Hey Ram
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| Hey Ram | |
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| Directed by | Kamal Haasan |
| Produced by | Kamal Haasan |
| Written by | Kamal Haasan Manohar Shyam Joshi (Hindi dialogue) |
| Starring | Kamal Haasan Shah Rukh Khan Hema Malini Rani Mukerji Girish Karnad Naseeruddin Shah Vasundhara Das |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
| Cinematography | Tirru |
| Editing by | Renu Saluja |
| Distributed by | Raajkamal Films International |
| Release date(s) | February 18, 2000 |
| Running time | 202 min. (Tamil version) 199 min. (Hindi version) |
| Language | Tamil, Hindi |
| IMDb profile | |
Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan. A period drama told in flashback, the semi-fictional plot centres around India's Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
The film was a box office failure in India when released (thanks in part to numerous bans by local distributors weary of its heavy-hitting themes), but garnered positive reviews from critics who praised its performances and technical prowess, but steered clear of voicing an opinion on its artistic content.
Taglines
"An experiment with truth."
Contents |
[edit] Setting
The film is about a protagonist's journey from religious hatred to love with the theme of the partition of India in the background. Its relevance in the present Indian environment clouded by religious extremism was widely unrecognized. This is the story of Saket Ram, as narrated by his grandson. The film takes place as Ram, a retired archeologist, lies on the deathbed, on December 6, 1999, the 7th anniversary of the destruction of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
[edit] Synopsis
The movie begins at present day with Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan), an 89-year-old South Indian Brahmin who is dying. The scene reverts back to the past as Saket remembers the 1940's, when he and his good friend, Amjad Ali Khan (Shahrukh Khan) were archeologists working together under their boss, Mortimer Wheeler, in Mohenjo-daro (Indus River 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".[citation needed] Saket goes to Calcutta and is swept into the madness. In one instance, Saket saves an innocent Hindu girl from the hands of a barbaric Muslim gang. When he goes back 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, goes completely mad and kills the Muslims who raped and killed his wife.
Outside his house, he runs into another Brahmin, Sriram Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni), who is a part of a Hindu militant group determined to eliminate Muslims, and assassinate Gandhi for what they perceived to be his treachery towards India (Gandhi wanted Hindus and Muslims to co-exist peacefully, but Abhyankar and the movement he's in believe that India is only for Hindus and Muslims must be expelled). He soon joins this group of militant Hindus (which is loosely based on organizations like Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal) and loses sense of himself, falling victim to the chaos and religious hatred around him. He is also urged to marry again and agrees to do it reluctantly. He weds Mythili (Vasundhara Das).
Saket comes to the belief that Mahatma Gandhi (Naseeruddin Shah) is solely responsible for the division of India and of the two religions. Hindu fundamentalists, including Saket, are furious and plot to murder Gandhi. However, Saket, after several incidents including Amjad Ali Khan's death, changes his mind about Gandhi. He decides against assassinating the spiritual leader, and asks for forgiveness. Soon afterwards, Gandhi is killed by another assassin, Nathuram Godse. Gandhi's dying words are Hey Ram (meaning "Oh, God").
From then, Saket Ram lives by Gandhism. While the 89-year-old Saket Ram is taken to the hospital, he finds bomb blasts in the city due to Hindu-Muslim problem. He asks "Innuma (Even now)?". They were forced by the police to be taken into an underground place for their security, but Saket Ram dies there.
[edit] Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Saket Ram
- Shah Rukh Khan as Amjad Ali Khan
- Hema Malini as Ambujam Iyengar
- Rani Mukerji as Aparna Ram
- Atul Kulkarni as Shriram Abhayankar
- Vasundhara Das as Mythili Iyengar
- Girish Karnad as Uppilli Iyengar
- Saurabh Shukla as Lalwani
- Kavignar Vaali as Bhashyam Iyengar
- Naseeruddin Shah as Mahatma Gandhi
- Written and Directed by: Kamal Haasan
- Produced by: N.Chandrahasan, Kamal Haasan
- Music: Ilaiyaraaja
- Executive Producer: D.N.Subramaniyan
- Cinematography: S.Thiru
- Edited by: Renu Saluja
- Art Director: Sabu Cyril
[edit] Awards
The film has won the following awards since its release:
2000 National Film Awards (India)
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Supporting Actor - Atul Kulkarni
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Costume Design - Sarika
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Special Effects - Manthra
[edit] Trivia
- Rather than shoot one version of the film in Tamil before dubbing it for its Hindi release, director Kamal Haasan opted to film two separate versions back-to-back - once in Tamil, and again in Hindi. Differences between the two releases are minimal, with only a few pieces of dialogue being given to different characters and with a greater amount of English dialogue in the Tamil version.
- Though it is popularly believed that Gandhi uttered "hey! Ram" when he was shot by Godse, there are, of course claims that Mahathma died instantly, owing to his old-age, and he never said "hey! Ram" then. Incidentally the scene in this movie doesn't feature Nassiruddin Shah, uttering "hey! Ram" when he is shot.
- Hindi film star Shah Rukh Khan reportedly had so much trouble speaking his lines for the Tamil version of the movie that his dialogue had to be written phonetically in English on cue cards.
- Shruti K. Haasan (daughter of Kamal Haasan), makes a cameo appearance as Vallabhai Patel's daughter.
- The songs in the movie were composed by Ilaiyaraaja, which were highly acclaimed and ahead of times. Songs composed by another music director were already composed and shot. Ilaiyaraaja had to compose and score for the pre-shot song scenes.
