This is actually the second Bollywood film to be based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story "White Nights". The story was set in St. Petersburg, where, in mid-summer, it's never really night; this film is set in some fantasy Indian city (created in the studio but resembling Venice) where it seems it's never anything but night. Saawariya looks and feels a bit like what Moulin Rouge would have been like if Baz Luhrmann had been more fond of the colour blue, ; and hadn't had a deathly fear of holding a shot for more than three quarters of a second.

The story consists of a four-link chain of unrequited love. The narrator, Gulabji (Mukherjee), a kind-hearted prostitute, is in love with Raj (Ranbir Kapoor), a charming recent arrival to her part of town. Raj in turn falls in love with the mysterious and elusive Sakina (Sonam Kapoor). Sakina spends every night waiting on the bridge for the (doubtful) return of the man she's in love with. He'll be back soon ((ndash)) if at all.

One of the main things that draws people to Bollywood, at least initially, is goofiness ((ndash)) and for better or worse, that's an element that's entirely missing here: the teary-eyed, straight-for-the throat melodrama, and the almost ridiculously beautiful costume design and art direction, are all that remain. But isn't that enough?