''Filhaal...'' () is a
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film released in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
directed by
Meghna Gulzar
Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, film director, director and film producer, producer. She is best known for directing of Bollywood film Raazi in 2018.
After debuting as a screenwriter with her father's 1999 directorial ''Hu Tu Tu'', Meghn ...
(in her feature directorial debut). It stars
Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...
,
Tabu
Tabu may refer to:
Cultural and legal concepts
*Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society
*Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...
,
Sanjay Suri
Sanjay Suri (born 6 April 1971) is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film '' Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999)''. He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with '' Jhankaar ...
and
Palash Sen
Palash Sen is an Indian singer, songwriter, musician, composer and actor best known as the founder and frontman of India's Rock/Pop band Euphoria.
Early life and education
Born to doctors, he comes from a family of Rajvaidyas (Sen Sharma) and ...
.
Meghna Gulzar
Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, film director, director and film producer, producer. She is best known for directing of Bollywood film Raazi in 2018.
After debuting as a screenwriter with her father's 1999 directorial ''Hu Tu Tu'', Meghn ...
, daughter of lyricist
Gulzar
Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...
and actress
Raakhee
Raakhee Gulzar (born Rakhee Majumdar on 15 August 1947 and known as Raakhee) is an Indian actress who has appeared in many Hindi films and Bengali films as well. In four decades of acting, she has won three Filmfare Awards and one National Film ...
, made her directorial debut with the film. The film was critically well received,
especially the performance of Sushmita Sen, won was nominated for
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress is given by '' Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the Filmf ...
.
Synopsis
Rewa Singh and Sia Sheth are best friends. Having grown up together, the pair are inseparable and are always there for each other. However, they are very different when it comes to what they want from life. Rewa is a family-oriented girl; she does not have any boyfriend, and is committed to building her own stable family after marriage. Sia is very different; she has a roaring sex-life and a boyfriend, Sahil, who has proposed marriage to her twice, but she has turned him down, saying that her career is more important at present, and she will think of marriage later. Yet, Sahil is determined to marry her and nobody else.
Through her family, Rewa meets Dhruv and marries him. Both of them want to start a family, but they soon find out that Rewa unable to conceive. Rewa is devastated, Dhruv is very supportive but himself upset at the news. Indeed, Dhruv's stoicism and nobility make Rewa feel even more incomplete and empty, and she slowly sinks into depression.
Sia cannot bear to see her friend like this and offers a solution – she offers to become a
surrogate mother
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
to their child. Somehow, her career does not seem to interfere with this. Dhruv is astonished at the idea and opposed to it at first. However, Rewa's insistence sways him and he agrees. When Sia tells Sahil what she intends to do, he is horrified at the idea and strongly opposes Sia bearing someone else's child, pointing to various problems, including the probability of Sia's own future emotional complications. As usual, Sia disregards Sahil's views and wishes and goes ahead with doing exactly what she wants to do. This is too much for even the ever-docile Sahil, and he breaks off the relationship with Sia.
Sia soon becomes pregnant and gives birth to a beautiful baby girl (of course). Rewa and Dhruv do everything to make sure that Sia takes care of herself and the baby stays healthy. However, cracks between Rewa and Sia begin to surface. Rewa is jealous that Dhruv is spending more time with Sia and is frustrated as she is not able to experience the joy of carrying a child. Rewa begins to lash out at Sia and at times insults her. Things come to a halt when Sia decorates the baby's room while Rewa yells at her, telling her that the baby is not hers and she should now go away.
Luckily, after some time things calm down and all of them come to terms with reality. Sia hands over the baby to Rewa and Dhruv, who move far, far away, and it is clear that Rewa and Sia will have little or nothing to do with each other in future. Sahil rekindles his relationship with Sia and again proposes marriage. This time, she accepts.
Cast
*
Tabu
Tabu may refer to:
Cultural and legal concepts
*Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society
*Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...
as Rewa Singh
*
Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...
as Sia Sheth
*
Sanjay Suri
Sanjay Suri (born 6 April 1971) is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film '' Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999)''. He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with '' Jhankaar ...
as Dhruv Malhotra
*
Palash Sen
Palash Sen is an Indian singer, songwriter, musician, composer and actor best known as the founder and frontman of India's Rock/Pop band Euphoria.
Early life and education
Born to doctors, he comes from a family of Rajvaidyas (Sen Sharma) and ...
as Sahil
* Amar Mohanty as Murli
Soundtrack
The Music and Background score was composed by
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...
. The background score was composed by Anjan Biswas. All the lyrics were penned by
Gulzar
Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...
. The album opened to positive reviews and Planet Bollywood rated 9/10.
The tracklist featured 6 songs and one instrumental sung by eminent singers like
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur
and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...
,
K.S.Chithra
Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic music, Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs ...
,
KK and others. All the songs were hit tracks, but the tracks "Filhaal", "Kyun Baar Baar" & "Naya Naya" were considered to be chartbusters.
Critical response
Dinesh Raheja of
Rediff.com
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
wrote ″As I shuffled my feet while making way out of the theatre, the first thought after watching Filhaal was: It would be interesting to see what Meghna Gulzar could do with a fresher subject. She has promise. All she needs is a more original premise.″
[ Radhika Rajamani of ]The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
wrote ″he feel is modern- production wise it is slick. Anu Malik's music is good but too many songs detract the narrative. Manmohan Singh's camera is able to capture the myriad hues of life and color well. Performances on the mainstay of the film. The casting is certainly appropriate. It goes without saying that Tabu has done well. But it is the sterling performance (best up to date) of Sushmita Sen, which endears. Sanjay Suri and Palash Sen fit in well. An earnest attempt.″[ Manish Gajjar of BBC.com wrote ″This is one of the very few classy movies from Bollywood which has been made with great intellect, style and conviction! It is a definite must-see!″
Tiasa Bhowal in her retrospective review for ]India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
wrote ″Filhaal was a breath of fresh air, but the audience of almost two decades ago was not ready to accept a film that tried to normalise surrogacy, something that was considered taboo. Despite the film garnering appreciation from the critics, the response at the box office was lukewarm.″
References
External links
*
{{Meghna Gulzar filmography
2002 films
2000s Hindi-language films
Films scored by Anu Malik
2002 directorial debut films