Safar (film)

Plot

Movie starts with the desperate attempt of surgeon Dr.Neela (Sharmila Tagore) to save a patient, who she knew wasn't going to survive. She works under the guidance of Dr. Chandra (Ashok Kumar) who tells her that however hard doctors might try, sometimes a patient wouldn't survive. The story drifts into flashback. Neela meets Avinash (Rajesh Khanna) at medical college and after an initial misunderstanding, grows close to him. Avinash is a poor guy who works while attending medical college. He paints too and Neela finds out that most of his paintings are of her. Though he admires Neela very much, he never talks about love or marriage. Everyone thinks that it's because of his financial status, but it is later revealed that he has terminal cancer.

Neela, due to financial troubles, starts working as a tutor where she meets her student's elder brother, businessman Shekhar Kapoor (Feroz Khan). Shekhar admires her and later meets his elder brother Kalidas (I. S. Johar) to ask her hand in marriage. Kalidas redirects him to Avinash saying that Neela would listen to him. Shekhar meets Avinash who approves of him and recommends him to Neela. Neela understands that Avinash has no intention to marry her, so she agrees to marry Shekhar. They spend some time happily but Shekhar always feels Neela wouldn't love him as much as he loves her. Facing losses in business, he expects Neela's empathy but gets none.

Moreover, Neela regularly visits her brother's house where Avinash was a frequent visitor. Shekhar slowly grows suspicious of Neela and Avinash and asks his younger brother to spy on her. Later he finds a love letter, written by Avinash in the handwriting of Neela just for fun. Shekhar thinks that Neela has written that and becomes devastated. He wants to free her from him and commits suicide. Police suspects that Neela and Avinash killed him and arrests Neela as Avinash disappears.

At the trial, Shekhar's mother Mrs Kapoor (Nadira) testifies in favour of Neela and the court acquits her. Later it is revealed that Avinash left to get away from their marital lives not knowing that Shekhar had committed suicide. Later he comes back in the final stage of his disease and dies in Dr Chandra's hospital. Heart-broken and devastated, Neela wouldn't want to live anymore but Dr.Chandra consoles and takes her under his wing to make her a great surgeon like him. The film ends with Neela sending her brother-in-law abroad for studies and dedicating her life to medical profession.

Cast

Supported by Mahesh Kumar, Brahmchari, Iftikar, Birbal, Master Sachin, Jagdish Raj, Ratan Gaurang, Parsuram, Narbada Shanker, Avtar Singh & Oscar.

Crew

Reception and awards

Safar became the tenth highest-grossing film of the year in India. In a retrospective review, Rediff.com wrote, "Safar is a story of ordinary people grappling with staggering challenges and compromises. But in this refreshingly non-melodramatic fare, a murmur of protest, an escaped sob and a half-concealed smirk are the only emotional luxuries its characters afford themselves in the inexplicable journey of life, the eponymous safar of the title."

Safar received two nominations at the annual Filmfare Awards and won one award. Asit Sen received his first Best Director award (he was previously nominated in this category for Mamta in 1967), though the film was not nominated for the Best Film award. Sharmila Tagore received her second Best Actress nomination (she won the previous year for Aradhana). Awards and nominations are listed below:

The Bengal Film Journalists' Association acknowledged Safar as the eighth best Indian film of 1970, and gave it three more awards:

Music

The soundtrack of the film contains 5 songs. The music is composed by Kalyanji Anandji, with lyrics authored by Indeevar.