CHAPTER 1: PREFACE
Kamal Haasan’s body of works can be broadly divided into two categories: Hey Ram and non Hey Ram. Such is the effort, brilliance and technique put into the work. An epic film does not necessarily mean high production values and a period setting. Any film whose intentions and strides are of mammoth proportions qualifies to suit the genre. Hey Ram, by all means, not only qualifies but even has the power to top the genre.
Movies that last a lifetime are the ones that are rooted in the culture of their country of origin, but deal with themes that are contemporary and universal at the same time. By culture, I not only mean traditions and practices of the country but also its inescapable history, politics, its figures, its events and the social impact of those. A prime example would be Florian Donnersmarck’s Das Leben Der Anderen (2006) (aka The Lives of Others), a film that firmly had a foot in political chaos of the post war Germany, its political ideologies and restrictions imposed due to the same, but spoke about the universal concept of art and humanity. Not over a handful of movies have come out from our country that handles these issues with solemnity. One such film, Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram is arguably the best Indian film of all time.
In the following work, I would try to dissect the film and present an analysis of the film, though in no way, exhaustive. The film is fraught with symbols, metaphors and allegories that become clear only on multiple viewings. I have tried to cover them wherever applicable. I have tried to give the key images while trying to explain those scenes and also the conversation transcript wherever necessary. English translation of the same has been provided for universal access. Please feel free to agree/disagree at comments section of the relevant posts. I have provided a downloadable version of the same analysis at the end of the series of posts.
It would be of interest to note that the film was being made when another Kamal film had already kicked off, Marudhanayagam. So, naturally Kamal was into a thorough research on the freedom movement and its obscured characters. Hey Ram presents one such, perhaps fictional, character that was, though not instrumental in changing the course of history, an inlet to the mind of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
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June 21, 2008 at 9:04 am
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June 21, 2008 at 9:07 am
[…] related posts: (automatically generated)Hey Ram: An Analysis (Part 1/20)HEY RAM!!! Posted by Just Another Blogger Filed in All Posts, Analysis, Cinema of India […]
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June 21, 2008 at 9:08 am
[…] is broadcast. It is 12.00 A. M. 15th August 1947. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Hey Ram: An Analysis (Part 1/20)HEY RAM!!! Posted by Just Another Blogger Filed in All Posts, Analysis, Cinema of India […]
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June 21, 2008 at 9:34 am
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June 24, 2008 at 10:55 am
[…] one of the humongous efforts in analyzing a movie on blogosphere, Srikath concludes his 20 part analysis of Hey Ram(2000). Movies that last a lifetime are the ones that are rooted in the culture of its country of origin, […]
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January 17, 2010 at 9:20 pm
[…] and Peace could well serve as a fitting documentary counterpart to Haasan’s Hey Ram (2000) – my pick for the best Indian film of last decade. Both are decidedly Gandhian films that […]
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June 18, 2010 at 9:28 pm
[…] film turns out to be as one-dimensional and biased as the text it wants to deconstruct. And yes, the film that Raavan wants to be has already been made ten years ago. And […]
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July 31, 2011 at 10:55 pm
this is excellent review.i am a great fan of kamal and his heyram film.after reading this i can say u deserve a Ph.d.,but u missed something important and that is the gun used by him the maucer 69. which is very powerful till date made by germans.the usage of this gun can only be made by thorough research.this shows kamal made a lot of research to made this movie.this is an excellent movie and kamal is a genius.
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March 29, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Perhaps it’s a German Mauser C96 and Spanish copy of Astra model 900 (It shares the same caliber, magazine capacity, and holster type and is generally very similar to the German handgun).
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July 9, 2019 at 4:36 pm
i think it is Maucer C96 and not 69 model. 9mm. 5.5″ Barel. Actual name is Mauser Broomhandle C37596. Manufactured in 1904.
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December 18, 2012 at 1:17 am
[…] Q: 3 favourite blog posts – yours or someone else’s… This is a series and indepth analysis of movie Hey Ram. Loved […]
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September 6, 2014 at 8:08 pm
“The Lives of Others,” set in East Germany not long before the fall of the Berlin Wall, tells the moving story of a police investigator forced to confront himself and the work he does. In a society poisoned by secrecy, fear and the abuse of power, a number of the movie’s characters — artists, actors, writers — must look deep inside and decide what they are made of; none more so than the investigator.
This is a movie that took me to a place and time that felt very authentic, for a tale that was very satisfying.
Ulrich Muhe, who plays the investigator, is mesmerizing, and the young director is to be applauded for this, his first full-length film. Some have compared “The Lives of Others” to Coppola’s “The Conversation” but the two have completely different story arcs and are only superficially similar.
Both my companion and I felt this was our favorite of the six films we had a chance to see at the festival.
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September 21, 2014 at 11:05 pm
I have become Dr Kamal hasans fan after watching this film
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October 6, 2014 at 1:51 am
Great movie by Kamal sir …why the people behind minute details like Gun and all …..Can’t we see great work by Him …
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December 8, 2015 at 11:59 pm
Hi,
Thank you loads for such a great analysis.
Please guide me to access to download the same. Where I can get the downloadable version. It is not visible…
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December 9, 2015 at 12:47 pm
Thanks Vignesh, you can find the link to pdf at the end of the 20th part.
Cheers!
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