by Bollywood actors".
  6. ↑ Bollywoodtrade.com. "Adil Hussain: I became Sridevi's fan after watching SADMA".
  7. ↑ CNN-IBN. "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The greatest romantic couples on celluloid".
  8. ↑ CNN-IBN. "100 Years of Indian Cinema: Bollywood's 50 most memorable scenes of all time".

External links