Khamoshi was heart-tugging. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was classic romanticism. Black was soul-stirring. Saawariya is visually overpowering. This is a film meant purely for viewers who find cinema a synonym for aesthete. The allegorical settings and Dostovyskian love fable may not find favor with the common people . But for the cineaste, the film is a lyrical odyssey that works at the level of a fable.<br /><br />The star-crossed romance between a young rock star who lands up in an enchanted town and a mysterious girl unfolds through four dark nights where love, passion interplay with heartbreak, jealousy and longing. Raj, the bar singer leaves his music for a chador-clad girl he spies one silken night, standing in solitary splendor on a smoky bridge.<br /><br />He tries to befriend her and finds himself irresistibly drawn towards towards Sakina, the raven-tressed maiden who disappears in the haveli with a tantalizing smile and a sad story about a lost lover (Salman Khan).<br /><br />Time for Raj to tug at his broken-heart with Gulabji, the golden-hearted prostitute (Rani) playing friend and philosopher in his grief. Add to this Zora Sehgal as the delightful landlady who sees her lost son in her cherubic tenant and you have a colorful canvas of human relationships, all bound by sadness. There's another classic cameo by Begum Para who binds her granddaughter Sakina to herself, with a safety-pin whenever she sleeps and watches Mughal-e-Azam even though she's almost blind. You wish there was more of her in mist-laden narrative.<br /><br />Sure, Ranbir is the hero of the film. And quite a winsome one too. The boy can dance, emote and win your heart, the Rishi Kapoor way. The boy has bright future with the girls already wowing his butt-flashing towel drop. And Sonam's adequate too, albeit too giggly and giddy..better than Deepika Padukone at least!! But the real winner in this romantic fable is the artistry of set and backdrop and the influence of Raj Kapoor which keeps recurring as the couple relentlessly seeks shelter under a black umbrella in rain and snow (remember Sree 420 ).<br /><br />After hearing the bad comments of this film ,Ihave started hating the critics.