Saathiya (English: Companion) is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Mani Ratnam and Yash Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film stars Rani Mukerji and Vivek Oberoi, with Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu in cameos. The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman and the lyrics are penned by Gulzar. It is a remake of the Tamil film Alaipayuthey whose climax was reported to be inspired by the 1998 film Sliding Doors and which was also directed by Mani Ratnam with music composed by Rahman as well. Box Office India declared the film a Hit. Additionally, the film won 6 Filmfare Awards.
Plot
Aditya Sehgal and his friends are searching for Aditya's wife Suhani Sehgal. She has been missing for hours, a few days after having a fight with Aditya about their failing marriage. But Aditya now realizes that he loves her more than anything and is devastated that he can't find her.
The film goes into a flashback, where it is seen that Aditya and Dr. Suhani meet each other at a wedding. Aditya immediately falls in love with her and pursues her. Suhani at first believes that he is simply flirting with her but later, both realize that they love each other. However, Aditya's rich lifestyle and Suhani's middle-class lifestyle creates a rift between their parents where Aditya's father Om Sehgal insults Suhani's father. Aditya and Suhani elope and get married in a small ceremony. At first, they live in their respective homes and keep their marriage a secret. However, when a proposal comes for Suhani's elder sister, the truth comes out. Aditya and Suhani then cut ties with their parents and move to a dilapidated house and start their married life together.
Soon, marital problems threaten to drive them apart. A misunderstanding causes Suhani to think Aditya is having an affair and they get into a major argument. Suhani then gets involved in a car accident. As she is crossing the street, a car hits her, almost fatally injuring her. Aditya has no idea of this and waits for her to return home, happily thinking that they will patch up.
Later Aditya realizes that Suhani is missing and starts looking for her. It is revealed that Savitri is the one who hit Suhani with her car. Scared to own up, Savitri calls her husband, who is an IAS officer. Her husband, Yeshwant Rao, arrives at the hospital and tells the doctor that Suhani is his wife and he wants her operated. Aditya finds out about the incident and reaches the hospital. Suhani falls into a coma. Yeshwant explains to Aditya, and takes the blame and tells him that he had caused the accident. Aditya threatens Yeshwant and leaves. Savitri meets Aditya and tells him that it was she who caused the accident and she is feeling guilty.
The two shed tears together until Yeshwant comes and picks her up. Soon, Suhani regains consciousness. Aditya runs in and expresses the pain and suffering he went through in the hours of separation. Suhani also expresses her own love and feelings for him. The film ends as Aditya and Suhani finally makeup and they hug each other on the hospital bed.
Cast
Rani Mukerji as Suhani Sharma
Vivek Oberoi as Aditya Sehgal
Kunal Kumar as Bhaskar
Sandhya Mridul as Dina Sharma, Suhani’s sister
Sharat Saxena as Chandra Prakash Sharma, Suhani’s father
Tanuja as Shobhana Sharma, Suhani’s mother
Satish Shah as Barrister Om Sehgal, Aditya’s father
Swaroop Sampat as Shanti Sehgal, Aditya’s mother
Shahrukh Khan as Yeshwant Rao (Special appearance) Tabu as Savitri Rao (Special appearance) Anju Mahendru as Prema Aditya Srivastava as A.C.P. Aditya Singh Rathore Rahul Chauhan as COP Rahul Patil Aarya Mehta as Pinky Ujjwal Rana as Raghunath "Raghu" Pandit Pubali Sanyali as Anju Paritosh Sand as Ved Tinnu Anand as Daruwala Deepraj Rana as Inspector Deepak Qazir as Raghu's father Jaya Bhattacharya as Vidya Karthik Kumar as Shyam Manu Rishi Chadha as Doctor Sanjay Mishra as relative of Sharma family Paritosh Sand as Ved Mansi Upadhyay as Lady in hospital Shamita Shetty in a special appearance in the song "Chori Pe Chori"
Production
Development
The film was announced by Mani Ratnam and Yash Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. It is a remake of the Tamil film Alaipayuthey, that was directed by Ratnam. It marks the directorial debut of Shaad Ali.
Casting
Abhishek Bachchan was Ali's first choice for the role of Aditya. Bachchan refused and the role went to Vivek Oberoi. Ali cast Rani Mukerji as Suhani. Mukerji initially refused the offer as she disliked the idea of remaking an accomplished film but was convinced to accept the part by the film's producer Aditya Chopra.