Sadma

Audience Reviews

View More (41)

Adarsh T If one talks of 'Sadma' today, then the most enduring image of the movie is definitely the last scene where Somu, Kamal Haasan's character, tries in vain to jog Sridevi's memory. That climatic scene surely ranks as being among the most moving scenes of Hindi films. In fact, just on the basis of that one scene, one would have no doubt in declaring Kamal Haasan as one of the most talented actors ever. 'Sadma', which literally means shock or trauma, is a Hindi remake of the Tamil film, 'Moondram Pirai' (1982), starring Kamal and Sridevi, and directed by Balu Mahendra. It is difficult to assess who is the better actor in movie as both Sridevi and Kamal Haasan are absolutely brilliant in their respective roles, neither of which are easy to play. While Sridevi's masterly performance won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, Kamal Haasan bagged the National Award for Best Actor for the Tamil version. Even though physically, Reshmi is a young woman, mentally, she is no older than a six year old, and is totally dependent on Somu for her needs. Both find what they need in the other and life could have gone on like this perfectly. But the cops and Reshmi's parents are looking out for her. After a car accident, in which she injures her head, Reshmi or Nehalata Malhotra lands up in hospital and her mind regresses to that of a six year old. She escapes from the hospital and lands up in a brothel, from where she is rescued by Somu. He takes her back to the tiny hamlet where he lives in the hills. As irony would have it, after spending much time together, Reshmi's parents find her and take her back to Mumbai, just as she gets back her memory. And sadly, now she has absolutely no memory of poor Somu, who had lost his heart to her. The last scene at the railway platform is absolute heartbreaking as Somu resorts to all kinds of antics to jog Reshmi's memory so that she could recognize him. The antics are just the sort which would amuse a six year old, but a twenty year old would only dismiss them as the antics of a lunatic. It is shattering to see Somu behaving like a clown, overcome with an urgent sense of desperation to somehow jog her memory. No matter how many times one watches this scene, one is left overwhelmed by the irony of fate, a totally detached Reshmi and an absolutely shattered Somu. The film is full of some lovely touching moments depicting the tender relationship which flowers between Somu and Reshmi. The naïve, shy school teacher finally finds an object of devotion and his love for her has to be seen to be believed. He feeds her as he would a child, braids her hair, sings a lullaby to her before she sleeps, plays with her. In short, he is father, mother and friend, all rolled into one for her. The only thing that takes away from the poignant mood of the movie is the Silk Smitha track and her dream sequence. The only purpose it serves, if at all, is bringing out the contrast between Somu's pure love for Reshmi and Soni's (Silk Smitha's character) lust for Somu. The film's music has been composed by Illayaraaja while the lyrics have been penned by Gulzar. The film's music is poignant and moving, specially, the numbers, 'Surmayi Aankhiyon Ki' sung by Yesudas and 'Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le' sung by Suresh Wadkar. Whole Movie Apart Side & Railway Station Scene Whole movie. Verdict: Cult Classic. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/11/25 Full Review Audience Member Very few big-screen Indian movies have such smart, touching and almost perfect endings. Kamal Hassan and Sridevi are as usual fantastic and the movie moves along quite well-paced. The writing of the dialogues is refreshingly not entirely cliched and explanatory with the plot jumps quite apt. A great watch for sure. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member The acting is outstanding, very good and touchy movie! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member No wonder that I love sridevi. What an amazing, talented actress. I feel proud that i was able to find and watch such brilliant classic. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member recently saw the movieâ¦developed a crush on itâ¦stll in daze over itâ¦.the movie is a master piece!â¦â¦. i jusssssss sooooooo fell in love with â~somuâ(TM)â¦â¦. kamal hassan has such seductive voiceâ¦â¦ the movie is so far one of the best i have seenâ¦..the endingâ¦.which i hve seen earlier too at different occassions [ never the whole film tll last week] gave me goos bumps even thinking abt itâ¦â¦i soo desperately wnted to see wht happens in their lives next. asequel shud hve been madeâ¦god! jus wnt to enter tht era and that world! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Rating: 3.3/5. Kamal Hassan makes this film! He turns a simple character into something extraordinary with his supreme acting skills! The film also has a terrific ending. But, a great director would have made it into a masterpiece. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Sadma

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW