Indian

Indian was clearly director Shankar's magnum opum and India's entry for the Oscar. This utterly brilliant and gripping film explores the horror of bureaucracy, corruption and bribery in modern India and its effect on society. Even locals themselves will be shocked as reality reflects on their TV screens in this movie. Whats shocking is the quality of the flashback footage in sepia of the colonial times where Indian rebels fought against the British. Such superb quality, story and acting is truly not seen anywhere else in any Indian-made film. However, as an entry for the Oscars, it would need some polishing up. I highly regret not seeing this film in the theatre when it originally released. If seeing this film a decade after it released, on poor quality print, left such a positive impression, I wonder what the impression would have been back then?

The film was meticulously made and its hard to find a flaw in the movie making. Kamal was the best actor in India and Shankar the Best Director and ARR always the best when comes to music. Shankar also should have got a National award for the film. Need more movies from the 3 combination and add to that Vairamuthu, Thotta Dharani etc. The movie should be treated in the genre of "Lagaan". No doubt the film was the biggest hit. The film was more than 3 hours, but not even once the viewers will feel boredom. I have seen that movie lot of times guess more than 10 times still I would like to see the movie again. Its an all time great movie. Nedumudi Venu needs an appreciation. Also full marks to all the supporting cast. Everyone had played their part well. A complete movie that was ever produced by Kollywood.

I highly recommend to watch this movie for two type of audiences- first, those who expect a good thriller from Indian cinema (of course not only Bollywood) and second, those who have only heard Kamal Hassan's name but never watched his any single movie yet. Kamal parts here dual role, one as an old man (Senapathy) who stops the corrupted people, and the other as his son (Chandru) who works in transport department concerning licenses. Kamal did brilliant job in this movie by offering both the roles of a father and a son. Perhaps, if examined clearly this is his career reflecting movie. There are some high definition visual scenes where we can see the real freedom fighters like Subash Chandra Bose and Senapathy together. This is a remarkable work from director Shankar, or say in Indian cinema. His directorial works are highly appreciable. For action lovers also this movie is a good reference.

In romantic words, this is a love-triangle movie due to the presence of Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar, both who love the same Chandru. They did their own works, and run the movie. But again, this movie falls under three categories- thriller, political (mixed with social) and patriotic as the title itself denotes. I watched countless times, but never felt bored as it is highly entertaining for the three hours continuously. It has two versions, original one in Tamil and another in dubbed Hindi version. In Hindi version there is a slight uneasiness with the uttering words of the actors in their lips as those do not match exactly, since it is a dubbed version.

"Hindustani" is a Hindi Version of a Tamil Movie and was also an official entry to Oscars in 1996. The story of the movie involves the increasing corruption in government offices and how corruption has engulfed the public and country. For cleaning the corruption, a veteran freedom fighter, who had fought for the country against the British ruler, sharpens his weapons and kills every corrupt official he encounters, including his own son.

The story which the film tells is pretty questionable. Is killing every corrupt official a right solution. Despite a very improbable story, the film remains just compulsively watchable and you just feel like clapping when every corrupt official is killed; which explains how important it has been to wipe the roots of corruption. Kamal Hassan in double role is the biggest strength of the film. Especially in the role of an old fighter against corruption, Kamal Hassan excels and you just become compelled to clap for him.

The film is pretty overlong though and many scenes and sequences seem to have no connection with the main theme. Only one-third of the film comes to the main theme and is the flawless segment of the film. The film uses superb special effects in the choreography and in the flashbacks showing the historic war against the British Rulers. Urmila Matondkar and Manisha Koirala have very small roles in the film which they have done well and added glamour to the movie. Overall, despite overlong and flawed, the film shall be remembered for a relevant issue the film raises and an excellent performance from Kamal Hassan.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Hindustani is a movie about a man who loses his daughter to the condition that is aroused as a result of corrupt officials. He wants to get things done the right way, but he realizes is that the officials could have prevented only if they cared for a person's life. The result of this he becomes a serial killer of corrupt officials. The movie also contains story of his wife and son and women who he likes. She is a blue cross society member, thus an animal lover. Sadly his son chose's wrong means for his development just like those corrupt officials. This results in ending which shows son killed by his own father.

It is very much true that some people will get better only if nourished with fear. I liked the way how character of Hindustani is constructed. He used to be a freedom fighter who was expert in a fighting art from ancient India, thus capable of killing a person easily. I did not like the masala part which included his son much. I wanted to see more of Hindustani. I liked the way how his justice prevailed even against his family members. He punished his own son for being corrupt, thus setting a new level of fear which was on par despite of any government policy. A film recommended highly.

Rating: 8.0/10