Mera Saaya: Thrilling, brilliant and unique

With successes like C.I.D, Bombai Ka Babu and Ek Musafir Ek Hasina to his credit, Raj Khosla had certainly achieved a name for himself in the thriller genre. His best would really be seen in the mid-60s though, through his famous 'Mystery Girl' trilogy starring Sadhana. In between the very popular classic Woh Kaun Thi and in my opinion, an average Anita, came possibly the best of this trilogy - Mera Saaya, in the year 1966. A Hitchcockian thriller right from start to finish, this is a movie even Hitchcock would have been proud of.

Not giving much of the story away, the film opens with a room in a big mansion (Lake Palace maybe, but not sure) in Udaipur where Geeta (Sadhana) is lying extremely sick in the company of her husband's mausi and servants and the doctor asks to immediately call her husband, a lawyer, who is abroad, as she may not have long to live. Thakur Rakesh Singh (Sunil Dutt) flies back only to find his wife dead. The opening credits begin and post that, we see a very depressed Rakesh, not able to get over the loss of his beloved wife. A police inspector comes to meet Rakesh to inform him that three dacoits were caught the previous day; one of them being a female, a look-alike of his late wife ... and claiming to be the Thakur's wife! What follows is an immensely gripping courtroom drama - is this dacoit indeed the wife of Thakur Rakesh Singh or not? Rakesh on one hand fighting for his cause saying this woman cannot be his wife as he saw his wife die in front of him and the dacoit Raina, on the other, claiming to be Rakesh's wife and fighting for it!

An unusual tale, this one has all the makings of a great thriller. Raj Khosla is excellent in carrying the story forward at a good pace, especially because a lot of the suspense revolved around events in the couple's life, so there had to be a balance of showing some scenes of the past (mostly cute and realistic romantic scenes), give a stronger hold of the characters to the audience and also, on the other hand, not spend so much time on the past that would make the audiences lose their edge-of-the-seat thrill. The screenplay is indeed clever, showing only that much of the past that would be required for the audience to know when the two individuals fight out their case in the courtroom.

Raj Khosla's direction definitely shines throughout the movie, one example being when Rakesh thinks of something that will help him win the case (almost towards the end of the movie) while at his house, and the camera focuses on his confident, focussed, thinking face and slowly moves to his reflection on three adjacent mirrors separately (at his dressing table) to serve as a bookmark to go into a flashback scene, only to later come out of the flashback in the reverse manner.
The characters are also well-written. You see the policeman (Anwar Hussain) and a lawyer (K.N.Singh) often discussing about the case amongst themselves; but if you really think about it, they actually play you and me. By that I mean that their dialogues are actually the things your mind keeps thinking, while at once agreeing with the dacoit's version of the story, and at the same time, questioning her and siding with Rakesh. This movie keeps you guessing, and even if it doesn't, the two characters in constant discussion definitely will.
One extraordinary piece of work from Raj Khosla was with regards the use of sound in this movie. Rakesh is seen listening to his late wife's music records, this one being the Nainon Mein Bhadra song, and the sound actually sounds like it is coming from the record, and when Rakesh gets completely engrossed in the song and thinks of his past, the sound changes to how it would be heard real-time, when his wife was actually singing it to him. Another excellent usage of sound was when he turns on the radio and the song Wo Bhooli Dastaan starts, and that leads him to remembering Geeta singing Tu Jahaan Jahaan Chalega, and finally when that song ends, reality dawns in and he realizes it's only the radio playing a song. I remember telling my mother while watching the movie recently for the umpteenth time that the sound recording in this film is just marvellous and guess what ... upon checking later, Manohar Amberkar indeed won a Filmfare for Best Sound Recording!

The actors in this movie are in top form. There are not too many characters in this story and the film is basically carried on the shoulders of Sunil Dutt and Sadhana. Sunil Dutt is fantastic as the disturbed husband, while mourning over the loss of his wife on one hand, fighting with an imposter on the other. Sadhana is brilliant in the court scenes and really makes one feel for her. The two together make a wonderful couple in the flashback sequences; their romanctic act is sweet, mischevious and not at all over-the-top, one that will keep you smiling throughout.

About 46 years after the film was released, the music is still as popular as it was back then. While songs like the title track - Tu Jahaan Jahaan Chalega, and Nainon Mein Bhadra are haunting, Jhumka Gira Re is a perfect example of naughty and folk. Similarly, Aap Ke Pehloo Mein Aakar is aptly tragic whereas Nainonwali Ne is again a very naughty and flirtatious number. A special mention should go to the title track because it is used so many times in the movie, but never would one feel bored or frustrated when the full song would repeat over and over again. While it coming as a background score is a different matter, the song is actually picturised twice in the movie. No music director can get away with a less than perfect song in such a situation. The songs are used well in the movie and Madan Mohan again struck gold with his music in this movie.

All in all, a perfect entertainer and one which the whole family can sit together to see, Mera Saaya is thrilling, brilliant and unique. Its movies like these that make you wonder what ever happened to the good old era of suspense movies! Mera Saaya never ceases to amaze even after repeated viewings.

While I really should not be rating this movie simply because I am too small a person to rate or critic a film of this level and one which is like a textbook to a film student, if I really had to, I would give the movie 4.5 stars out of 5. Now where I cut the 0.5 star rating I cannot answer here. I would be more than happy to discuss it with you once you have seen the movie :)