It’s been a while since I sat at home and watched an entire film in one seating. Life always catches up when it’s racing against you and somehow, always wins. So every once in a while, you have to pace faster to catch up with life and find some breathing space. Which I did, last weekend.

It’s been a harsh and hot month in Mumbai and one can quite literally feel the city burn up. Whoever is standing in the kitchen and cooking two fresh meals a day, I salute them. They’re superwomen. But mind you, I’m not one. So I am definitely looking for a cheat sheet for weekend meals.

This Sunday lunch was a mishmash of recipes from all the women that have influenced my life. Varan-Bhaat like my Mom makes and mixes. She’d say “me chhaan kalavun dete tula, bharpur toop ghaalun”. Apologies but no English translation lives up to the emotion that line has. If you’ve heard it, you know it. My Mother in law’s and my husband’s Atya’s “batatyache kaap”, which is basically a vegetarian version of a rawa fish fry. Who wouldn’t love that? And, to top it all up, Malai ice cream from Naturals with fresh cut mangoes, a delicious scoop of joy that my best friend introduced me to. I always called her a mango maniac because she pretty much behaved like one, still does.

I don’t think my husband particularly enjoys any of these dishes fully but I am clearly the woman that’s influenced him because he pretty much wiped all the food up by the end.

I was on a call with my Mom, complaining about my dry and frizzy hair when she mentioned that growing up they’d watched Dimple Kapadia mention that she used eggs to condition her hair and that it’s the best hair care trick. That I should watch the movie “Sagar” to just see her beautiful hair! I was proud of my mom. To watch a whole film to just see an actor’s hair gloriously sway to the wind, that’s serious commitment to fashion!

“Sagar” was available on Prime Video so we just played it while having our lunch. Husband – fully reluctant. But as my readers know the drill now. Slowly, slyly, he gets sucked into the Bollywood-ness of it all! And that pretty much happened, again.

The story is simple. Mona (Dimple Kapadia) and Raja (Kamal Hassan) are residents of Goa. While Mona runs a family restaurant, Raja works in something related to the sea and fish. Very unclear. Both Mona and Raja are best friends but as the saying goes – “ek ladka aur ek ladki kabhi dost nahi bann sakte”. Raja naturally falls for Mona. Enters Ravi (Rishi Kapoor), who belongs to a wealthy industrialist family. His grandmother is running the family business in Goa and wants Ravi to take over and therefore asks him to return to Goa from the USA.

As soon as Ravi begins to explore Goa, he sees Mona at a beach and instantly falls in love. I’d laugh if this were any other film but just look that the woman. The gorgeous hair, beautiful face, even I’d fall in love with her. Within no time, Mona too falls in love with Ravi but continues to hang out with Raja as a friend, unaware of his secret love for her.

As Mona and Ravi get closer, the Grandmother gets a whiff of this and of course opposes the relationship. Because “kya yeh ladki humare sanskar samajh payegi?”. When things turn ugly, and Mona’s life is at risk because of a sly move planned by the grandmother, Raja the friend saves Mona and Ravi. In the struggle to save Mona, Raja dies. As all love triangles go, we know that one of them has to die. Nothing surprising there. Remember Kuch Kuch Hota hai?

There’s not much to hold on to in terms of the story of the film but it has 1980s vibe written all over it. The three actors are dressed exactly to look the part and the Goan village setting is extremely cute. The supporting actors are more experienced and famous than the leads and really create the right atmosphere for the film to seem authentic and rooted in Goa.

Can’t say much about Rishi Kapoor’s and Dimple Kapadia’s acting but Kamal Hassan is pure joy to watch on screen. He plays his character with such an innocence that you’d want to go hug him and be friends with him. I think some actors are just highly watchable on screen and Kamal Hassan is one such.

Several years back Hindi cinema would give us hit music albums. Not one song, an entire album. And boy this one just cracks that code! Sagar Kinare, Chehra hai ya Chaand khila hai, Oh Maria, Sach mere Yaar Hai, Jaane do Naa. Yes, that’s an entire album. I was in utter shock because I had no idea that all these songs belonged to one film. I was humming and singing from the beginning until the end. The ice cream and sliced mangoes had to unfortunately wait.

Watch this one for the songs, for Kamal Hassan and just the vibe. You’d not be disappointed. Tell me which song stayed on your mind after watching the film. It was “Sach mere yaar hai” for me!

-Aishwarya Bedekar