CAST & CREW
| Produced By | R. Venkataraman |
| Directed By | K. Balachander |
| Music By | Laxmikant - Pyarelal |
| Starring | |
| Kamal Hasan | Anita Raj |
| Karan Razdaan | Arjun Chakraborty |
| Mazhar Khan | Dr. Sriram Lagoo |
Click HERE for a complete listing of Cast & Crew
PLOT SUMMARY
Zara Si Zindagi is the remake of Balachander's Tamil hit Varumayin Niram Sivappu which had Kamal Hasan and Sridevi in the lead roles. Kamal Hasan plays the role of an unemployed graduate living in Delhi with his two room mates (Karan Razdan and Arjun Chakraborty). He falls in love with a struggling theater actress, Kusum (played by Anita Raj) who is also leading a life of difficulties having to take care of an ailing grandmother and an alcoholic father (played by Nilu Phule).
The movie is a flowing account of the various hardships the characters go through and presents a grim view of the urban unemployment of the decade of 80s.
MY TAKE
I had become a fan of this film ever since I saw it for the first time on cable television. Set in a simplistic backdrop of Delhi of the early 80s, this film captivates with its subtle situations and brilliant performances.
I guess the greatest strength of this movie is its story telling. There is an undertone of grave sarcasm in the portrayal of the unemployed men and at the socio-economic and the political scenario of the nation. I, in particular like the scene where the three men have a fake lunch and make a lot of noise and the shot towards the end where Kamal Hasan picks up an apple from the dustbin and bites into it. Even in the shots where you just have the three friends sitting, there is one thing or the other in the backdrop that makes you smile at the sarcastic note in the situation.
If Kamal Hasan delivers with visible exultant power, Anita Raj flows throughout as a gentle stream binding the entire film. I don’t think she has looked as pretty in any of her other films that I have come across. She excels with her subtle beauty and does well in her scenes to reach out with conviction.
Karan Raazdan, Mr. S, Nilu Phule and Dr. Sreeram Lagoo render the necessary support to the overall frame of the film and do well in their screen space.
MUSIC
The music is by the duo Laxmikant -Pyarelal who were probably the best in trade at the time when the film was shot. However, apart from the song ‘Zamaane se kuch log darte nahi’ the music is largely disappointing. The other song ‘School se college..’ shot on locations in Delhi gives you a glimpse of the city 3 decades ago and is enjoyable to look at but not really something you can hum later. Overall, just an average music plate.
Catch the song here:
OVERALL
Overall a 4 out of 5 attempt, the film excels on its simplistic story line and is a must watch if you are a Kamal Hasan fan.
PS: The movie is available on YouTube, in case you wish to watch it. You can buy a copy at Moserbaer’s website as well.
Naseeruddin Shah easily essays the character of a fun loving, full of life, jovial and fair sportsman (typical character sketch of someone who is supposed to die half way in any Hindi movie). At times, you tend to feel that he is straining himself or acting out of his mould and overdoing things a bit, but such is his acting prowess that even in sequences where he makes a fool out of himself, he tends to convince you otherwise. 
Vikram’s previous claim to fame was his role in movie ‘Julie’. He perhaps wanted to reinvent himself with this particular attempt and went onto produce this film, maybe with a view to make a mark for himself as an actor all over again. His character actually appears a little over the top and a little hard to believe. Overall, he still does well and is not totally lost in the scheme of things. 
Sulbha Deshpande on the other hand acts in her comfort zone and does well in her limited screen space. Keith Stevenson is better known for his role as the villain in Amitabh starrer ‘Akela’ and the Sheikh in the TV series ‘Zabaan Sambhaal Ke’. Though his role kind of moves the film along, his performance is just about average.
This movie had the right ingredients (Naseer, Smita Patil, Gulzar, Jagjit Singh) but I guess an average recipe. The result – individual flavors stand out in the dish. There are capable situations and potent sequences in the film that had the potential to move and entice the audience but the fuel burns out before the moment arrives. 
Sparsh (Devnagari: स्पर्श, Touch) is a 1980 Bollywood feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye starring 
Years later I wrote my first play for a school performance loosely based around the character played by Naseeruddin Shah. The play was stalled due to some reasons but I could never completely forget the movie. Sai Paranjpe is better known for her lighter movies like 'Katha' but she teams up with Basu Bhattacharya here (who is again known for movies around mature subjects around matrimony mainly - Avishkar, Aastha and Griha Pravesh to name a few) to render a tail that touches your soul and makes you feel for people who are denied the gift of vision like no other movie ever previously did. 
The movie was largely shot in a blind school in Delhi and most of the children who acted in the movie were actually visually impaired. This not only adds to the realism of the movie but renders it that earthy and genuine feeling which makes you wanting to reach out to every single kid in the movie. 
Naseeruddin Shah is an acting institute in himself. He delivers with a conviction which surpasses and sits high over his other performances till date. The beauty with which he underplays his character and strives to keep his dignity and self reliance intact and is a complex emotion to understand and depict on screen. 
Personally I find the scene where he gets furious on the waiter in the restaurant when the bill is presented to Shabana Azmi, depicted exceedingly well. While Naseeruddin Shah portrays the dignity of a visually impaired person striving to find his way in the world, Shabana Azmi plays the widow who finds her solace in working for the blind school and is struggling to adjust to their 'different' world. 
There is a scene where she stands in the classroom and asks the students to introduce themselves. She begins by saying “Yahan se shuru karte hain” and points to a child forgetting that she is in a blind school and the words 'here' and 'there' have little meaning. The entire sequence is simple yet very powerful and moving.
Om Puri is hardly recognizable in his lean young version as compared to when you see him today. There isn’t much there in the script for him and he renders in a brief supporting role as another fellow visually impaired friend of Anirudh. 
I always believed Mohan Gokhale could have gone on to play bigger meatier parts. It is sad that his talent was largely wasted in side roles in most of his movies. Probably one would remember a tele serial called 'Mr. Yogi' as one of his main works which was aired during early years of Doordarshan.