Jio Studios and Stage5 Production’s Saali Mohabbat is the story of a lady who has had a terrible past and is now leading a new life.
Kavita (Radhika Apte) is celebrating husband Vicky’s (Aalekh Kapoor) birthday. On that day itself, she realises that Vicky is in a relationship with another woman, Malini (Lekha Prajapati). Kavita narrates the story of Smita (Radhika Apte before she adopted the name Kavita) to all her guests.
Smita used to live with her husband, Pankaj Tiwari (Anshuman Pushkar), in a village of Uttarakahand. Pankaj had lost lakhs of rupees in gambling. He owed Rs. 27.55 lakh to club owner Gajendra (Anurag Kashyap) and had promised to settle the account after selling a plot of land he owned in Moradabad. To his bad luck, the land stood in Smita’s name.
Smita’s cousin, Shalini (Sauranshi Maitra), comes to stay with Smita and Pankaj. She soon starts having an affair with Pankaj as well as the village police inspector, Ratan Pandit (Divyendu). Smita gets to know about her husband’s affair but she remains silent. Rather, she masterminds a sinister plan because of which Shalini and Pankaj are murdered. What happens thereafter?
Tisca Chopra and Sanjay Chopra have written a story which appears quite convoluted. The duo’s screenplay, with additional screenplay by Namrata Shenoy, is interesting in parts only. The viewers wonder how Smita can be so unlucky as to get philandering husbands both the times. Even otherwise, the drama seems like it has been constructed to create turns and twists. In other words, the screenplay does not seem like a seamless drama. Tisca Chopra and Avneesh Mishra’s dialogues are quite alright.
Radhika Apte does a lovely job as Smita and Kavita. Anshuman Pushkar is okay as Pankaj Tiwari. Divyendu is effective as police officer Ratan Pandit. Sauranshi Maitra lends fair support as Shalini. Anurag Kashyap leaves a mark as club owner Gajendra. Aalekh Kapoor is average as Vicky. Lekha Prajapati (as Malini), Yash Sinha (as Chandan), Kusha Kapila (as Chandan’s sister, Diya), Babita Anand (as Ratan Pandit’s mother), Debashish Naha (as Ratan Pandit’s father) and Sharat Saxena (as a gardener) provide decent support.
Tisca Chopra’s direction is alright but she has not been able to make a compelling film. Music (by Manan Bhardwaj, Anand Bhaskar, Vishal Shah, Sangeet Patil, Gaurav Dagaonkar and Kumar Atul) is okay. Lyrics (Manan Bhardwaj, Ginny Diwan, Abhimanyu Jha, Vishal Shah and Sangeet Patil) are so-so. Adil Shaikh’s choreography passes muster. Karan Kulkarni’s background music should’ve been more impactful. Vidushi Tiwari’s cinematography is ordinary. Rakesh Yadav’s production designing is average. Sanyukta Kaza’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Saali Mohabbat is an ordinary fare.
Released on 12-12-’25 on Zee5.