| Director | Sai Paranjpye |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, romance film |
| Country | India |
Saaz is a drama that revolves around the lives of two sisters, Mansi and Bansi—daughters of the great singer and theater artist Vrindavan. Born with extraordinary musical talents, the sisters face challenges and complexities rooted in familial ties, ambition, and personal struggle. The story begins with the tragic death of Vrindavan because of alcoholism that had left Mansi and Bansi orphaned. The elder sister, Mansi, moves to Mumbai with Bansi and becomes a very popular professional singer. Mansi's path to fame is contrasted with Bansi, who can only house sit for a while. Soon enough, however, Bansi finds out that she also has an excellent singing voice and wants to join her sister in the world of music. Jealous at this prospect, Mansi tries to destroy Bansi's aspirations by setting her up to marry a violent man.
Bansi's marriage turns out to be a curse, as her husband then starts physically and mentally abusing her. Even after Bansi became pregnant, Mansi tried to patch things up, but the marriage remained toxic. Mansi was worried for her niece Kuhu's safety, and thus she made Bansi divorce him. Mansi falls in love with a married music director called Indruneil. Things further complicate when Indruneil recognises Bansi's talent and offers her an opportunity to sing with Mansi, and out of jealousy, Mansi makes Bansi a background singer during the main recording.
So, fixated on succeeding independently, Bansi approaches Indruneil, who introduces her to a platform where she can project her voice. Bansi charms the audience with her voice, and soon enough, she overtook Mansi in popularity. The fierce rivalry further increases between the two sisters to the extent that Mansi does not give a second thought to snatching opportunities from Bansi, including a national, sadly prestigious performance. With time, Indruneil's career goes downhill. He stays with Bansi in a live-in relationship. However, Bansi is shattered when Indruneil decides to quit the music world.
The lead distance between the sisters draws on for ten long years. Years later, they meet in a felicitation function organised in the same theatre their father performed in. In her performance, Mansi's voice yields as she is suffering from blood cancer at a terminal stage. Before Mansi's death, she repents herself and feels guilty for her action against her sister Bansi.
Now, the plot is centered on Kuhu, who faces problems on her way to "get in the groove" as a singer. A new music director, Himaan Desai, enters their lives. While Kuhu idolises and loves Himaan, he feels his emotions for Bansi. This saddens Kuhu and makes her feel betrayed. Bansi, too, feels drawn towards Himaan, yet she breaks it off for the sake of Kuhu. Unfortunately, Himaan dies in a car accident, which Bansi happens to witness.
The events of the film come as flashbacks as Bansi tells her experiences with her psychiatrist, Dr. Ranjeet. Traumatised after Himaan's death, Bansi lost her voice and promised herself she would never sing again. With the help of a psychiatrist, Bansi slowly regained her confidence. During one of her foreign trips with Kuhu, there is an announcement declaring Kuhu a winner of a major award, which rekindled Bansi's interest in singing again. At the function organised to felicitate Kuhu's outstanding success, Bansi sang the song originally sung by her father and announced her return to singing.
The film ends with Bansi sending a recording of her performance to her psychiatrist and informing him that she has regained her confidence. Delighted, the psychiatrist meets Bansi at the airport, congratulates her, and proposes building a friendship beyond the doctor-patient relationship. Bansi smiles and agrees, and they leave together.