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)).   

Manthan (1976)

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

Har nayi kaam mein rukavate aati hai

(Every new work has its hurdles)

Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad) and his team arrive at Semla village, Gujarat to help start a milk cooperative, but the going seems impossible with the villagers reluctant to change things. Can Dr. Rao succeed? 

What does it take to stand against ages-old tradition and empower  people? India has its roots in the exploitative caste and feudal system, and even 70-odd years after independence, anyone trying to counter this stubborn tradition has the odds stacked sky-high against them. 

That is why the success story of Amul, India's largest diary cooperative society is remarkable and miraculous, a striking example of what can happen when a group of determined people get together for a common good.   

Sharp, engaging cinema

Manthan (The Churning) is Shyam Benegal's sharp, extraordinary telling of how Amul became a large scale milk cooperative movement. 

This is Indian cinema at its realistic best. 

Manthan is among the first Hindi films that stood out for its stark, sharp realism, otherwise seen most notably in Satyajit Ray films until then.  

The mythology angle
In Indian mythology, the churning of the ocean took place between the celestial Devas and demonic Asuras in order to obtain the nectar of immortality or amrut. 

Manthan is a riveting human tug of war, just like the mythological one, arising in a society trying to do away with the old order. It is a bold chronicle of the struggles between classes, men, youth vs corruption and men vs women, that is, the temptations of the flesh and heart.

What works 
Benegal doesn't overplay any scene one bit, keeping audiences guessing, creating one powerful scene after another. This straight, simple approach later became the legendary director's rock-steady trademark.    

The sexual attraction, its complexities and consequences depicted between the city men and village women are among the movie's most surprising, revealing moments.

The rustic Indian village, the boredom of its afternoons, the sensuality of its rivers and lakes, widespread life-threatening illness, turbaned, wrinkled village faces, hostile rough-talking people, corrupt people with vested interests, dust and the hot sun, mud houses, chilly winter mornings, are aspects that come alive in Manthan, the movie is a breathing, compassionate mirror to rural India.  

   
Advent of great Indian actors
Among the stellar cast, Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah are unbelievably genuine as Gujarati villagers, while the great Girish Karnad as Dr. Vargese Kurein, the man who started the fire, gives a straight, grounded performance. Movie lovers will notice the early astonishing sparks that Shah and Patil display, two great actors in the making.  

Amrish Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Anant Nag and Mohan Agashe also put in credible performances. 

Manthan review 
If you love confrontational, true story-inspired gritty drama, Manthan is classic gold.

A Wednesday (2008)

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

A Wednesday does a hypnotic audience grip in its final act. The point it makes is instantly powerful and debatable.

The first hour though is an irritating mix of cliches, jarring background music, and some unintentionally laughable dialogue. The pace slackens in bringing various characters to the mix. The screenplay needed a serious fast forward for breathless, memorable impact. 

Naseeruddin Shah's excellent portrayal of the main protagonist binds us. So does Anupam Kher's restrained act. Jimmy Shergill's angry cop needed meat and reason. 

Though A Wednesday doesn't build up craftily, it hits the ground running, making it flawed, but solid entertainment.