Sargam (1979)

Director:

K. Vishwanath

Writers:

Jainendra Jain (dialogue)
V.D. Puranik (dialogue director)

Release Date:

8 January 1979 (India)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Plot:

Born with a disability of not being able to talk nor hear, Hema lives with her schoolmaster dad, Chintamani...

Plot Keywords:

Remake

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Rishi Kapoor	...	Raju
Jayapradha	...	Hema Pradhan (as Jaya Prada)
Shashikala	...	Savitri Pradhan
Dheeraj Kumar	...	Suresh
Rajni Sharma	...	Champa Pradhan
Leela Mishra	...	Mausi
Jankidas	...	Landlord
Kamaldeep	...	Rapist
Trilok Kapoor	...	Dinu Chacha
Uma Khosla	...	Prakash's mom
Jeeth Mohan		(as Jeethmohan)
Ramdas Malthane		(as Ramdas)
Baby Dimple
Babbanlal Yadav	...	Jewellery Store Owner (as Babban)
Yusuf

Also Known As:

Musical Scale (International: English title)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Chandivali Studio, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

N.N. Sippy Productions

Movie Connections:

Remake of Siri Siri Muvva (1978)

Hokum Schmokum

The music is the main reason why I watched this film. Whenever Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed music, they always took careful consideration of the plot outline of the film. That may not seem like a big deal but it is when there are few music directors in Bollywood who dont have even the faintest idea of what the film that they are producing music for is about. As Rishi Kapoor plays a dafli-wala (drum-beater) in the movie, the music includes a lot of drum sounds. And as Jaya Pradha plays a mute girl who adores traditional Indian dancing, there are classical elements in the music too. Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar excel in the songs they sing. My particular faves are "Mujhe mat roko mujhe gaane do (Do not stop me, Let me sing)", "Ham to chale pardes, hum to pardesi hogaye (We have become foreigners)", and "Dafliwale dafli baja! Main naachoon tu nachaa (Beat the drum and make me dance)".

The plot is pure hokum schmokum. Almost everything is thrown into the plot- evil stepmothers, illnesses, deaths, poverty, unrequited love etc. This is Jaya Pradha's Bollywood debut and she does not utter a single word. Just as well because her Hindi accent probably would have been a bit rough at this early stage in her career (she is originally from the South). In the 1970's and 80's, the Hindi film industry often made films where a disabled character would by some form of miracle be cured by the end of the plot (Amar Akbar Anthony and a more recent example being Koyla). But it's nice to see that Jaya's character remains mute in the happy ending. It enhances the director's message that she is not really disabled, after all, she is capable of expressing herself.

A very ordinary film this but made watchable by the melodious music and the lead pair (Jaya and Rishi Kapoor).