The Outstanding Experiment with the truth
Kamal Hassan, one of the most popular & talented actors
from South started his directorial debut with the funny & entertaining ‘Chachi
420’ where Hassan mastered the role of an old woman with ease. After a
rib-tickling endeavour, Kamal Hassan grabbed the reigns to direct a powerful
film of a completely new genre, ‘Hey Ram’ a film which displayed the communal
instability in India post Independence in 1947. The words breathed last by the
great leader of our country, Mahatma Gandhi itself reveals the fact that the
film is based on a semi-fictional plot involved in the assassination of Gandhi.
Gathering an ensemble cast from Bollywood, Hassan made it a
point to make a very commercial approach to the film. The film starred Kamal
Hassan as the protagonist while Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Rani
Mukherjee, Hema Malini, Naseeruddin Shah & Om Puri handled small but
significant roles.
The film commences on 6th December 1999 which
marked the 7th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition which
invited communal riots between Hindus & Muslims. On this date, in a dark
dingy room lay 89-year old Saket Ram on his death bed with his grandson by his
side. The film time-travels to the era of 1940’s where Pakistan & India
where being partitioned and that was the reason why two best friends Saket Ram
(Kamal) & Amjad Ali Khan (Shah Rukh), who were archaeologists working for a
British named Wheeler were told to stop their work & return back to their
respective homes.
Saket Ram returns back to Calcutta to his Bengali wife,
Aparna (Rani) but tragedy follows after him as Aparna gets sexually assaulted
& killed by Muslim extremists in the locality. A distraught & enraged Saket
Ram meets Abhyankar, a revolutionary who convinces Ram that Mahatma Gandhi is
solely responsible for this bloodbath. Succumbed to family pressure, Saket Ram
marries a teenager Maithili (Vasundhara Das).
The film displays some intimate scenes between Saket & Maithili. The
scenes are so detailed that you find yourself astonished as why Censor Board did not intervene with their snipping tool.
The film revolves entirely around Saket Ram’s life as he collaborates
with Abhyankar and Maharaja and offers to help them in the plot to assassinate
Gandhi. Shah Rukh Khan as Amjad Ali Khan is entirely used as a commercial
weapon by Kamal Hassan as inspite of having just 30 minutes in the film; SRK
has successfully managed to uplift the standard of the film. He plays a Muslim
Pathan who rescues Saket Ram who gets trapped in the communal riots in
curfew-struck Muslim community in Delhi.
The film indeed deserved more of Shah Rukh Khan’s exquisite
display of acting skills as his inclusion in Hey Ram poster must have promised
the viewers a parallel role alongside Kamal. The film has some really advanced
& subtle effects, the film although shot in 2000 makes you feel as if the
film is shot in the early 60’s. The 1999 India scenario is showcased in black
& white to distinguish it well with the cinematic representation of
happenings in past.
Hey Ram is powerful as it deals efficiently with universal
& contemporary themes set in the post-Independence India. Thanks to Kamal’s creative mind &
brilliance put into the film, film was chosen as India’s official entry to
Oscars to be considered as nomination in Best Foreign Film of the year. Hey Ram is story of fictional character whose
life gets turned up-side down because of some real life incidents in 1940’s
that have changed the course of history. The film concludes admirably in a
poignant manner
People having a fine taste for art films, Hey Ram will give
you one of the best cinematic experiences of your life.
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