Hey Ram (2000)

[**** stars/*****]

"About thousands of years before Christ, even back then this civilization knew the need for a sewage system. A civilization where children were given toys to play. Not like ours, where we adults use our religion to fight each other with."  


Fury, madness, savageness. 

What does it take for a man to kill another man?

India is on verge of partition. Saket Ram is an archaeologist working at the Mohenjo-daro remains with his colleague and dear friend Amjad Ali Khan (Shah Rukh Khan). The excavation is abruptly stopped in fear of widespread rioting. 

Saket rushes home to Calcutta, into the arms of his beautiful school teacher wife Aparna (Rani Mukherjee). Meanwhile, riots erupt in the city, and a chain of horrific events culminates in sadistic, retaliatory killings. 

A chance meeting with Hindu nationalist Shriram Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni) sets Saket on the extremist path. 

Such is Saket's crazed resolve that he hallucinates practice-shooting with a sniper gun while making love to his wife in a drug-induced haze. 

Brave, compassionate cinema
Hey Ram (Oh God) is a 196-minute ambitious, intense period drama on the aftermath of India's barbaric, shameful partition violence and the malicious mob mentality thrust into free-thinking individuals.

Hatred and killings in the name of religion remains a widespread phenomenon in India, years after independence.  

Director, story and screenplay writer Kamal Haasan delves sensitively into the canvas of this alternate historical drama, making stark, powerful points on India's communal divide. 

The screenplay master cuts involve a misplaced gun, tense dialogue interplay between the two lead characters, an impactful death, light at the end of the tunnel and inevitable, irreversible loss.

Kamal Hassan is superb as Saket Ram, how he gradually turns grave anguish into single-minded deadly intent is enthralling to watch. 

Shah Rukh Khan (excellent in brief role), Rani Mukherjee, Atul Kulkarni, Vasundhara Das, Naseeruddin Shah, Vikram Gokhale, Saurabh Shukla, Girish Karnad, Hema Malini and Gollapudi Maruti Rao (wonderful emoting) are among the aptly chosen supporting cast.     

The art direction, cinematography by Tirru, the Ilaiyaraaja soundtrack add conviction and layers, the length never feels stretched. 

The initial revenge-death scenes seem to be mass-audience appeasing, the rest is bold cinema.    

Hey Ram is a towering achievement of heart, goodwill and purpose, overtly relevant, powerful cinema.

  (Hey Ram, streaming on Amazon Prime (India) in its Tamil version (English subtitles available)).