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Sooryavansham
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Wikipedia article
'Sooryavansham' (, ) is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical drama film directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana. It stars Amitabh Bachchan in dual roles, with Soundarya, Jayasudha, Rachna Banerjee, Anupam Kher and Kader Khan. The film is a remake of the 1997 Tamil-language film 'Suryavamsam', and revolves around a traditional father and his illiterate yet obedient son, following their tensed relationship and shows how the strict patriarchy causes a drift between them.
Made on a budget of , principal photography took place in and around various locations in India such as Hyderabad, Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as Sri Lanka. S. Gopal Reddy acted as the cinematographer, while Gautham Raju edited the film. Anu Malik composed the film's music, with lyrics penned by Sameer.
The film was opened to positive reviews towards the performance of Bachchan, but ended up being a box-office bomb, grossing only . However, over the years, it has gathered cult following among the Indian diaspora, and has been telecasted frequently on the television channel Set Max.
Plot
The Sooryavansham family head - Thakur Bhanupratap Singh is the sarpanch of the village of Bharatpur. The people of Bharatpur respect and revere him for his blue blood and virtuous ideologies. Bhanupratap has done yeoman's service not only for the people of Bharatpur but also for those of the 18 neighbouring villages in the district. The local police and administration also obey his orders in the matters of law.
Bhanupratap lives in a grand mansion with his wife Sharda, three sons, Karan, Varun and Heera and daughter Urmila. One of his sons is an engineer, one is a doctor, while Heera, the youngest one, lives like a servant in the house because of his illiteracy, causing Bhanupratap to hate him. Heera is not allowed to be involved in familial matters and performs menial activities like cleaning, washing, herding cattle, etc. Although hated by Bhanupratap, Heera has intense love and respect for his father, making him an ideal and worthy son. Heera is only loved and cared for by Sharda and Heera's close friend Dharmendra/Mindra, one of the servants in the house.
Bhanupratap arranges the marriage of his daughter Urmila. A few days before the engagement ceremony, the groom comes to his house along with his uncle Ranjit Singh, a retired major, and sister Radha. Radha, a modern young woman, is unaware of Heera being Bhanupratap's son and makes Heera do various chores. On the day of the engagement, when Radha learns the truth from her father, she is shocked as well as touched. Subsequently, Radha develops an eagerness to know why Heera lives like a servant in his own house. Radha inquires Dharmendra about this. Dharmendra narrates Radha Heera's past:
During his childhood, although Heera attended school, Heera wasn't at all interested in studies, and often failed in his examinations. He used to go to school only to meet Gauri, the girl who was adopted by Bhanupratap after the demise of her parents. Gauri was more than just a friend for Heera. One day at school, a teacher thrashed Gauri, causing Heera to discontinue his academic studies. Gauri, however, continued her studies. Bhanupratap thought that Heera's company would hamper Gauri's studies and sent her to a boarding school in the city. Being separated from Gauri, Heera cheered up when Gauri came on weekends, during which the two met each other. Soon, Heera and Gauri attained adulthood. Bhanupratap planned Heera's marriage with Gauri. When Gauri learns about this, she attempted suicide but was timely rescued by Heera. Gauri told Heera that she preferred death to marriage with an illiterate man like him. Thus, their relationship ended. Bhanupratap, learning only half the truth, was filled with more hatred for Heera than ever. Later, Gauri was married off to another man while Heera continued to live a sad and miserable life. Radha, after listening to Heera's sad story, is overwhelmed with pity for Heera. On the day of Urmila's marriage, Radha proposes Heera. Heera realises that Radha is a loyal and virtuous woman and accepts her proposal of love.
Deshraj Thakur is another landowner in Bharatpur who schemes to devastate his enemy Bhanupratap and his family by making Radha his daughter-in-law. If Radha is married to Deshraj's son Arjun, Radha's lawyer father will do whatever Deshraj wants. In this way, he will be able to get ahead of Bhanupratap. Radha's mother approves the alliance and asks Bhanupratap to make Heera move out of Radha's life. Bhanupratap does so, assuring Heera that he will get back his filial status in his family if he does so. Dharmendra convinces Heera to accept Radha as his wife, saying only a fortunate few find true love like Radha found. On the day of Radha's marriage with Arjun, Heera takes Radha away with him and marries her. This enrages Bhanupratap and he disowns Heera.
Heera and Radha move into Dharmendra's house on the outskirts of the village and start a new chapter in their lives. Heera gets a job as a labour in a transport company. When Radha learns that her husband has been toiling to make both ends meet, she encourages him to start his own business. With the money lent by Ranjit, Heera establishes a transport company under the name of his father. Soon, Heera becomes a rich businessman while Radha successfully completes her I.A.S. studies and is appointed the District Collector in her home district. A son is also born to the couple. Despite knowing that Heera and his family have moved up the social strata, Thakur Bhanupratap continues to hate them. Heera fulfils his father's dream of setting up a hospital for the poor. In the ceremony of the hospital's inauguration, Heera delivers a highly emotional speech, owing his success to his father, who, he believes, has expelled him from home so that he learns to fend for himself. Bhanupratap overhears this.
One day, Bhanupratap incidentally meets Heera and Radha's son. After learning that the child is his grandson, Bhanupratap and his grandson secretly become friends and spend jovial moments with each other. When Heera soon learns about his, he hands some Kheer over to his son and tells him to give it to his "friend" (Bhanupratap) when he meets him next. Sharda also gets to know about it and urges her husband to accept Heera back into the family. Bhanupratap's love for Heera gets better of his hatred towards him, and he rings Heera up. Before Bhanupratap speaks a word to Heera over the phone, he vomits blood and becomes critically ill. Bhanupratap is immediately hospitalised and Deshraj publicly holds Heera guilty of trying to kill his father with the poisoned Kheer, because of his expulsion from the family. When Deshraj and his henchmen assault Heera, Thakur Bhanupratap arrives for Heera's rescue. Thakur Bhanupratap, before the crowd, lays bare the truth of the Kheer which was poisoned by Deshraj himself with artifice. Bhanupratap and Heera fight Deshraj and his henchmen until Deshraj confesses his guilt and begs pardon from Bhanupratap.
In the final scene, the kith and kin of Bhanupratap's family assemble in front of the family's grand mansion. Bhanupratap embraces Heera and the film ends.
Cast
* Amitabh Bachchan as Thakur Bhanupratap Singh (Shardha's husband) / Heera Thakur Singh, Radha's husband (dual role)
* Soundarya as Radha Thakur Singh (voice dubbed by Rekha), Heera's wife.
* Rachana Banerjee as Gauri (Heera's ex-lover)
* Jayasudha as Sharda Singh, Bhanupratap's wife (credited as Jaya Kapoor) (voice dubbed by Rekha)
* Anupam Kher as Dharmendra, Heera's best friend
* Kader Khan as Major Ranjit Kumar Singh
* Shivaji Satam as Radha's father
* Bindu as Radha's mother
* Mukesh Rishi as Deshraj Thakur / Kevda Thakur
* Imran Khan as Arjun Thakur, Deshraj's son
* Ahuti Prasad as Karan Singh Thakur, Heera's eldest brother
* Rajesh Khattar as Baran Singh Thakur, Heera's second elder brother
* Neelima Azeem as Heera's second elder sister-in-law
* Rauf as the beggar wearing Ranjit Singh's shirt
* Chalapathi Rao as the Police commissioner
* Brahmanandam as Doctor PK Mare
* Ananda Vardhan as Little Thakur Bhanupratap Singh a.k.a Sonu (Heera and Radha's son)
* Kallu Chidambaram as Bus service customer
* Ishaan Khatter as Atish Naran
Production
In the making of 'Sooryavansham', its director E. V. V. Satyanarayana was assisted by his son Allari Naresh who later became a prominent actor in the Telugu cinema. Before entering Bollywood, Soundarya had acted in a total of 65 South Indian films. Her brother Amarnath, who managed her career, stated that she always performed decorous roles and same would be the case in Bollywood. The movie was shot at several locations of India and Sri Lanka.
* Balaram Palace Resort, Chitrasani village, Palanpur, Gujarat, India
* Kiri Vihara, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
* Peradeniya Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka
* Polonnaruwa Vatadage, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
* Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad, India etc.
In an interview during 'Sooryavansham'
Soundtrack
The movie's music was composed by Anu Malik. The film score was composed by Koti. The tunes of all the songs of the film are different from those of their Tamil counterparts, except one- "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai". The songs were written by Sameer. The voices are of Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, Chithra, Jaspinder Narula, Amitabh Bachchan (in the song "Chori Se Chori Se"), and Anuradha Paudwal. The song "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai" is portrayed in different tones once in happy note and twice with forlorn touch. All the songs aptly relate the story through various phases.
Track list
Awards and nominations
Reception
Box office
In India, the film had box office collections of nett and gross. Overseas, the film collected $285,000, including 53,000 in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the film grossed , equivalent to adjusted for inflation.References
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