Its a movie review that I log ten years after the movie was released. It was year 2000 when this movie was released and I was then living in the US. I remember being all excited about the much hyped up movie. The glitzy star cast was making it even more juicy.
We made reservations and undertook a 160 mile journey to New Jersey from Connecticut just to watch the movie. When the credits rolled at the end of the movie, I was left with a sense of emptiness. I had no reactions to the movie. I realized that I did not entirely grasp the inner workings of Saket Ram, the protagonist.
I told myself, "Ha it is your problem, you cannot understand Hindi well and the movie used many languages as well scenes seamlessly jumping from Hindi to english to tamil, Bengali and Marathi at times"
I ended up watching the film twice more, once in tamil and again in VHS with sub titles. Well, i was astounded and shocked that I still could not grasp it. Upon checking with some good friends, I realized I wasn't the only one.. Phew! I was almost convinced that I had lost a bit of my neural cabbage that sits between my ears.
Fast forward Ten years. Year 2010. By now I have read India after Gandhi, by Ramachandra Guha and am half way into 'A Bend in the Ganges. a novel by Manohar Malgaonkar' and many other art films and serious films later, I believed that I should try watching this movie again and I did thanks to a friend who lent me his video.
Boy, I loved the film now. I would perhaps rate this second only to Anbe Sivam which ranks as the best ever Indian film I've watched.
I will not bother giving the complete story here, but rather would like to appreciate the many aspects of the film. Kamalahassan has a death grip on the screenplay. Frame after frame, characters come to life and their many layered nature comes to the fore.
Like all Kamal's films, this one also has Kamal all the way. He performs and performs like a veteran. From the ever vacillating Saket Ram, the average joe who wants to break away from the traditional Tam Brahm life to the raging lunatic who wants to do anything to avenge his Aparna to the mature husband who embraces the young and timid Mythili. Kamal is completely in his element through and through. It is gut wrenching watching him walk senselessly through the rooms of his Calcutta residence trying to come to grips with reality of Aparna's murder. Limping and walking aimlessly room after room while Thiru's awesome camera perched outside the balcony helps the viewer watch him go from room after room, limping with a hurt leg.
The eye for detail is astounding through the movie. For instance, in a scene where Kamal is driving through Calcutta as he returns home to Aparna, he is surrounded by mobs who throw tomatoes at his car and he manages to drive through. Later in a different scene, when the car drives up the porch of his home, one can see dried tomato stains on the window glass. Its a small thing, but it shows that the unit cared for this detail.
Another instance where Kamal is led through a hospital by a doctor who shows the damage the violence has caused to the society, Kamal sees a small girl with her feet amputated. She cries and she cries 'Ammii.. Ammii.. ' you almost feel the pain and she cries like a child who has cried long and hard and cannot stop herself. This, again is a small detail, but it is astounding that Kamal thought it fit to give attention to the way the child cried. Amazing!
Again, the star studded cast provide a terrific punch to all the supporting cast through the movie. With the exception of the legendary Hema Malini (who for a dancer still cannot emote!), the entire cast of Saket Ram's tam brahm household pack a punch and is utterly realistic in the language, behaviour and extremely witty in a way only a Tam Brahm household can be. This family single handedly provide a comic relief to what otherwise would have been an extremely serious movie. Kamal and his casting director needs a standing ovation just for this.
Kamal's prowess in weaving his characters also need a standing ovation. If Aparna was a temperamental, sensual, fiercely independent within the house and yet afraid of the society, Mythili is a study in contrast. The well read, strong minded and yet an obedient girl who will not dare counter her elder's words. Vasundhra shines thanks to the weighty script and dialouges seamlessly jumping between the many shades of Mythili. One moment a timid wife, the next, a strong and opinionated Gandhian who will not be coerced into accepting what her husband believes to be the bane of the country and the next, a young adolescent. who asks her husband of sometime, "Can I hug you?". You also feel sorry for her innocence in waiting to be accepted by Ram as his wife even after they are married.
Atul Kulkarni's, Abhyankar is a strong willed and hard minded Hindutva who will not hesitate to cleanse the nation of its muslim stains as he puts it. At the same time, Shah Rukh's excellent Ahmad Khan espouses Gandhian ideology like a level headed Muslim. In the midst of stereotype Muslim terrorists, Ahmad Khan's mussalman is a kind who often do not get enough screen space in Indian cinema. . Kudos to Kamal for doing something different. However, Shah Rukh Khan's acting ten years back was nothing to write home about. He has scaled many heights since then in the last decade, but somehow his Ahmad Khan does not strike a chord with me. Ahmad Khan's Nafisa from Ambur, however leaves a punch even if she got only 2 minutes of dialogues in the entire film. During the final stages of the film, Ahmad Khan is injured and police take him away in a stretcher to a hospital. A worried Nafisa comes out asking Ram "where is Ahmad." . Kamal is distraught with all the violence that he had unintentionally initiated and is unable to speak coherently and he simply points in the direction of the stretcher. She then proceeds to ask him to tell her that Ahmad is fine and Kamal mumbles something. Nafisa, as each millisecond passes, expecting a 'yes, he is alright' from Ram, is terrified and confused by his strange reaction and is getting worked up and tries to elicit a proper response from him and implores him to talk louder.. "Aanh?".... "Aanh?" she goes rising in pitch and fear. This scene happens perhaps for five seconds in the film. Yet, it stands out for its natural portrayal of characters of the terrified wife and a distraught Ram who is sick of the violence.
There are even many moments in the film when much is said without dialogues. When Ram meets Lalvani on a roadside after the riots and when he has joined the Hindutva brigade, they embrace each other crying when they find out that both have lost their entire family in the riots, the Maharaja and Abhyankar seated in the car watching them exchange glances that spark fury as though to say.. "Look what this Mahatma has given the commom man of this country. He has given only misery and poverty. This is why we must finish him off". Again, this shows how much the film was ahead of its times in a filmdom known for its punch dialogues and elaborate explanations for even the inane of intentions.
If there is something Kamal needs to work on, it is with moderating the protagonist's sexual appetite in his movies. Almost all of Kamal's protagonists feature a stereotype of insatiable hunger for sex. Well, even if Kamal claims otherwise, his frames speak out aloud.
Illayaraja's score is power packed and Kamal did the right thing in roping in the veteran replacing
L.Subramaniam though for different reasons. The background music adds flavour to the movie without makings its presence felt aloud. The piano intro of 'Nee Partha' by Asha Bhonsle would forever be etched in everyone's memories for its strong and yet simple notes. The point when the Violins and the base guitar join the piano tunes, one is transfixed in the heavenly sound the three instruments produce. This tune will join the ranks of Nayagan's Thenpaandi cheemayilae intro as one of his best ever.
The crisp editing of Renu Saluja keeps the overly long movie (3 hours and 20 minutes) tight and gives shape to the director's Hey Ram!
I can go on and on.But it would only be just to say that this film was way ahead of its times and assumed an intelligent audience to get into the inner workings of Saket Ram and that proved to be a tough nut for many audience like me. But, boy, am glad I watched it again and this will join my list of best films i've ever watched.
. Following are the rules: