'Satyakam' can be described as a different Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. Set during the end of the British Invasion of India, it tells the story of Satyapriya Acharya, a simple yet idealistic young man who follows by the strict moral to always tell the truth, no matter what. He doesn't believe that honesty is best policy because it shouldn't be a policy but a duty. However, in a world of corruption, where progress relies on lies, there seems to be no place for someone like Satyapriya and this even takes a toll on his relationship with his wife and best friend.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's strength has always been to tell stories of the common man with sincerity. His characters are portrayed as humans. Even an idealist like Satyapriya is shown as a flawed human being when, at a moment of weakness, he doesn't rescue Ranjana from being raped or when he's unable to consummate his marriage with his wife because of the trauma.
There aren't many songs but the few they have are beautiful. The background score works well too. It only gets melodramatic towards the end. The editing is quite good. The dialogues are well written. There's only one sequence that I found a bit out of place. The scene where Ranjana's sleazy uncle, who knowingly sent her off to the businessman that rapes her, all of a sudden is willing to sacrifice all for his niece, when Satyapriya proposes marriage.
Dharmendra is at his best. This is easily one of his finest performances. Ditto for a spellbinding Sharmila Tagore. Sanjeev Kumar is no stranger to great performances and he easily turns in a natural performance.
'Satyakam' is yet another winner from Hrishikesh Mukherjee. In a world built on lies, truth has its costs but in the end it always prevails.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's strength has always been to tell stories of the common man with sincerity. His characters are portrayed as humans. Even an idealist like Satyapriya is shown as a flawed human being when, at a moment of weakness, he doesn't rescue Ranjana from being raped or when he's unable to consummate his marriage with his wife because of the trauma.
There aren't many songs but the few they have are beautiful. The background score works well too. It only gets melodramatic towards the end. The editing is quite good. The dialogues are well written. There's only one sequence that I found a bit out of place. The scene where Ranjana's sleazy uncle, who knowingly sent her off to the businessman that rapes her, all of a sudden is willing to sacrifice all for his niece, when Satyapriya proposes marriage.
Dharmendra is at his best. This is easily one of his finest performances. Ditto for a spellbinding Sharmila Tagore. Sanjeev Kumar is no stranger to great performances and he easily turns in a natural performance.
'Satyakam' is yet another winner from Hrishikesh Mukherjee. In a world built on lies, truth has its costs but in the end it always prevails.