this guy is genuinely stupid omg

this guy is genuinely stupid omg

This is a very interesting film. I honestly do not know where to start. Rupa definitely has to be one of the most fascinating female characters of the 1970s Bollywood cinema. She has all the qualities a perfect Indian woman would have. She's religious, sings her Bhajans, cleans the Mandir, she's pure hearted and has a soul of her own. But her scar on her face leaves her to appear "ugly" to those around her. She's seen as unlucky even by her father from the day she was born. The film explores the idea of a woman's worth being tied to her physical appearance. Is looks all that matters? Is it truly? That's what Raj Kapoor, the director makes us question. I think the film definitely tries to make us focus on the inner aspects of a character. Not their physical appearance which is all too shallow. Even Rajeev fails to see this. He hates anything ugly we find this out later on. So it's a morality lesson to him when his wife is well "ugly". However ironically despite the fact that this films ideal message is to focus on the soul rather than the body, well let's say there's a lot of body in here. This is definitely one of the most sensual Bollywood or even in general most sensual films I've ever seen. It's crazy. There's a kiss scene! In a Bollywood film! Which is crazy btw because Bollywood is infamous for lacking this stuff. I would say that despite the oversexualisation, it was always tastefully done in this, Zeenat Aman never appeared vulgar.

Speaking of Zeenat, while yes she's very sexy and sensual and a film crush, I think just focusing on those aspects like a lot of rhe media and film critics did loses very much an interesting performance that she delivered. She knocks it out of the ballpark. This is the type of performance that they would call career defining. This role subverted the typical Zeenat Aman role. Compare Don released the same year (we can safely say she owned 1978!), in Don she's a westernised revenge seeking action heroine. In Satyam Shivam Sundaram, she's a scarred tragic woman who this time dresses traditionally even if there's some costumes which are very revealing. There's a level of sensuality added to her performance that I think helped her so much. Even her emotions just worked so much. There's this one scene where she smiles but you can see the tears in her eyes, it's so endearing. The amount of tearing up she had to do, it's a shame that she was virtually snubbed by all the big award ceremonies. She's so poignant and full of heartbreak in this. Even the confrontation scene was perfect, she had strength in that and it was perfect to see. I fear had any one else been in this film, Rupa would have been a one dimensional character, Zeenat's performance gave her a whole different layer. She has a such an exciting and explosive sexual chemistry with her co-star Shashi Kapoor. Some of the scenes were some of the most sensual scenes ever done in my opinion. Shashi Kapoor was a wonderful co-star too. His character frustrated me. Though I didn't like the whole final half, the scene at the end is pretty impressive you ask how did they do that scene! And the music is perfect, Lata Mangeshkar has the voice of an angel, she's perfect. The songs are perfect too. The Cinematography as well omg those sunsets, I don't know if they're real or fake but the aesthetic is stunning. Raj Kapoor gave a great direction and the costumes stunning as well!

This is a very interesting film. I honestly do not know where to start. Rupa definitely has to be one of the most fascinating female characters of the 1970s Bollywood cinema. She has all the qualities a perfect Indian woman would have. She's religious, sings her Bhajans, cleans the Mandir, she's pure hearted and has a soul of her own. But her scar on her face leaves her to appear "ugly" to those around her. She's seen as unlucky even by her father from the day she was born. The film explores the idea of a woman's worth being tied to her physical appearance. Is looks all that matters? Is it truly? That's what Raj Kapoor, the director makes us question. I think the film definitely tries to make us focus on the inner aspects of a character. Not their physical appearance which is all too shallow. Even Rajeev fails to see this. He hates anything ugly we find this out later on. So it's a morality lesson to him when his wife is well "ugly". However ironically despite the fact that this films ideal message is to focus on the soul rather than the body, well let's say there's a lot of body in here. This is definitely one of the most sensual Bollywood or even in general most sensual films I've ever seen. It's crazy. There's a kiss scene! In a Bollywood film! Which is crazy btw because Bollywood is infamous for lacking this stuff. I would say that despite the oversexualisation, it was always tastefully done in this, Zeenat Aman never appeared vulgar.

Speaking of Zeenat, while yes she's very sexy and sensual and a film crush, I think just focusing on those aspects like a lot of rhe media and film critics did loses very much an interesting performance that she delivered. She knocks it out of the ballpark. This is the type of performance that they would call career defining. This role subverted the typical Zeenat Aman role. Compare Don released the same year (we can safely say she owned 1978!), in Don she's a westernised revenge seeking action heroine. In Satyam Shivam Sundaram, she's a scarred tragic woman who this time dresses traditionally even if there's some costumes which are very revealing. There's a level of sensuality added to her performance that I think helped her so much. Even her emotions just worked so much. There's this one scene where she smiles but you can see the tears in her eyes, it's so endearing. The amount of tearing up she had to do, it's a shame that she was virtually snubbed by all the big award ceremonies. She's so poignant and full of heartbreak in this. Even the confrontation scene was perfect, she had strength in that and it was perfect to see. I fear had any one else been in this film, Rupa would have been a one dimensional character, Zeenat's performance gave her a whole different layer. She has a such an exciting and explosive sexual chemistry with her co-star Shashi Kapoor. Some of the scenes were some of the most sensual scenes ever done in my opinion. Shashi Kapoor was a wonderful co-star too. His character frustrated me. Though I didn't like the whole final half, the scene at the end is pretty impressive you ask how did they do that scene! And the music is perfect, Lata Mangeshkar has the voice of an angel, she's perfect. The songs are perfect too. The Cinematography as well omg those sunsets, I don't know if they're real or fake but the aesthetic is stunning. Raj Kapoor gave a great direction and the costumes stunning as well!

Okkk like this movie gave me mixed feelings. First and foremost the sets, scenery, and outfits were bold and beautiful. I especially love Zeenat Aman in “Chanchal, Sheetal, Nirmal.” But the fact that the idea of her was sexualized so much that Shashi Kapoor didn’t realize there was only one Rupa, rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that at the end he felt bad, but like the way he treated her and went delulu to find the “real rupa” just made me believe she is wayyyy to good for him. Zeenat Aman also gave damsel in distress, even though she had a little villain arc for a second it didn’t last long. Both these characters had major setbacks when it came to personality, I guess it made them good for each other idk. The songs were BEAUTIFUL tho and the dialogue!!! That is what real love is. If the characters were both not stupid, then everything in the movie would work lol. Also movie is a little male gaze-y kinda , but also like empowering at the same time. I still don’t know how to feel. I love that Zeenat is a sex symbol, but I want more dominance for her character, if she is gonna take a sex symbol role.

Okkk like this movie gave me mixed feelings. First and foremost the sets, scenery, and outfits were bold and beautiful. I especially love Zeenat Aman in “Chanchal, Sheetal, Nirmal.” But the fact that the idea of her was sexualized so much that Shashi Kapoor didn’t realize there was only one Rupa, rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that at the end he felt bad, but like the way he treated her and went delulu to find the “real rupa” just made me believe she is wayyyy to good for him. Zeenat Aman also gave damsel in distress, even though she had a little villain arc for a second it didn’t last long. Both these characters had major setbacks when it came to personality, I guess it made them good for each other idk. The songs were BEAUTIFUL tho and the dialogue!!! That is what real love is. If the characters were both not stupid, then everything in the movie would work lol. Also movie is a little male gaze-y kinda , but also like empowering at the same time. I still don’t know how to feel. I love that Zeenat is a sex symbol, but I want more dominance for her character, if she is gonna take a sex symbol role.