CHAPTER 20: EPILOGUE
Not a single scene, line or character is wasted in the film. In fact each character is used to the maximum by employing the fitting metaphors and allegories. Each line carries so much weight that the film packs more than thrice the film’s length in it. The screen time is so judiciously used that one can feel how serious the film is both for its makers and viewers. It is one rare Indian film that invites the viewer to take part in the film and not just sit back and wait for things to happen. A truly multi-layered film that delivers different amounts of entertainment, thought and excitement depending on the viewer’s perception and perceptibility.
The quality of the techniques employed in the film has “class” written all over. The music in the film never becomes emotionally manipulative as less confident directors would have opted to use. Kamal uses the right amount of amplitude and tempo for the music that Ilayaraja has given which ranges from classical Carnatic, Hindustani and Lavni to western classical and choir music. The compositions were done using the Budapest orchestra and symphony group in Hungary. Alternatively, silence is also used effectively in many places. Being a period film, Art direction becomes vital for description of the story. Sabu Cyril has taken care of that big time. Right from the old Pears calendar in Birla House to the British cement advertisement in Calcutta, from the Tanjore paintings in Srirangam to the vehicles and instruments in the cities, not one object or concept is anachronistic or out of place.
Costume designer Sarika Haasan cruises through the project, probably her biggest yet. The costumes range from traditional Iyengar, Bengali and Marathi to conventional British and Gandhian. Her work perfectly provides the soul for Kamal Haasan’s narration. Thiru’s camera work comfortably underlines the emotions that the director wants to convey. Employing high and low angle shots to respectively contrast the saviour and the saved, the majority and minority and the violent and non-violent, the cinematography is effective in capturing the romantic and physical closeness of humans and also the emotional alienation and friction between individuals.
It is just a cliché to talk about the greatness of Kamal Haasan’s performance. I will just skip that and assure you that Hey Ram will easily count in his top five performances ever. With an army of India’s finest grade-A actors that includes Nasseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Girish Karnad, Hema Malini, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Atul Kulkarni, one cannot complain about the performances. All the actors have dubbed for themselves, though making it difficult to follow at times, adding to the depth of the characters.
Perhaps the biggest asset to the film is its refusal to employ black and white characterization. Right from Gandhi to Govardhan, no body is projected as an all good person and everybody has their own selfish reasons in their life. As these flawed yet lovable characters lead their routine lives, Saket, another deeply flawed character, completes his pitch perfect character arc. A rare thing to see in Indian films is this transparent treatment of their characters.
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. And a film is worth a 1000 pictures. I say a movie like Hey Ram is worth a 1000 films. With the help of his top grade technicians, his most personal and riveting script, fabulous performances and brilliant direction, Kamal Haasan has woven a film that is truly anti-violent and makes a heart felt appeal to stop the atrocities carried out in the name of God.
“Hey Ram” is not only the call of the victims towards God for help, it is also one man’s cry to himself, to find the reason for his spiritual disappearance and the quest to restore humanity and peace within him and outside him. The film, way ahead of its times, was a box office failure but will be hailed as a classic decades after its release. It will be recognized as the turning point of Indian filmdom and these two words will resonate as the Vande Mataram of Indian cinema: Hey Ram!
Go To Chapter
You can find the pdf version of the same analysis here
June 20, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Mind blowing. Watched Hey Ram only once and didn’t find it to be that great. Guess you have now turned me from a “non-believer” into a “believer”. Dying to watch it again now.
LikeLike
June 21, 2008 at 9:07 am
[…] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Premises and their Inevitable Consequences […]
LikeLike
June 21, 2008 at 9:58 am
[…] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)HEY RAM!!! Posted by Just Another Blogger Filed […]
LikeLike
June 21, 2008 at 10:00 am
Yes, Do watch it… Many guys from out batch have it. Really a pity it went almost unrecognized…
LikeLike
June 21, 2008 at 10:08 am
u deserve a Ph d dude… i loved watching hey ram ..in fact i was so engroossed by kamal’s way of taking things through i felt tht there is nothing else better…
LikeLike
June 21, 2008 at 10:14 am
And considering Marmayogi is on its way led by him, we can expect another milestone…
LikeLike
June 23, 2008 at 6:47 pm
a great tribute to one of the best movies in Indian cinema, i am not saying tamil cinema coz u dont restrict this by language. But why the movie was a commercial failure is a question which can be answered by another blog only.
LikeLike
June 23, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Cinema is not even restricted by geography, art in general. I know why the audience did not take this well:
“For a man who has not eaten for days, you cannot give roasted chicken. He will die.”
LikeLike
June 24, 2008 at 10:57 am
I am impressed.
Hey Ram!
LikeLike
June 24, 2008 at 11:54 am
Thanks a lot for your patience!
LikeLike
June 25, 2008 at 10:17 am
Brilliantly written Srikanth. I couldn`t stop reading even for a minute.. I`m dying to see it now one more time.. You have deciphered the movie completely..Great work.!
LikeLike
June 25, 2008 at 10:23 am
Thank you for patiently reading it…
LikeLike
July 17, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Lovely man!! I have the movie and I love watching it over and over again! And like you said, I will not even start on Kamal’s brilliance!!
LikeLike
July 18, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Yup, too good. And thanks for the link from your site!
LikeLike
July 20, 2008 at 6:42 am
Appreciating and understanding the finer technical aspects are beyond me, but it has remained one my most fav movies.
It was good to read your observations and inferences.
A lot of details were also fun.
Thanks
-Shankar
LikeLike
July 20, 2008 at 8:52 am
Hi Shankar, Thanks for reading…
LikeLike
July 22, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Great Article…nicely written. apart from the typos :P
Loved reading it.
Thank you.
Somehow I’ll try to get this movie and watch.
LikeLike
July 23, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Thanks for reading…
LikeLike
July 25, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Great Review. I’ve bookmarked it.
I’ve seen this film once. Wasn’t expecting anything and was totally blown away. I want to purchase it on DVD.
I don’t know if I should look for an american release or what. Do you got any suggestions?
LikeLike
July 25, 2008 at 6:11 pm
AFAIK, the Indian release is gonna take ages. If you can get hold of the US/UAE release… its worth it.
Thanks for bookmarking
LikeLike
August 25, 2008 at 2:51 am
srikanth…i hv no words 2 explain readin tis wndrfl piece frm u….i hv read it word by word almost fr 3 hours nw n im ovrwhelmed by ur work n also a gr8 piece of art frm the cinematic legend in the form of kamal haasan…..
LikeLike
August 25, 2008 at 7:26 am
Thanks Jinesh for reading…
LikeLike
August 28, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Great work man!!! I have never seen such a detailed analysis on a movie. I have saved the pdf version and will go through once again, its one of my valuable collection. I watched this movie many times before and now i feel like watching it again. keep up the good work! Thanks for the article.
LikeLike
August 30, 2008 at 7:08 am
Thanks for reading, Prabhu!
LikeLike
January 7, 2009 at 12:54 am
Guess this comes far too late, but then managed second viewing of the movie only now. And thanks tohaving read this piece I was watching a totally different movie. This time I tried keeping my eyes open for the allegories and stuff and man, isn;t this movie full of them.
There are a few points which I’d like to add/discuss.
The imagery of the mosque burning is not only indicative of the muslim carnage but also in a sense a parallel to the Babri Masjid demolition which is the focal point of the present in the narrative.
In the Dusshera celebration scene, the Maharaja shoots an arrow which triggers off the arrow of Ram. This is representative of what actually happens, with the Maharja triggering Saket to assasinate Gandhi.
And in the scene where Abhayankar leads Kamal to the Maharaja, the image transformation from a slush to a marble floor has a couple of interpretations. In one sense the slush represents his mental state and the marble floor indicates the concrete shaping up of things for the future. Also in a more physical allegory, the marble floor maybe likened to the Adam’s bridge which provided the path to Lanka to kill Ravana and in this case it is the path which will lead him to his Ravana.
In the conversation between Amjad Khan and Saket in Chandni Chowk, which I’d think is the landmark scene in the movie, you had raised the point of the camera angle indicating the superiority of Ram over Amjad and therefore that of the Hindus over the Muslims. Amjad Khan by his statements gains some sort of a moral high ground but then in that situation such things count for nothing.
LikeLike
January 7, 2009 at 7:34 am
Interesting points… Glad that you liked the film this time… Hopefully such discussions continue for other films too.
LikeLike
March 1, 2009 at 6:14 am
What a mendacious piece of tosh this movie is! Does Kamal Haasan think we are all pig-ignorant morons? (And also trying to promote Aryan Invasion theory!!!)
LikeLike
March 5, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Hi Srikanth,
TRULY REMARKABLE, your critic is. To me ‘Hey Ram’ is the best film ever produced out of India…but after reading your review, I realised even I had understood it 20%.
Great work. I feel enlightened. So many metaphors & layers..no words of praise can be too high for Haasan the writer. I just wish the audience & the critics had the level to understand this masterpiece!
I feel absolutely disgusted at critics who gave it a 3 out of 5..the same ranking they would have given to films like ‘welcome’ or ‘mujhse shaadi karogi’.
But I feel artists like kamal haasan & AR Rahman are beyond any ranking.
wat say guys???
rgds,
sanjay
LikeLike
March 5, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Hi Sanjay.
Glad that you enjoyed the film. And it is indeed sad that it has been brushed off lightly…
Thanks for reading…
LikeLike
March 9, 2009 at 11:35 am
Hi Srikanth,
Thanks for responding. Shifting focus away from hey Ram, after watching Tare Zameen Par..I had expected it to win an oscar in best foreign language film category. But it ws not even shortlisted. Wats ur take on TZP? Where did it lose out?
Rgds,
sanjay
LikeLike
March 9, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Interesting,
After watching TZP, I thought it would be the first to be weeded out. TZP’s handling of the subject may be quite new to Bolly standards, but is 40 years too old for Hollywood (or for that matter, for the entire world). The subject of treatment of challenged children is a much debated one and various stances have been studied even in cinema. Where the rest of the world is trying to portray and un-mediated view of the challenged kids, TZP asks us to sympathize with them and never once understand them. I suggest watching films like A Child Is Waiting and Land of Silence and Darkness for really thought provoking takes on the subject (thought the film themselves falter).
Right before TZP begins it is decided that it is going to take up a sympathetic eye to the issue. You have the typical buck toothed cute kid who gains our sympathy instantly. You have the sane-teacher-opening-the-eyes-of-ignorant-parents act. And you have the all-triumphing climax played with the evocative title song. I felt the film tries to gain unwarranted emotions. TZP lags behind the ever changing outlook and morals of the world and as a result, is stuck in some ancient era. Yes, it is a film with all good intentions, but it never has the ability to cinematically or otherwise resonate in the contemporary world.
LikeLike
April 20, 2013 at 10:49 am
Srikanth, I discovered your blog two days ago when digging through the internet for Kasaravalli’s films, esp Tabarana Kathe. I also left a comment on the post covering GK’s films. Interestingly I watched Hey Ram again after a long time two days ago and while going through your blog, I found this brilliant write-up on the film. Thank you for the detailed essay focusing on the various symbols, metaphors and their meanings in the film. I’m still curious about how you deciphered the Hindu swastika and Nazi swastika forming into a lotus. Look forward to hear from you on that. The reason I responded to this particular comment was because of TZP and the hype surrounding it post its release. I still wonder how the movie would have turned out had Amole Gupte directed it and not Aamir Khan. The argument you make of TZP being too old in terms of the concept, debate, execution and presentation for the West holds true for literally all the supposed new-age films being made in the Hindi film industry. I remember the reaction for Dev D and now very recently for Kashyap’s GOW I and II. The new-age hype in the Hindi film industry amuses me to no end. Yes, it’s a welcome change to see some improvement in quality but it’s still largely an industry rife with herd mentality, the difference being this time it is new-age herd mentality. Thanks again for the detailed write-up on Hey Ram.
LikeLike
July 7, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Thank you for your comment, Chakravarthi.
Isn’t the lotus symbol in current-day India a bit too clear? ;)
Cheers!
LikeLike
June 29, 2009 at 6:23 pm
No words…after 3 hours…this a superb tribute..u know what…KH shud read this..no def’ly not as a flattering piece for his film but he as a maker wud be glad that his effort was understood on the same lines….damn damn neat analysis SS…
And you got all this metaphors and symbolisms thru one watch and no other references??
LikeLike
June 29, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Thanks Arthi,
I could only see that there was much more than meets the eye during the first time. Then I played it again, paused when required., going back and forth. So one can’t exactly quantize the number of times I have watched this.
But I am sure that the result would be vastly different if I try to write the same thing again now!
LikeLike
June 29, 2009 at 7:13 pm
:)….once done no re-do reqd…njoyed every bit of the reading….
LikeLike
July 10, 2009 at 2:08 pm
hey man, really this is the best best article about heyram which saw, i am a die hard fan of kamal and this film.
kamal should see this article surely he will shed at least a drop of tears by reading ur article.
And please continue work great work,,,,,,,,,, and post ur article about anbe sivam film also,, if time permits
LikeLike
July 11, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Thanks, but I cannot imagine doing something like this ever again!
LikeLike
October 6, 2009 at 1:20 am
Srikanth,
Amazing write-up/analysis! I downloaded the .pdf file a long time ago, read it, re-read it to relate to the movie. Moreover, it has been ages since I’ve seen the movie so it was a bit difficult to relate. But reading through your analysis brings back the whole movie before my eyes. I really do pray Kamal will someday successfully complete his dream project – Marudhanayagam! I am restlessly waiting for Marmayogi. Still have to watch Unnaipol Oruvan. He’s a legend! Truly.
LikeLike
October 6, 2009 at 1:23 am
Also, Srikanth, I am curious to know why you have not replied to Comment # 27 by Mr. Salauddeen.
I do find myself eager to watch the whole movie from a truly Muslim’s point of view.
LikeLike
October 6, 2009 at 7:39 am
I didn’t reply because I couldn’t. I’m not sure what he was pointing to. It seemed like a self-sufficient statement. Even I would love to see alternate viewpoints discussing the wider aspects of the film.
Thanks!
LikeLike
November 9, 2009 at 1:45 am
I am kamal sir fan from childhood ages..he twisted in 90’s and make many memorable movies.He balanced with serious and comedy. But this movie realy masterpiece.but don’t know why missed oscar. After this i also like anbe sivam very much. he add many comunist view in that movie as he enter politic view in this. After he announce Marmayogi i thrilled and now waiting another movie to done join the list. Dissapointed. Oh kamal sir give us more from u. We will never feel full from u. U r best reviewer. I missed many things when see this movie. Thanks for help dying to watch again..thanks bro..from Malaysia
LikeLike
November 9, 2009 at 6:04 am
you’re always welcome bro…
Cheers!
LikeLike
November 25, 2009 at 12:28 am
Hi,
Im a gr8 fan of this movie ..and i read your whole analysis … nice work ..You summed it up ..brilliant work
– Madhan
LikeLike
November 25, 2009 at 6:51 am
Thanks Madhan…
LikeLike
February 28, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Hi dude.. Awesome is the only word for this Analysis work you’ve done.I seen that movie in my tenth standard but didn’t understand it much, later tried to catch it in Tv channels but they cut most of the movie, Tamil DVD is not release also, so I felt I’m gonna miss this treasure of a movie,but after reading your analysis line by line I’m really overwhelmed.My heartfelt congratulations and Thanks to you. And By the way I ordered a Hindi DVD just now,I wanted to check the movie again no matter whatever language it is.
THANKS
LikeLike
February 28, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Thanks a lot, Mahesh. Even I’ve been disappointed that the Tamil version has been unavailable for years. Let’s hope some time soon. At least the Hindi version is there. But something is better than nothing!
Thanks and cheers!
LikeLike
March 5, 2010 at 7:42 pm
yesterday i saw two movies…felt the frst one was gud.. …the sec however was mindblowin..both were hey ram.. ur analysis filled the gap..thank u..for showin me the greatest indian movie …
LikeLike
March 5, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Haha. That’s a nice way of putting it.
You’re welcome.
Cheers!
LikeLike
August 29, 2010 at 2:11 pm
amazing work…I have been forwarding this link to my friends… shriek the BRAIN…
One more thing…personally whenever I try to think critically about a movie, I seem to loose the personal touch with my favorite characters… love (for the movie) and pure logic somehow do not go together… wonder how you guys do it especially for the movies which stay in your heart…
Note: If my comment did not make much sense ignore it:)
LikeLike
August 29, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Hey svenky. How are you doing?
Makes perfect sense. But with time, I think you get used to marrying both approaches.
Cheers!
LikeLike
August 29, 2010 at 2:12 pm
.
LikeLike
December 12, 2010 at 5:06 pm
My journey with ‘Hey Ram’ started when I was in the final year of Graduation (Physics) here in Mumbai in 2000. in my childhood days, my father used to take me to Charlie Chaplin/similar movies if they were on in some theatres. When I attended junior college I was more into hot-blooded action-packed movies being the impatient teenager I was then. (I still love Arnold Schwarzenegger and have watched A-L-L he had to offer.)
But till then I was never interested in anything that went by the term ‘critic’ or ‘critical analysis/article’. It was only when I entered the final graduation year (1999-2000), that I suddenly happened to concentrate on this particular rating in TOI (which we have been reading since my childhood at our home) for the movie ‘The Matrix(1999)’ on a Sunday. It was rated 4-out-of-5 by Mr. Rashid Irani (He has my full respect even today.) Anyway I had already watched ‘The Matrix’ first-day-first-show on the Friday before. But the new aspect that joined my life since then was this person called ‘critic’. I started to value Mr. Irani (English movies) and this Hindi-movie critic from TOI before deciding for a movie. And then…
‘Hey Ram’ was released. And I decided NOT to watch this movie then. Reason: (1) I thought it was just another Gandhi-flattering movie. (2) Anyway, the TOI Hindi-movie critic had rated it just a poor 2-out-of-5.
Some days latter, some friends of mine who had watched it asked me why I wasn’t interested. I told them what I believed above the movie…the above two reasons.
Then they explained to me that the movie was mind-blowing and said: “The name of the hindi movie critic in TOI is K-H-A-L-E-D M-O-H-A-M-M-E-D. So does the name ring any bells in your mind?” Some moments latter…IT DID INDEED. Oh yes, the critic was a Muslim. That very day I watched ‘Hey Ram’ and I was blown away by the masterpiece. The lesson I learned that day: Critics are human too and so they are NOT perfect and hence have their own prejudices.
Since then I listen to everyone but take my own decisions in life. Anyway ‘Hey Ram’ has had an impact on my thought process/life since then.
By the way, this was one great piece of analysis and neither any other movie could have been nor still has been worthier of it.
As for my belief in critics, I don’t think much great of Mr. Mohd since then, but my respect for Mr Irani increased double-fold from the fact that he rated ‘Artificial Intelligence (2001)’ during its release then as a superb 4-out-of-5 which I believed was well-deserved/precise. Mean-while most other critics then, struggled even to understand what ‘AI’ was about. Anyway I don’t blame them because understanding a child-product of Stanley Kubrick/Steven Spielberg combined is not everybody’s cup of tea. But that’s a different issue altogether. The fact of the matter is that for me, ‘Hey Ram’ and ‘AI’ are both landmarks in the history of Cinema and I am going to cherish this one analysis all my life.
LikeLike
December 14, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Thanks for your appreciation,
But I fail to understand why Khalid Mohammad’s hating of the movie should be related to his religion. That would be rather problematic to think and, ironically, against the spirit of this very film. And your statement also implies that the film is anti-Muslim, which I can’t see how.
Cheers!
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 5:34 pm
@ Film Buff,
I’m sorry, if I implied that meaning unintentionally even though the movie isn’t anti-Muslim and I never intended to mean it that way. It’s just that I’ve observed, that most Muslims either hate or atleast dislike the movie for some reason. May be it’s just that Truth is Bitter.
LikeLike
September 20, 2012 at 5:53 pm
May be Amol is true in some sense. But the very Khalid Mohammad, I remember to have written in TOI in 2007 about Pushpak, wherein he said something like this about Kamal “Here is an actor of international caliber …the rest of the world doesn’t realize what it misses…..
LikeLike
January 5, 2011 at 1:07 pm
I saw this film once or maybe twice but did not form a high opinion. This is the most emasculated picture of Gandhiji and an insult to his essential nature of a firebrand. I thought Attenborough’s portrayal was closest to the reality, even more than Benegal’s “The Making of the Mahatma.”No doubt he was a mere mortal but ne should be cut to his own size: Hassan has cut him to Hassan size.
LikeLike
January 5, 2011 at 8:02 pm
That’s what makes it all the more palpable isn’t it? Gandhi was no alien who dropped from sky, he was a man living among us.
Cheers!
LikeLike
January 10, 2011 at 9:14 pm
So too were Christ, Buddha, Shakespeare, Einstein, Tolstoi, Hitler, Hannibal Lector–they are living examples of what a human being is capable of. Didn’t Einstein say that it would be near impossible to believe such a guy existed?
Gandhi was ordinary, yet extra-ordinary. I merely felt Hassan had got him completely wrong, missing out the essence.
LikeLike
January 11, 2011 at 9:43 am
I am reminded of Mark Antony’s speech from Julius Caeser:
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,–
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue–….etc
LikeLike
January 14, 2011 at 8:02 am
@Rana:
Let’s do a practical.
I will slap you on one side of your face WITH ***NOT*** A SINGLE GUY FROM THE PUBLIC PRESENT AROUND.
Now with NOBODY witnessing a thing,…will you slap me back or turn your other side of the face to me to be slapped twice. Give an honest answer. OK?
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 5:54 pm
@Rana,
I believe: 1. The whole world/Life is based on Science. 2. Violence is a part of life/evolution IF THE VIOLENCE IS JUSTIFIED and not just religion-based. Any guy who would preach non-violence to me would be a hypocrite in my personal views.
Let’s just say Mr. Gandhi would dislike the great Eagle because it is a raptor and would kill the soft-hearted, peace-loving(?) rabbits.
Now imagine if we banish the Eagles totally from this world because they are a symbol of violence because they prey on rabbits. So now one can imagine a world full of (the so-called ‘meek’ and ‘gentle’)rabbits who due to a lack of space and freedom will now tear into each other making a bloody mess. See? THe beautiful elegant, magnificient – The Kings – Eagles don’t exist now but violence STILL DOES …AND WILL ALWAYS.
The only reason Mr. Gandhi could say a lot of things related to non-violence because he knew he always was in the lime-light and everybody out there was to protect him and nobody could blame him for any controversies because he was always politically correct. Meanwhile the real freedom fighters that Britishers really feared – ‘Veer’ Vinayak Savarkar (who too was an advocate like Gandhi) and Bhagat Singh – were being slaughtered like pigs and not many were aware of it, thanks to Mr. Gandhi and his ‘so-called’ Non-violence gobbling up all the lime-light and attention.
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Yes, the point is: Eagles are not butchers and Rabbits are not meek and gentle. I hope you see through the point…and Science …and evolution.
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Give me ‘Veer’ Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpatrai, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subashchandra Bose ANYTIME rather than Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. For all the philosophies he preached, maybe he never heard of the story of The Grandfather, Grandson and the Donkey. It teaches one moral: One can please all the people for sometime or some people for all the time. BUT CAN NEVER please – ALL the prople ALL the time. Unfortunately, Mr. Gandhi tried to do exactly that.
LikeLike
January 24, 2011 at 12:23 pm
I am reminded:
“Ragon mein dorne phirne ke nahin hum quayal
Jo aankh se na tapke woh lahu kya hai?”
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 6:22 pm
@Just Another Film Buff:
It wasn’t ME who implied that ‘Hey Ram’ was anti-Muslim, it was actually Mr. Mohammed who took it for one. See a statement of mine that says: ‘Critics are human too and so they are NOT perfect and hence have their own prejudices.’ ? It was his prejudice and not mine.
LikeLike
January 13, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Amol,
Thanks for the clarification.
Cheers!
LikeLike
January 15, 2011 at 10:11 pm
@S M Rana:
Yeah, Hannibal Lecter was real …only in our imaginations.
LikeLike
January 22, 2011 at 8:44 am
Hanibal Lector is used only as a figure of speech–we have our own home grown serial killers and cannibalism is known to exist, both in times of need and as a matter of taste.
Einstein was a scientist and you know what he thought of Gandhi.
“Religion without science is blind and science without religion is lame.”..Einstein
Evolution is fine but a man is not a monkey. Science is not enough. It just touches the fringes of the reality which surrounds us. It can manufacture nuclear weapons but has no answers to the questions that matter.
We talk different languages and your liking for the reviewed movie is understandable.
Turning the other cheek is not Gandhi. He was a born fighter. Nor do I subscribe to everything he said. He is a man of towering courage and character and not the castrated joker portrayed by Hassan.
LikeLike
January 29, 2011 at 9:40 am
@ SM Rana:
I agree on most points.
Except…
1. I know that Science has its limitations to understand and that even though it has covered almost everything we know to date but yet not able to interpret that ‘something’ called ‘Soul’ which is the difference between Life and Death. After-all, Physics/Chemistry do believe in the concept called ‘Energy’ and that it cannot be depleted or added to but can only be transformed from one form to another. THAT IS what is ‘God’ for me and I DO NOT need any religion to teach me that through its UN-educated ways. At least Science has its excellent path-breaking efforts and hard work made by it to show in terms of searching an explanation for ‘Soul’/’God’/’Origin of Universe’ as opposed to Religion which is and which always was like ‘My-Religion-is-Better-than-Yours’ and ‘My-God-is-Better-than-Yours’. Look throughout history and you will find that since Stone-Age, Religion has played havoc in man’s life for times immemorial. The world is all about survival of the fittest and that is the reason why an employer while interviewing cares about the potential employee’s education and experience rather than his religion and caste. Religion needs Science for survival and never is and never will be vice versa. Even if Einstein may have said that. Science is for those fittest who made up to the mark and won the competition and Religion is just to PACIFY those who could not make up to the mark and were left behind in the competition and have hell long of a life to live now without achieving anything appreciable in life. WORK IS GOD. Science MAY never perhaps find a plausible explanation for ‘Soul’/’God’ but Religion neither had and nor has any answers for anything. And the gaps left by it have already been filled by Science and Science has mostly replaced Religion everywhere today. In fact, Religion is non-existent except in the empty/non-employed/misguided minds of Homo-Sapiens who in the struggle to survive use it’s name as a weapon to kill other Homo-Sapiens of the other group who too have the very same weapon with them but with a different name now. After-all, complex psychological beings like Homo-Sapiens need some SELF-justification to explain why their specific breed is the ONLY one fit (to survive/to propagate their genes forward) and not those Homo-Sapiens who belong to some other breed/group.
2. The only point I have against Mr. Gandhi is what I already put forward and that is Trying to please ALL individuals for ALL the time AND believing that the whole nation was a slave of his own ***personal*** whims of imaginary fancies like ‘Non-Violence’ etc.
And the ‘Castrated Joker’ is the real image which one sees when one breaks out of the sphere of illusion created by ‘Gandhism'(I call it ‘Escapism from Reality’).
LikeLike
January 31, 2011 at 10:29 am
I’m only saying that Hassan, like your good self, has got the persona wrong. Surely or hopefully you are not hooting for Godse.
“I and others may be revolutionaries but we are disciples of Mahatma Gandhi, directly or indirectly, nothing more nothing less.”- – Ho Chi Minh.
“The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the ‘back to nature’ optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the non-violent resistance pholosophy of Gandhi”- – Martin Luther King, Jr.
LikeLike
January 29, 2011 at 10:01 am
When Einstein said ‘Science without Religion is lame’, it was about hundred years ago. Einstein should have been present TODAY and then he would have understood how his statement was outdated today.
LikeLike
January 31, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Well, if Einstein, as you say, is too long ago, let’s see what Mandela, who is very much around, has to say about Mr M K Gandhi.
http://www.tolstoyfarm.com/mandela_on_gandhi.htm
To share another quote from Daisaku Ikeda:
The image we have of Gandhi the activist stands in marked contrast with that of the revolutionary, the child of the radical ideologies that have held sway over so much of the twentieth century. Bolshevism, for example, has produced in great quantities the kind of hot-blooded revolutionary who, while dedicated and idealistic, has been given to narrow-mindedness and dogmatism. All too often such revolutionaries have not hesitated in their resort to violence when they have felt that it was required to realize their beliefs. In his most well-known work, Doctor Zhivago, the Russian poet Boris Pasternak denounces the apostles of this kind of radical ideology saying that they “have never understood a thing about life . . . have never felt its breath, its heartbeat.” 8
Saumyendranath Tagore, nephew of the poet, was apparently a tragic example of this malady. Although originally an adherent of Gandhism, he later became a communist and came to criticize virulently, and work against, Gandhi. In his diaries, Romain Rolland describes the young man who had visited him thus: “He is without doubt a generous idealist, very sincere and ready to sacrifice everything for his faith. Which makes it all the more sad to see these fine forces, intelligent and pure, hurling themselves against the greatest and purest of Indians. The fatal madness afflicting the souls of individuals swept up in the whirlwind of revolutions! “
LikeLike
February 2, 2011 at 11:26 am
Mandela is no Einstein.
Mr. Gandhi and Mr Godse are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. They will nullify each other when they meet.
I support neither Mr. Gandhi’s Non-violence/his philosophy nor Mr. Godse’s Religious extremism.
I’m somewhere in the middle living a balanced life with a Common Sense and with a Scientific Base.
As for all those quotes from those Greats about the greatness of Mr. Gandhi: Please explain them to the Common Man who was being churned in between Gandhi and the religious divide in those bloody days of 1946.
The only thing aspect of Mr. Gandhi I admired was that he did not divide people on the lines of religion.
By the way, did you notice in ‘Hey Ram’ when Mr. Gandhi is hit by Mr. Godse’s bullet what the Om Puri’s character which is present there, requests to the Gandhi followers? He says: “Hinsa mat kijiye! Hum bapuji ki santaan hai. Sari duniya ki nazare hum par hai. Hum hinsa ka jawab Ahinsa se theyte hai.”
BUT WHO THE F**K from those meek and gentle Gandhians are in the mood to listen to him ?? No one. They all are shamelessly hell-bent on killing Mr. Godse.
That’s enough foresightedness from the movie ‘Hey Ram’ for me. If one can’t expect the so-called ‘Gandhians’ to follow their own principles under pressure-cooker situations, then how do they expect the whole world to do so?
See? the Eagle and The Rabbit theory still holds in pressure situations.
Mr. Godse is just the result of the failed tactics used by Mr. Gandhi in handling the delicate situations in India in those times. I’m not advocating Violence or Godse. I’m just saying Violence is a part of life and it’s channelized version is necessary sometimes for the survival of a living being.
Even plants commit violence, even they eat other living beings when in shortage of proteins.
The example of Einstein is a mis-fit example you are providing in this context of human behavior. I suggest you read something from the other Science-Man – Mr. Charles Darwin. You will get a clearer picture of behavior of Humans.
On second thoughts…
…may be Mr. Gandhi suffered the fate he suffered, because he was too generous towards a particular Stone-Age religion which is **NOT** willing to adapt itself to today’s fast-developing professional world ??
May be he was too sympathetic towards this particular Stone-Age religion which is responsible for today’s major international political issues: The Kashmir issue, The Russia-Chechnya problem, The middle-East vs Israel conflict, The W-H-O-L-E of Pakistan, The Iran issue, The Iraq issue, The 9/11 WTC incident, The Britain train bombings, The 2006 Mumbai train bombings, The 26/11 Taj Hotel incident ??
Please go and explain Mr. Gandhi and his policies to the unfortunate victims of this massacres. I only hope for your sake, that they are in a mood to listen to what Ho Chin Minh and Luther King had to say about Mr. Gandhi.
BTW, I do care about what Einstein or Darwin have to say about human behavior as long as it is not related to politics.
LikeLike
February 4, 2011 at 12:58 am
You are quite correct in pointing out the law of violence as the law of the beast, and I respect Darwin as a sound scientist but I wonder how right you are to quote him as an advocate of violence in human affairs. For the rest, I will have to politely express my disagreement with your point of view and also Mr.Kamal Hassan’s who churned out one more potboiler. Attenborough and Benegal were more true to the phenomenon of Gandhi. Few world figures deny the extraordinary nature of the man. As for those trampled underfoot in 46, let me confide that my own family travelled from Lahore to Amritsar in that period. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint. Hot blood is a fashionable ornament in contemporary India.
LikeLike
February 4, 2011 at 1:02 am
AND, I may add, the teeming armies of Gandhi-bashers find in him a convenient scapegoat to pin responsibility for everything that is not right.
LikeLike
February 4, 2011 at 8:26 am
You may also be aware that the title of The title “Father of the Nation” was given by none other than Netaji, in a broadcast from Rangoon. It is a popular misconception that we become greater by denigrating the great. The law of non violence is not ouymoded but subtle and hard to grasp and futuristic, whereas the law of violence is easily understood every time a cat devours a rat.
LikeLike
February 4, 2011 at 8:29 am
Your appendage of Mr to Godse betrays a certain mindset.
LikeLike
February 5, 2011 at 7:46 am
@SM Rana:
Obviously. If Mr. Gandhi has been hyped up and credited enough to have achieved the whole of Indian Freedom struggle all by himself and if nobody else mattered…”Dey dee humey azaadi bina khadag bina dhaal,…” the he ALONE should be held responsible for all the wrongs done to India till today since the last 60 years or so.
And how can you guarantee that the followers of Gandhi then (AND TODAY) were as honest as Mr. Gandhi himself??? Can you ?? NO. Or else being a Gandhian would have been a sure-shot formula for winning a Nobel Peace prize, isn’t it?
And that’s the only reason I said: The ****ONLY**** 2 faults that I find in Mr. Gandhi is that: 1. he tried to please ALL people ALL the time (including his followers, The Congress, The Opposition and that Stone-Age religion). 2. He should have allowed the followers of that Stone-Age religion (which has been causing and will always keep causing havoc all the time) to leave India while they were doing so in 1946 and not just said: “Bhai, Jisko jaana hai jao, jisko rehna hai raho.” ACTUALLY ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS KEEP HIS MOUTH TIGHT SHUT THEN AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME. And we wouldn’t have faced the major terror issues we are facing AT LEAST in India. Or my friend wouldn’t have died in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings (I missed the train by only about say half an hour.) ***I HOPE YOU UNDERSTOOD WHAT I’M ACTUALLY POINTING OUT TO***.
Of course I agree with you on most points that Mr. Gandhi was himself a great man no doubt. But to say that he was God, as innocent as a lamb and had no blood on his hands and achieved freedom ONE-HANDED is a bit stretching it a too far. Especially when one cannot guarantee of any man sitting just next to Mr. Gandhi and calling himself a Gandhian.
Even in the courts do they attach the title ‘Mr.’ to every one involved in the case. Irrespective of whether they are victims or accused, proven guilty or not.
LikeLike
February 5, 2011 at 6:10 pm
I am afraid that your image of the freedom struggle is based too much on the movies and hearsay and not on authenticable sources. I would suggest Bipan Chandra’s “The Struggle for Freedom” as an eminent scholar’s fruit of lifelong study and Nehru’s Autobiography as the account of a first hand participant.Richard Attenborough’s film is also commendable, if you forgive his skin colour.
Your para 1.Demonisation and deification are two sides of the same coin, equally nonsensical. MKG remarked that the moment he became an object of worship, he would be finished.
Your para2Martin Luther King Jr, Aung San Suu Ky, and Mandela are three avowed Gandhians who got the Nobel Prize, if such be your yardstick, not to speak of many undeserving cases who won it too.
Your para3
” he tried to please ALL people ALL the time”…he was notorious for listening to his own inner convictions at the cost of displeasing the entire congress. The entire Congress was shocked when he suddenly called of the Non Co-operation Movement in 1921 after the Chauri Chaura incident.
“stone age religion” Which religion are you referring to and what jet-age religion are you comparing it to, lest it be the law of the jungle, or the survival of the fittest, or Darwinism, which is sound science, but not religion. Science deals with facts, religion with values.
“Bhai, Jisko jaana hai jao, jisko rehna hai raho.” From where did you pick up this inane quotation. It is neither Gandhi’s firm tone nor his wa of thinking. I believe it is from the much lauded film under discussion. It’s helplessness and resigned tone is the very antithesis of MKG and indicates the shameful extent of distortion of the historical well recorded accounts.
“we wouldn’t have faced the major terror issues we are facing” So the poor chap is to be blamed for 9/11 too.
“Even in the courts do they attach the title ‘Mr.’ to every one involved in the case. ” No doubt even one’s father’s assassin has to be addressed with civility and you get full marks on that account.
LikeLike
February 6, 2011 at 10:26 pm
@S M Rana:
Values are in fact based on Facts. But the day when Values go the reverse way and try to enforce their way on Facts and try to pervert Facts that is the day when the those values (Religion) should be discarded. And I am talking of Islam.
And Human being IS a Beast. Otherwise he is a chlorophyll-producing Plant. So there’s no denying that fact and the fact that violence is an integral part of Homo Sapiens.
Anyway, debates aside, I never wanted to prove myself to be an expert at the cost of sacrificing facts. So anyway thanks from the bottom of my heart for exposing me to the Greatness of the Man, MKG.
I’m no avid history-reader because it never was in my career path.
Even if you watched this movie you will find out that in fact Kamal Haasan’s character ACKNOWLEDGES the greatness of MKG at the end of the movie. In fact his own character is the one that Mr. Haasan present itself as the antagonist at the climax.
I meant to connect MKG to the events occuring ONLY in India. I mean any man who is said to have so much heavy impact on Indian Independence definitely has to have had an impact on the ugly turn of events in today’s India. Intentionally or unintentionally.
Just some questions for the sake of knowledge:
1. What is your opinion about the so-called Gandhians (Congress or non-Congress), then and even today? What do you think about the extent to which they practice what they preach?
2. What is the actual impact of MKG on today’s India?
3. Who do you think is responsible for all the ugly turn of events related to terrorism in India SINCE independence. Somebody has to be responsible for it, right?
4. What was MKG’s attitude towards Islam?
LikeLike
February 7, 2011 at 12:20 am
Your Questionnaire
1. I don’t see any.
2. Negligible.
3. You and me.
4. He didn’t hate people by virtue of their beliefs.
LikeLike
July 4, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Hey ram indeed require such analysis as yours so people can appreciate them. Like yours i came across another fine review. I want to share it with you. http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/HEYRAM.html
I always felt that Kamal should stop acting as the characters he can depict are narrowing owing to his age. And he should be into directing, with many stories to be told in myriad ways he could present. It is right time as well with such good actors we have at present.
Instead of waiting for directors to come up with stories for him, he could direct a film a year with good team around.
Thanks for the excellent work.
LikeLike
July 4, 2011 at 11:00 pm
You’re welcome, Shanmugavel.
LikeLike
November 1, 2011 at 10:18 am
Hey Srikanth,
I watched Hey!Ram yesterday and immediately read your analysis word by word which took me more than 2 hours.Simply MINDBLOWING.
Kamal Haasan is defintely the underrated genius Indian cinema,leave Tamil Cinema has produced(atleast in direction)…..
Now,Hey!Ram is the best movie i have watched in terms of direction and its screenplay.
One thing i like to add is that:
You mentioned saket ram in the middle of night seeing through the window a group of devotees singing praises of young krishna…. It means more…. they were actually singing thirupaavai and according to traditional brahmin customs, the vaishnavites do so during the month of margazhi…(tamil month coinciding wiht january….) this indicates the time is nearer to gandhi’s assasination.
LikeLike
February 15, 2012 at 12:00 am
hey srikanth,
wat an exhaustive analysis, awesome to the core.
even minute details have been projected clearly.
u deserve an appalause.
it took me 3 hrs to complete the reading.
keep writing-deepak
LikeLike
May 4, 2012 at 3:52 am
Terrific dude…hats off to you…Hey Ram is a brilliant film..this is is kamal hassans best film a nd one of the greatest indian movie….i mean…come on…how can Sholay be better than this..??..Unfortunately indian audiences still prefer masala films….Films like Hey ram define quality cinema…Strangely even prominent critics blasted the film…there was this stupid critic who said Hey Ram has only kamal hassan in every scene and he sidelines every other actor..the film is a flashback from kamal’s prespective so obviously kamal had to b there..this was another terrific piece of direction….i am gonna watch this again…thanks again bro ..!
LikeLike
July 30, 2012 at 8:35 am
Awesome work…My all time favorite movie, I deciphered probably a quarter or little more of what you presented after watching it first time. I did watched after that twice. However, your article gave me the entire details of this excellent piece of work. Long live the Gandhi of Indian Cinema Kamal Haasan SIR. Definitely will watch it once again. Congrats for your great work.
LikeLike
July 31, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Thanks a lot, Karthik.
LikeLike
October 3, 2012 at 5:27 pm
i happened to watch he ram ! last evening on gandhi jayanthi – not the 1st time though. was curious to find out how it was received back in 2000 (?) when it was released and hence googled for some reviews. ; saw yr blog and must say that it was elaborate and am sure kamal himself would have said so. will watch the movie in a new light – again
LikeLike
December 11, 2012 at 10:42 pm
very good article
Every little nuance has been caught in detail by you.
I have watched in many a times, i am amazed that most of my views have been reflected here. I have the screen play book of this movie – and have multiple copies of DVD – bought one after another in search of a very good print and sound quality:
Well written sir
Siva
LikeLike
January 1, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Thanks, Siva. Happy New Year.
LikeLike
January 19, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Hi ! Great work. A great film evokes a lingering feeling in our mind for least ten days. And if in india we will immerse in routine masalas and set to forget the good movies easily. But I don’t know if somebody thinks about a movie after so many years and discuss in a blog and there are atleast hundred to rejoice it and accept it, this is a great sign and the said movie should be termed as an EPIC . It can’t be redone or remake as the efforts are not redoable.
HATS OFF TO KAMAL HASSAN for giving an EPIC that every indian can take proud.
LikeLike
February 3, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Thanks, Ram.
LikeLike
February 6, 2013 at 7:07 pm
It was liberating to watch Vasundara Das speak English and open about her love, as passion thereof, for her husband. Its an eyeopener for the patriarchs (both men and women) who say anything legitimized by an “Andha kaalathla..”
Thank you so much for your work. Hope it is published.
LikeLike
December 23, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Brilliantly reviewed will be an understatement sir. I would consider this whole review as a tribute to Mr. Kamal Haasan !!! Thanks a lot for the sheer pleasure you had provided to us through this analysis.
LikeLike
December 23, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Thank you for your kind words, Akashis.
Cheers!
LikeLike
August 11, 2015 at 1:25 am
Oh my God. I use to reserve my comments for a better articulation. But now, I can’t. Being a kamalhaasan fan, am on cloud nine in this midnight. Great effort by the analyst.you Rocked man!. From the bottom of my heart,I will be happy to see your works in future. Be in touch.
LikeLike
July 29, 2016 at 11:38 am
Mr. Kamal Haasan is epitome of indian movie n cinema, unfortunately “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own land” Hey Ram is best movie ever produced in the land of Baratha….but Indians are stuck in usual masala churned for commercial hit and Indian taste..
LikeLike
September 2, 2017 at 4:06 pm
Will you review some of his old movies like Mahanadhi or DM?
LikeLike
March 23, 2018 at 6:17 pm
OMG I have no words to describe how I even feel right now ! Your analysis deserves an Oscar coz it’s that amazing ! I really hope Kamal Sir would have gotten the chance to read this amazing piece of work ! Big fan of you now !
LikeLike
April 18, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Reading this 10 years after it had been written. I’m just a great grandson of a great man, but you are a great writer.
I’ve seen this movie atleast half a dozen times for its my favourite tamil movie along with another Kamal Hassan classic – Anbe Sivam
And this analysis has been near perfect for a perfect movie. Can you please do the same for Anbe Sivam too?
LikeLike
August 29, 2020 at 1:08 pm
I was never a big fan of Gandhi. I always used to hold him in a bad light for all the things he could have and did not do. Hey Ram made me realise my folly of not appreciating the man for all that he did. I revisit this movie every year on October the second, Gandhi’s Birthday. Each and every time I find something new to be awestruck about. Some minute detail somewhere hiding, visible only to those who seek and that detail will most probably be that which you need in that specific state of mind you are watching. A true masterpiece that got released way before it should have been.
LikeLike