Samaantar

2023-06-30T13:31:28Z

2409:4040:D81:EE81:0:0:2948:D20E: /* Plot */

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2011}}
{{Infobox film
|name = Samaantar
|image =
|border =
|caption =
|director = [[Amol Palekar]]
|writer = Sandhya Gokhale
|starring = [[Amol Palekar]] [[Sharmila Tagore]] Radhika Apte [[Sameer Dharmadhikari]] Kishore Kadam
|music = [[Anand Modak]]
|cinematography = Asim Bose
|editing = Abhijit Deshpande
|studio = [[Reliance Entertainment|BIG Pictures]]
|distributor = BIG Pictures
|released = 4 September 2009 ([[Maharashtra]])
|runtime = 105 minutes
|country = [[India]]
|language = [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
|budget =
|gross =
}}
'''''Samaantar''''' (translation: ''Parallel'') is a [[List of Marathi films of 2009|2009]] Indian [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-language parallel film written by Sandhya Gokhale and directed by [[Amol Palekar]]. Released in [[Maharashtra]] on 4 September 2009, the film stars [[Amol Palekar]] and [[Sharmila Tagore]] (in her debut in [[Marathi cinema]]) in lead roles and Radhika Apte, [[Sameer Dharmadhikari]] and Kishore Kadam in supporting roles. Palekar's previous film in the dual role of actor and director was ''[[Ankahee (1985 film)|Ankahee]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite news |title=A challenging role |url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article10109.ece|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=27 August 2009|accessdate=3 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Amol won't play Salman's dad!|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-28/news-interviews/28188036_1_salman-khan-dual-role-scripts|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707013242/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-28/news-interviews/28188036_1_salman-khan-dual-role-scripts|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|date=28 August 2009|work=[[The Times of India]]|accessdate=6 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Indian cinema not just about Bollywood: Amol Palekar|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/zee-exclusive/indian-cinema-not-just-about-bollywood-amol-palekar_560835.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208084949/http://zeenews.india.com/news/zee-exclusive/indian-cinema-not-just-about-bollywood-amol-palekar_560835.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 February 2013|publisher=ZEE News|date=5 September 2009|accessdate=6 February 2012}} </ref>

==Plot==
''Samaantar'' talks about a simple lost-and-found tale of a man and a woman, but in an artistic manner. Keshav Vaze ([[Amol Palekar]]) is an eminent businessman in [[Pune]], who started his life struggle from a small village and is now the owner of his large industrial empire. His business kept on growing larger and larger, making his day stacked with board meetings, conventions and tours. Keshav became a dear public figure surrounded by many people, but the days ended in the cluttered darkness of his own melancholy as years after years, Keshav has hidden his mysterious grief within himself. As a youngster, Keshav was a mute witness to the major tragedy of a massive earthquake at his village with the deaths of his parents and siblings, and took up the responsibility to support his brother's children, sacrificing his own life. On his 60th birthday, Keshav decides to find serenity for himself and expresses his desire to retire from business when he feels that as a guardian of his late brother's children, he has reached a stage to retire from his life too and shockingly takes the major decision of ending his life in the name of voluntary death.

The film unfolds the mystery behind his decision of calling for early declaration from life when Keshav visits [[Kolkata]] with his two psychiatrist accquaintances, Dr. Paritosh ([[Sameer Dharmadhikari]]) and Dr. Nikumbh (Kishore Kadam), on an invitation from a medical foundation, where he has donated a huge sum for the construction of a hospital. While there, a slice of Keshav's frozen past accidentally gets scratched by the sudden and unexpected glimpse of his long-lost college sweetheart, Shama ([[Sharmila Tagore]]), who was once the anchor of his existence. Her mesmerizing beauty, poise and silence personify his vacuum of last 40 years. Shama is living like a patient still under trauma as a sculptor, who hardly ever speaks to anyone and is a recluse immersed in [[violin]] and pottery. Moreover, it also turns out that she is the single mother of Paritosh and that Keshav is his biological father.

The film does not bring out the past relationship between the two in their first meeting after years, but unfolds the same in the very next meeting, when Keshav's adopted daughter, Reva (Radhika Apte), brings him back to Kolkata for a change after noticing his withdrawal symptoms from the family members. Keshav strives to learn more about Shama and realises the mockery of their fate as both had drifted apart walking their separate paths, sharing their loneliness. Both Keshav and Shama are eventually drawn to one another once again, and the suggestion is that while love can cause the gravest injury to the heart, it is perhaps the only emotion that comes with a curative power. Refreshingly, no one around Keshav or Shama, including Reva, Paritosh or Nikumbh, raise an eyebrow when their attachment for each other becomes obvious and there is a tacit understanding they demonstrate. Why did Keshav and Shama choose to live the way they did? What was the motivation behind their present? Do they find their lost love? ''Samaantar'' reveals lost traces of parallel folds!

== Cast ==
* [[Amol Palekar]] as Keshav Vaze
* [[Sharmila Tagore]] as Shama
* Radhika Apte as Reva Vaze (Keshav's adopted daughter)
* [[Sameer Dharmadhikari]] as Dr. Paritosh (Keshav's biological son)
* Kishore Kadam as as Dr. Nikumbh (Keshav's psychiatrist accquaintance)
* Aishwarya Narkar as Nira Vaze (Keshav's niece)
* [[Makarand Deshpande]] as Makarand (Nira's estranged husband)
* [[Haidar Ali (actor)|Haider Ali]] as Dilip Saxena (Keshav's college friend)
* [[Vandana Gupte]] as Jyotsna Saxena (Dilip's wife)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|1560171}}

{{Amol Palekar}}

[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:2000s Marathi-language films]]
[[Category:2009 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Amol Palekar]]

{{2000s-Marathi-film-stub}}

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Samaantar