Indian

Hindustani is a very good film with an unusual storyline. Kamal Hasan rocked in his double role as a freedom fighter and the freedom fighter's son. He is a brilliant actor. I hope that Bollywood directors would try to utilize his talents like S. Shankar did. His Hindi has also improved drastically. Manisha Koirala is good but not great. Urmila Matondkar is a notch above Manisha and she shows a flair for comedy the very first time with this film. I loved her scenes with Kamal Hassan and Manisha though her character doesn't come across as full-fledged at the end. Sukanya as the old Kamal Hassan's wife and Kasthuri as his daughter were good too. Overall, a must watch!

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?

Probably one of Kamal Hassan's best movies ever. It has a good story line to it, different from the usual Indian movies. For once there is no real bad guy in the movie. Yup that is true; the movie shows the evils in the society, which is the society itself.

The cinematography is the movie is great. The locations are too. If there would be anything I would recommend is that to drop the songs, thought they are great and part of Indian movie culture, it really takes away the seriousness from the movie.

The makeup is the movie is great, kamal really does look like someone that is that old. The fight scenes look just as cheesy as they usually do in any Indian movie.

But hey it is great entertainment for the family.

PS. Do not try the stunts in the movie at home.

"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