Mera Saaya

Yesterday got to see Mera Saaya on Tata Sky Classic. Having seen it many times there wasn't any surprise element but I thought of writing about it.

I had last year written about the Lady in White adaptations which lead to Guru Dutt's shelved Raaz and adapted by his protege Raj Khosla as Woh Kaun thi and the first of his Triology with Sadhana.

Second was Mera Saaya in 1966 and later Anita in 1967

Common between the stand-alone films is the way Khosla most effectively uses Sadhana as an enigmatic catalyst who gets the plot moving. In all three films, Sadhana is the key to solving the mysterious events taking place around the leading men.

(Manoj Kumar Twice and Sunil Dutt in Mera Saaya ).

Mera Saaya is a clear adaptation of the Marathi film Pathlag (Chase ).

Thakur Rakesh Singh (Sunil Dutt), a lawyer who has gone abroad for higher studies, rushes back home to his ailing wife Geeta (Sadhana), who dies in his arms. Shattered, he cremates her, builds a memorial for her and mourns her. One day, the police contact him. They’ve arrested a woman from a gang of dacoits who claims to be his spouse. When he meets the woman (Sadhana again), he is gobsmacked: she is a dead ringer for his wife. When efforts to prove her identity land up in court, she seems to know all the details of their wedded past, including the most intimate ones.

The Courtroom drama has all of us at tenterhooks and we hoped  that the beautiful tragic Sadhana in the dark coloured saree is indeed speaking the truth.

I found Mera Saaya pretty fast-paced and I would keep on going back and forth mentally as the film moves between the past and present sprinkled with hints and mysteries.

The suspence opens up at the end and till then the film keeps one enthralled.

The Romantic sequences are depicted in flash back with the melodies of the magician Madan Mohan. Mera Saaya is one of his definitive scores. The songs, written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, are beautifully composed, be it, the soulful Aap Ke Pehloo Mein Aakar Ro Diye, the playful romantic ditty Nainonwali Ne Haay Mera Dil Loota, the ultra romantic Nainon Mein Badra Chhaye or the saucy Jhumka Gira Re ( Asha Bhonsle in her only song). The title song Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega is haunting and atya with you..even 56 years later.

On the acting front While Sunil Dutt flawlessly plays the devoted husband mourning for his beautiful wife and is disarray as he sees her alive but can't accept he, it is Sadhana who owns Mera Saaya. Playing her second double role after Woh Kaun Thi?, she not only looks beautiful but also brings grace, dignity and even cheeky humour to her role as the ideal wife.

A beautiful movie ..

Hard to choose the best from the Triology..

(Anita will be the distant third ..)

Best Song :

Even more difficult

Mine : Naino main Badra Chaaye.