Line #32 Film/Saawariya


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Saawariya1.jpg]]
2	''Saawariya'' was a 2007 UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} movie that pretty much crashed and burned with audiences and critics alike. But it also happens to be notable for featuring many tropes.
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4	The plot centers around Gulabji, a prostitute living in a fantasy city that [[FantasyCounterpartCulture calls to mind many real world equivalents]] without being any place in particular. She tells the story of Raj, a newcomer to town who makes everyone happier just by existing. But when he falls in love with the mysterious Sakina, he is dismayed to learn she is in love with someone else.
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6	The film is an adaptation of "White Nights", an early short story by Creator/FyodorDostoevsky.
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8	----
9	!!The film contains the following tropes:
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11	* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: The whole damn movie! It's all just Gulabji imagination, as she's fantasising about people she ''made up'']].
12	* AlmostKiss: It's a ''highly'' stylised Bollywood movie, what else did you expect? But it also comes with a plot-point: even when Sakina starts to consider having a relationship with Raj, she can't bring herself to let him kiss her, still thinking about her [[TheLostLenore MIA love interest]].
13	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Befitting a dreamy, surreal setting, the time period is just as all-over-the-place as the setting iself.
14	* BlitheSpirit: Raj, whose main schtick is trying to shake things up for ''everyone''. He makes people happier and more energetic by just being around.
15	* BreakTheCutie: Sakina. Life just keeps dog-piling on her all kinds of nasty experiences, until she's a depressive mess, with only waiting for Imaan's return keeping her going.
16	* BroadStrokes: The film takes the very premise of ''White Nights'' (the narrator falling in love with a woman randomly met by the river, looking for her love interest to return from war) and then just spins a completely new story out of it. It helps that the short story itself is very brief, leaving it open for any kind of reinterpretation.
17	* CrowdSong: ''Chabeela''. But maybe Gulabji forced her friends to rehearse it, in case Raj showed up for her birthday or something.
18	* DoggedNiceGuy: Raj's approach to his feelings for Sakina, where she keeps sidelining him no matter all his efforts to make her life less miserable. [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic To creepy effect]], at times.
19	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Sure, Sakina rejects Raj. It gets better: The two of them may only have been figments of Gulabji's lonely imagination. ''And'' Raj might have been inspired by Lillipop's son, who died many years ago. So, yes, Lillipop's lonely, too. And always has been.]]
20	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: In addition to obvious India, the dreamy place where the plot is set is also borrowing from Italy (Venice, specifically) and Russia (Petersburg, specifically). It is, after all, based on [[Creator/FyodorDostoevsky Dostoevsky's]] ''White Nights''.
21	* {{Fanservice}}: Raj in a towel dancing. Towel slips. Just watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE9qk8W_EXY this]].
22	* GorgeousPeriodDress: Both Sakina (a poor girl living with her grandma) and Gulabji (a prostitute) seem to have UnlimitedWardrobe full of opulent, period dresses.
23	* {{Homage}}: There are ''countless'' nods to films starring Raj Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor ([[MeaningfulName Raj]]) is his grandson.
24	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Gulabji, who is easily the nicest and most out-going person in the whole story.
25	%% * ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Raj's clothes are ... interesting. Pretty, but interesting.
26	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Raj is trying to start relationship with Sakina [[LoveAtFirstSight from the moment he saw her]]. But when [[spoiler: Imaan, her missing boyfriend, returns from war, Raj steps out of her life]].
27	* LoveAtFirstSight: Raj falls for Sakina the ''second'' he saw her and spends rest of the story trying to reach out to her. Cue the song ''Masha-Allah''.
28	* LoveDodecahedron: Gulabji loves Raj who loves Sakina who kinda sorta likes Raj but really just loves Imaan...
29	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Raj is a jolly fellow, but as his advances to Sakina still bear no results, he [[spoiler: burns Sakina's letter to Imaan]], which he promised to send for her.
30	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Raj is arguably a rare SpearCounterpart to this, taking out Sakina from her depressive slumber and also positively affecting the neighbourhood.
31	* TheMasochismTango: Sakina is still firmly in love with Imaan, her missing love interest. But she also starts to slowly develop feelings to Raj (something he hopes for from the the get-go), which makes her torn between being loyal and finding love again. On the other hand, Raj is both trying to help Sakina ''and'' get her for himself. They both suffer greatly due to this.
32	* MayDecemberRomance: Sakina and Imaan, as she is in her very late teens and he's a middle-aged man.
33	* MoodSwinger: Sakina is ruled by her moods, which change at the drop of a hat. Imaan [[LampshadeHanging even makes fun of her for it]].
34	* TheNicknamer: Gulabji. She insists on calling Raj "Saawariya."
35	* NonActorVehicle: Neither Sonam Kapoor nor Ranbir Kapoor had ever acted in a movie before, let alone starred in one. They are, however, both [[StuntCasting the offspring of two famous actors]] (with Ranbir Kapoor just one member of a whole acting ''dynasty''.)
36	* OneTrueLove: Sakina loves Imaan. ''Nothing'' can change that, [[spoiler: not even a charming adorator that makes steady advances on her and seemingly starts to slowly succeed]].
37	* RelationshipUpgrade: What Raj is hoping to achieve through the movie with Sakina, once he becomes her best friend. [[spoiler: Subverted when Imaan returns in the end and Sakina stays with her OneTrueLove.]]
38	* SceneryPorn: So, so much. The elaborate sets and dreamy landscape they create are probably the only thing that was acclaimed when the movie was released.
39	* TallDarkAndSnarky: Imaan, who is tall, dark and has a deadpan sense of humour, playfully bantering with Sakina.
40	* WetSariScene: Sakina in her sari gets caught in the rain an awful lot.

Context Film / Saawariya