Sooryavansham
Sooryavansham is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana. It stars Amitabh Bachchan in dual roles, with Soundarya, Jayasudha, Rachna Banerjee, Anupam Kher and Kader Khan. The film is a remake of the 1997 Tamil-language film Surya Vamsam, and revolves around a traditional father and his illiterate yet obedient son, following their tense relationship and shows how the strict patriarchy causes a drift between them.
Made on a budget of, principal photography took place in and around various locations in India such as Hyderabad, Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as Sri Lanka. S. Gopal Reddy acted as the cinematographer, while Gautham Raju edited the film. Koti composed the film score while Anu Malik composed the film's songs, with lyrics penned by Sameer.
The film was opened to positive reviews towards the performance of Bachchan but ended up being a box-office bomb, grossing only. However, over the years, it has gathered cult following among the Indian diaspora, and has been telecasted frequently on the television channel Sony Max.
Plot
The Sooryavansham family head, Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, is the respected sarpanch of the village of Bharatpur. He has rendered yeoman service not only to the people of Bharatpur but also to those of eighteen neighboring villages. He lives in a mansion with his wife Sharda and his three sons, Karan, Varun, and Heera. Heera, the youngest, is illiterate and therefore treated like a servant. Disliked by Bhanupratap, he is excluded from family matters and confined to menial tasks. Despite this treatment, Heera loves his father unconditionally and finds affection only fro ultimatum: either marry Radha or regain his father’s respect. Encouraged by Mindra, Heera chooses Radha. On the wedding day, he elopes with her, angering Bhanupratap, who disowns him.Heera and Radha settle in Mindra’s house on the village outskirts. Heera works as a labourer in a transport company before starting his own transport business with money borrowed from Radha’s uncle, Ranjeet. Naming the company after his father, in time, Heera becomes wealthy and respected. At the same time, Radha clears the UPSC examination and becomes an IAS officer. The couple has a son, named after Heera’s father, and nicknamed him Sonu. Bhanupratap, however, continues to hate Heera despite his rise in status.
Production
Before working in Hindi language films, Soundarya had acted in a total of 65 South Indian films. Her brother Amarnath, who managed her career, stated that she always performed decorous roles and same would be the case in Bollywood. Soundarya said that she was excited when a role in the film was offered to her and to have got an opportunity to co-star with Amitabh Bachchan. Having studied Sanskrit, the actress added, she was quite comfortable with Hindi, and could read and write it. She also asked the viewers to be optimistic about the film, although the actress was a bit dubious about her role.Film's mahurat ceremony was attended by a number of celebrities from the Telugu cinema, including Nagarjuna and Venkatesh Daggubati. Rekha lent her voice for actresses Jayasudha and Soundarya.
Soundtrack
The film score was composed by Koti while the songs were composed by Anu Malik. The tunes of all the songs of the film are different from those of their Tamil counterparts, except one- "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai". The songs were written by Sameer. The voices are of Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, Chithra, Jaspinder Narula, Amitabh Bachchan, and Anuradha Paudwal. The song "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai" is portrayed in different tones – once in happy note and twice with forlorn touch. All the songs aptly relate the story through various phases.Sooryavansham
| # | Title | Singer |
| 1. | "Chori Se Chori Se" | Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Nigam, Jaspinder Narula |
| 2. | "Peepal Ke Patwa" | Sonu Nigam, Jaspinder Narula |
| 3. | "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai" | Kumar Sanu |
| 4. | "Sooryavansham" | Sonu Nigam |
| 5. | "Kore Kore Sapne" | Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal |
| 6. | "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai" | Kumar Sanu |
| 7. | "Har Subah" | Kumar Sanu, K. S. Chithra |
| 8. | "Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai" | K. S. Chithra |