''Saagar'' () is a 1985 Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by

Ramesh Sippy Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for directing ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the most influential Indian film ever made. The Government ...

. The film stars

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award. Born into th ...

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

and

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her fathe ...

. The film featured lyrics, story and screenplay written by

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2 ...

and music by R. D. Burman. It received critical acclaim upon release, and winning four

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

. This was the second instance in the history of

where an actor has been nominated for both Best Actor as well as Best Actor in Supporting role, the previous nominee for both awards was Ashok Kumar (for Aashirwad in 1968). Kamal Haasan ultimately won the Best Actor award, his first and only award in that category for a Hindi film. ''Saagar'' was also a comeback film for Kapadia. Although this picture was the latter’s comeback film during the shoot,

Zakhmi Sher ''Zakhmi Sher'' () is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language action film produced by Pradeep Sharma under the TUTU Films banner and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. Starring Jeetendra and Dimple Kapadia with the music composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, ...

(1984) (a remake of

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

film, Bobbili Puli) became her second release in her acting career due to delayed and postponed dates of this particular movie. Saagar was India's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1985.

Plot

Mona (

) runs a small restaurant in Goa. Raja (

), who lives close by, is a good friend. He is in love with her but is unable to profess his feelings. Ravi (

) is from a rich industrialist family who moves to Goa from the US. Mona and Ravi fall in love of which Raja knows nothing of. Ravi's grandmother, Kamladevi ( Madhur Jaffrey) is opposed to their love because of class differences. In the end Raja sacrifices his love for Mona and Ravi.

Cast

as Ravi *

as Raja *

as Mona D'Silva * Nadira as Miss Joseph * Saeed Jaffrey as Mr. D'Silva * Madhur Jaffrey as Kamladevi, Ravi's grandmother *

A. K. Hangal Avtar Kishan Hangal (1 February 1914 – 26 August 2012) was an Indian freedom fighter from 1929 to 1947 and also stage actor from 1936 to 1965 and later became a character actor in Hindi language films from 1966 to 2005. His most notable role ...

as Baba (in the lighthouse) *

Sharat Saxena Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films. Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played su ...

as Tatya, fisherman * Shafi Inamdar as Vikram *

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter. Early life Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is ...

as Batuk Laal *

Kiran Vairale Kiran may refer to: Names * Kiran (given name), an Indian given name used for men or women (including a list of persons with the name) * Kiran, an anglicised variant of the Gaelic given name Ciarán People * ''Kiran'', pseudonym of the Indian w ...

as Maria * Lilliput as Cheena *

Goga Kapoor Ravinder Kapoor (15 December 1940 – 3 March 2011), popularly known as Goga Kapoor, was an Indian actor, who appeared mostly in Bollywood films. He has acted in over 120 films, majorly known for playing supporting roles of that of villain's h ...

as Thekedaar *Balu Gaikwad as Bhikari

Soundtrack

The music was composed by R. D. Burman and the lyrics were by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

bagged his 8th Filmfare Award for the song "Sagar Kinare", Other singers include

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

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 th ...

, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & Shailendra Singh. R. D. Burman for song "Saagar Kinare" used one of his old song tune "Hume Raaston Ki Zaroorat Nahin Hai" from film Naram Garam released in 1981. The song ''Jaane Do Na'' was recreated by composer

Arko Pravo Mukherjee Arko Pravo Mukherjee (born 19 May 1983), also known as Arko, is an Indian singer-songwriter and music composer who has worked in the Bollywood film industry since 2012. '' Jism 2'' was his debut film as a music composer and lyricist. Early li ...

for the 2015 film Kuch Kuch Locha Hai. The song ''Sach Mere Yaar Hai'' was reused in the 2021 TV Series The Family Man Season 2, as a tribute to the singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and to the fictional NIA agent character Millind in the series.

Release

''Saagar'' was released on 9 August 1985. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the movie was major box office failure. It gained recognition over the years through re-runs on television channels and is now regarded as a classic and a cult film. In 2015, ''Saagar'' was screened at the Habitat Film Festival.

Critical reception

According to ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...

'', "''Saagar'' offers a skimpy eternal-triangle plot, but it is remarkable for its polished narration and masterly technique. The romance is subdued, symbolised by waves gently caressing the shore." It further praised the performances, calling Kapadia "a delight" and claiming that Hassan "steals the show with his subtle performance," and the direction by Sippy, who "has succeeded in injecting vitality, beauty and deep insight into a gossamer-thin story." ''

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 on ...

'' wrote, "Like ''Sholay'', and only like ''Sholay'', ''Saagar'' is purely a director's film."

Awards

The film was chosen by India as its entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

for the 58th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

References

External links

* * * {{Indian submission for Academy Awards 1985 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films directed by Ramesh Sippy Films scored by R. D. Burman Indian interfaith romance films