Hey Ram

Plot synopsis:
The movie begins at present day with Saket Ram (Kamal Hassan), an 89-year-old South Indian Brahmin who is dying. The scene reverts to the past as Saket remembers the 1940s, when he and his good friend, were archaeologists working together under their boss, Mortimer Wheeler, in Mohenjo-daro (Indus Valley Civilization) in Karachi. Relations are pleasant between the Indians and the English, and Saket and Amjad do not approve of Partition and the creation of Pakistan.Aparna Ram (Rani Mukerji), Saket's simple Bengali wife, is a school teacher. She lives in Calcutta in the midst of riots and chaos over the issue of the formation of Pakistan and the call by Mohammad Ali Jinnah for "Direct Action". Saket goes to Calcutta and is swept into the madness. In one instance, Saket saves an innocent Sikh girl from the hands of a barbaric Muslim gang. When he returns to his house, he finds a group of Muslims entering his house. They brutally rape and murder Aparna. Saket, unable to cope with his tragic loss, kills the Muslims who raped and killed his wife in a fit of rage.Outside his house, he runs into another Brahmin, Sriram Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni), who is part of a Hindu militant group determined to fight the Muslims' malice with similar brute force, and assassinate Gandhi for what they perceive to be his treachery towards Hindu dominated India (Gandhi wanted Hindus and Muslims to co-exist peacefully with hope of winning over the hearts of the rioters through sheer self-pity). However, Abhyankar and his fellow extremists had lost patience at what they deemed Mahatma Gandhi's unreasonable stand to appease Pakistan, who had already invaded Kashmir by that time. Gandhi was pressurizing the newly founded Indian state to pay Rs. 62 Crore to Pakistan and some territorial concessions as well.Urged by family to remarry, he weds Mythili (Vasundhara Das). However, on a trip to Maharashtra, he reunites with Abhyankar and becomes a part of his militant organisation that plots to do away with Gandhi. Due to an horse-riding accident, Abhyankar is left a quadriplegic and has Ram swear that he will carry on his work, that of killing the Mahatma.Saket comes to the belief that Mahatma Gandhi (Naseeruddin Shah) is solely responsible for the division of India and of the two religions and also of having supported whom they viewed as the enemy. Hindu fundamentalists, including Saket, are furious and plot to murder Gandhi. However, Saket, after several incidents surrounding and leading to Amjad's death (with whom he reunites briefly in a congested Delhi area), changes his mind about Gandhi. He decides against assassinating the leader, and attempts to beg for forgiveness. Soon afterwards, Gandhi is killed by another assassin, Nathuram Godse. Ironically, Gandhi dies without his famous last words: "Hey Ram!" as popularly believed, and as in Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi (film).(Though actual witnesses have denied having heard Gandhi utter those famous last words.)Then on, Saket Ram lives by Gandhian principles. As the 89-year-old Saket Ram is being taken to the hospital, he is told of bomb blasts in the city due to Hindu-Muslim communal riots. He asks "Innuma(even still)?". They were forced by the police to be taken into an underground shelter for their security, but Saket Ram dies there. in his funeral gandhis grandson come and see saket private room with full of historical photos. Saket's grandson handed over gandhis footwears and spectacles which Saket collected from place of shoot out and keep like inspirational treasure.Thanks to Wikipedia

Tags: psychedelic, murder, violence, flashback

Review:
The film supports religious harmony and breaks a lot of myths (including the one that Gandhi said 'hey ram' after being shot).
In fact, the main character, Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan in a powerhouse performance)learns to appreciate Gandhi by the end of the journey.
Ram" is not only an epic film but perhaps the biggest casting coup of the decade with actors like Nasseeruddin Shah (who makes a better Gandhi than Ben Kingsley), Om Puri, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherji, Girish Karnad and many other prominent names of the Indian Film Industry.
I had heard that Kamal Hassan was a good actor, so I decided to check out Hey Ram. I knew nothing of the plot (best way to see a movie; no expectations...) and I must admit I was emotionally overwhelmed by the end of it.
And what a pleasure to see Shah Rukh in a minor part.Hey Ram is a film that every American actor, writer, and director should study.
A truly amazing experience.....One cannot explain the kind of feeling that creeps into your heart at the end of this movie...its a hard-hitting mixture of reality with a very interesting element of fiction thrown in.....every aspect of the movie was breath-taking...the music by the Maestro Ilayaraaja..especially the songs...Nee partha, Isayil thodanguthamma and hey ram.....The BGM completely gels with the movie .....
Coming to the acting, I personally feel this is one of the best movies of almost every actor in the movie..Kamal is his usual splendid self....Watch him become the happy lover, the broken human being, the idealist and finally the old man with wrinkles of experience...the idea of having used colour in the past and b/w in the present is definitely a great concept.....Other than Kamal Haasan, Atul Kulkarni and Rani Mukherjee have given mind-blowing performances....Kulkarni is an incredibly talented actor and one can see the emotion in his eyes that speak most of his dialogues in the movie...Rani mukherjee is the perfect fit for her role of a Bengali teacher and has given a wonderful performance......The movie comes as a kind of rebel in the usual masala Indian movies genre and is a must watch for anyone interested in gaining a wholesome experience....Another feather on India cinema's cap......
This movie has it all,whether its Hard-Core Reality, maturity, direction, special-effects and most of all great acting and true-to-the-core screenplay which provides us with nothing but tough reality which can be bargained for nothing, NOT even for what everybody calls, Religious Tolerance.
My personal favourite from the movie though is not Kamal's character but that of Atul Kulkarni's.The way he lives his life as tough as that,his inteligence,his intense love for his motherland which overrides his mind even in the eventuality of facing a physical disorder which he has to suffer and also as a result of which he get bedridden is truly inspirational.And most of all it was TRUE in those days!
Truly, this movie enjoyed the well deserved nomination from India's part in the category of Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.And it well could have been the winner if only it could have been possible for Kamal Haasan to put much more necessary efforts in that direction.
If the Always Talented Kamal Haasan makes a next movie even half good as this one I would like to watch it.
the movie's complex techniques of flash-trhough, visual & aural associations, extended pauses & the use of the mental imagery of the protagonist to express his thoughts most probably did not connect with the indian audience.the movie, im sure, is hailed as a classic at film institutes and by connoisseurs but the demanded too much involvement from the audience, for it to have any kind of mass appeal.the sensitive story and the harsh visuals would have further delineated the audience, but for discerning viewers who like to get involved in the movie, this is a must see.the way the protagonists thoughts, views & ideals on the issue of patriotism, struggle & Gandhi keeps changing and evolves slowly through his own experiences are extraordinary to watch.
Kamal Hasan is a truly great actor and with this film he has cemented his status a talented director.
An excellently crafted Indian film, the lead actor Kamal Hassan amazes me not only with his histrionics as the lead actor but also as a good writer and director.
It brings to light something Indian history books were embarrassed to talk about!The story itself covers 50 decades and has characters from every region of India, the hero is a Tamil Brahmin, his first wife a Bengali, his best friend a Muslim pathan, his 'guide', a Maharashtrian, and his target, a Gujarati!
This critic says, Kamal has shown Muslims at first, offending Hindus of all castes and types including the Sikhs,the South Indians,the Maharastrians and others AND this particular Hindu gets into the 5th gear, does an act of revenge and then blames this poor guy Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
But the other Star of the movie was of course the ever-talented Aamir Khan revealing his pure acting brilliance.Mr. Critic No.1 should pick any newspaper from any stall from any locality from any Country and he should  find major news on the lines of rivalry between  America-Iraq, India-Pakistan or Israel-Palastine, the Babri Masjid issue and other such news.
Did somebody say Influenza ?This movie is only made for adults no doubt,  but it is meant for ONLY MATURE THOUGHTFUL REASONABLE ADULTS.Sex is a nature's creation necessary for propagation of life and a KISS in particular is a universal symbol for expressing Love among living creatures including all animals but definitely NOT flowers as some Indian directors show in their nonsense '3 out of 5' star rated movies something UNNATURAL like flowers kissing each other instead of the hero and the heroine.
If sex and violent scenes are removed from this movie it will become a truly visual effects family movie with a message at the end,middle and the beginning.In fact, I found a lot positive aspects in 'Hey Ram(2000)' :1.
One more myth like millions of others which was prevalent in India was buried that M.k. Gandhi uttered the words 'Hey Ram' moments before death.
FORENSIC STUDIES have positively proved that if a live body is hit by a bullet, the body will simply slump down to the ground.Some Other Things : Vasundhara Das, Atul Kulkarni and Shahrukh have performed in an OUTSTANDING way in a life-time role.
Shahrukh doesn't over act and this proves Kamal's Effective Direction.And now for those who say that this movie is disturbing or controversial :All great masterpieces right from 'The Godfather(1972)' to 'Schindler's List(1993)' and to the recent 'The Sixth Sense(1999)' and 'Artificial Intelligence(2001)' all had been controversial but TRUTHFUL EYE OPENERS.In fact, according to me, an individual should watch only TWO types of movies :1.TRUTHFUL EYE OPENERS : These types expose real facts but violence and sex are not necessities to be depicted.
There have been instances where a daring movie clicks and becomes a classic, but not all people who make really good movies are lucky to have appreciative audience.This time around KamalHaasam not only seems to expect too much of concentration and open minded analysis from the viewers but also knowledge of Hindi, marathi, Bengali and tamil languages from the viewers.
I guess a constant insecurity,although totaly unfounded, that one is missing the plot because one doesnt know the language seems to bias the viewers that the moviemaker strategically failed.This movie which is a story of a man who is deeply affected by the death of his wife and the brutal way in which she was raped and murdered, avenges her death by killing as many muslims as he can,including the murderers of his wife.
A good tribute to our nations leader who, other than being largely ignored by this country, has also been criticised for the calcutta riots for not doing something, that was beyond the realms of his capacity.Anyway The reason I like this movie is because, for the first time a hero's views is portrayed as incorrect and the hero realizes his mistake and changes to a good person in the end.
Though at times we get the feeling that its gonna pace up, but it still moves in slow pace which might have disappointed some viewers and hence the movie couldn't do well in box office!I think the background music ram ..
I know that because there are thousands and thousands of Indian films out there, I sure will look for those from other companies first.The story is told as a giant flashback by Saketh Ram (Kamal Hassan) and is set in 1946--just a year before India became independent of the United Kingdom.
The movie would have been better had the character saket ram stuck to his original passion instead of changing and making the passion seem more like a mere like or dislike.
They could have been better picturised and not seem as obscene and vulgar(I am not a prude BUT I do object to soft porn!- more so cuz it was badly visualized ;-)) Vaali and the aunt(forget her name) did a fantastic job and so did vasundhara das.Shah ruhk khan and the other supporting actors/actresses (like in all other kamal movies) were suitably given only a couple of scenes.
However their domestic bliss is soon destroyed during the "direct action day" riot in Calcutta following the 1947 Partition of India when a raging mob breaks into the house raping and killing his wife.Saketh emerges hellbent on revenge and is soon convinced that Mahatma Gandhi who was against separation and preached tolerance of all religions including Islam is responsible for all the problems happening in the country.
He is enlisted for the job of assassinating Gandhi by a young Hindu extremist, One of his best friends, Amjad Ali Khan (Shahrukh Khan) is a whiskey drinking Moslem and the two will have to protect each other later from raging Hindu and Muslim mobs as the film progresses.
Interestingly SRK agreed to take a secondary backup role in this film but though he has far less screen time than Kamal he just about steals every scene he is in.
The films major instance Direct Action Day (16 August 1946-announced by the Muslim League Council to show the strength of Muslim feelings both to British and Congress) event shown in movie is a good effort to depict the killing of around 4000 people on that day(the overall killing happened due to partition riots is estimated to be 2lakh approximately(could be even between 200 Thousands to 2 Million and stands next to holocaust which cost around 10 Million lives app)) is an shocking information to know for political outsiders like me to understand what India has gone through as a nation.
Historical fiction is the best genre because we need not take care of the theme and sense as the history intertwined in the story takes care of itself(this theme been before in Mani Ratnams Bombay and Salman Rushdie's midnight children).Many characters were even based on true story like Mortimer Wheeler, Gandhi(Gandhi sleeping with lights ON told in the movie is interesting to know about his eccentricity indeed proves the depth of research done on Gandhi(and his writing volume is 65000+ papers is an surprise info i heard recently)) etc.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
A semi-fictional tale of Saket Ram (Kamal Hassan) who in flashback remembers India of 1940s where he and his pal Amjad Ali Khan (Shahrukh khan) work as archaeologists trying to uncover Harappa civilization.
Ignoring the political happenings around they try to stay happy among their lives as they soon realize their life is much different as Saket Ram goes to Calcutta to be with his wife and soon discovers himself becoming part of the riots as he comes to terms with Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni), a Hindu militant after his wife (Rani Mukherjee) is raped and brutally murdered by Muslims in the midst of chaos.
Saket Ram is unable to come to terms that life moves on even after remarrying and holds MK Gandhi responsible for his wife's murder and division of India.
I would like to say that this CONTROVERSIAL Indian movie is slow but of International standard made from heart by one of the most versatile artists Kamal Hassan challenging the belief regarding the last words "Hey Ram" said by Gandhi Ji as depicted in Ben Kingsley's Gandhi movie and moreover screenplay and portrayal of characters of that time seems so actual that you can't get away from your seat.MY RATING: 8/10.
I say a movie like Hey Ram is worth a 1000 films.
Many films fail here, including Lagaan which had 6 balls bowled per over instead of 9.With an cast of India's finest actors Like Kamal Haasan, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Om Puri, Hema Malini, Rani Mukherjee, Atul Kulkarni and Shah Rukh Khan, one cannot complain about the performances.
Kamal Haasan's character, Saaket Ram, in a moment of madness following the death of his wife, decides to join the extremists and assassinate Gandhi.
But what Kamal has brilliantly done is to sketch a character which is well-reasoned and well-placed to hate Gandhi's principles, make the character feel victimized by Gandhi's ideologies, and later bring the character as close as it gets to Gandhi himself and make the character realize, with the help of his selfless Muslim friend (brilliantly played by Shah Rukh), that non-violence is indeed the answer for the communal riots.
The sensitivities that affect Saket Ram, the protagonist of the movie, and bring about vissicitudes in his character and his life, would only be understood by those who have lived in the times of the Partition of India or who have lost their kin and kith in events of Religious Riots in India.There are several statements made in the film (in my opinion, though I am not sure if the director intends to or not), first, how in the course of being affected in a bloody riot, a perfectly normal and sensible human being can be turned into a savage animal who disregards his morals and becomes a killer.
is a lesson as to how, compassion, level-headedness and brotherliness are the only solutions even in moments of extreme discord or distress between fellow human beings.This movie has brilliant acting performances by Kamal (obviously!), Shahrukh Khan and even Vasundhara Das (who plays the role of a typical Indian woman, who inspite of her core values, condones her husband, inspite of him participating in a hunting expedition, after he exhibits his sexuality as love towards her).Truly, a tremendous movie, with a wide array of nuances to be studied and looked for.
After so many song/dance/romance films coming from all over India, "Hey Ram" was a breath of fresh air.
Another breath taking performance is given by Vasundhara Das who plays Kamala Haasan's second wife and an excellent job she does of her part.The movie starts in 1999 with flashbacks to the partition period of 1946-1948 where the story is set.
Unlike almost all indian movies, Hey Ram has live location sound making the job of getting it right on the spot an imperative one.
Make-up effects leave a lot to be desired, especially for Shah who plays Gandhi and Das who plays Haasan's second wife.So who do I like this movie?
Because this is simply an engrossing 3 hr plus drama of the life of a person, the LoC between fiction and fact can go to hell.What makes the movie engrossing is a wonderful form of cinema that Kamal Hasan has rediscovered and it is called acting !
He approaches the spot where Gandhi Ji is heading for a prayer meeting but before he could decide in favour or against of killing him, Naathu Ram Godse shoots the great man from a point blank range and he dies uttering - 'Hey Ram' leaving Saaket Ram behind to repent for the rest of his life and go for penitence.Kamal Hassan has undertaken many responsibilities in this movie and as a producer-director he has made a gigantic effort in bringing that period alive on the screen.
However Atul Kulkarni has left impact in this debut movie of his and he won the national award for the Best Supporting Actor for his role.Hey Ram is a technically very superior movie and it was India's entry to the Oscars for the year 2000.
How the next sequence of events make Saket Ram realize by his own conscience, Amjad Ali Khan (SRK) that Gandhi is the only sanity remaining is the plot of the movie.Acting: Kamal Haasan portrays his character in such a great fashion hardly ever seen before : Jubilant, Grief Stricken, Innocent, As an Aveneger , In Severe Dilemma , Man Reformed the range is awesome.