Hey Ram (2000)

hyped garbage

A Masterpiece!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movies' description upfront is a bit misleading. Although the crux is that the hero(Saketram's) wife getting raped and killed after which he has been misled that the backbone of these clashes was Gandhiji.. the essential CRUX was that it Describes " how the STANCE OF SAKET RAM(KAMAL HASSAN) changes when he meets the Person called GANDHI and this being evident to the Hindu extreme group send out Godse TO KILL GANDHI FOR WHICH KAMAL WAS SENT INITIALLY" we can say they used his depression to their advantage.. on the whole it Actually MAGNIFIES the image of Gandhi and not diminishes (As claimed by many during its release) we have missed celebrating a really great movie from a CONNOISSEUR of acting. IF possible please change the description at least now so that people are guided well.

I hesitate to call this a great film, because it has too many flaws (I was particularly annoyed by the "old Saketh Ram" scenes). Nor is it a film I yearn to see again, like many other films. So, why a 10 -- a rating, I've only given to 4 other films?Because, more than a dozen years after I first saw it, it remains the most powerful and thought-provoking film I have seen. For answering two questions I had, and also for its powerful transformation. First the questions:I had always wondered when I read about riots and seemingly common people going berserk and killing people from another religion, "how could someone kill an innocent person just because they were Sikh/ Muslim / Hindu?" In dialogues with friends, it was easy to pass that away with "It is the uneducated, poor, dis-satisfied -- led by a bunch of thugs," and remain comfortable with the knowledge, "That could never happen to me."This movie shows with amazing clarity how a normal peace-loving academic, with no communal feelings, can turn into a killing machine, dispatching Muslims without a shred of remorse. Powerful scenes with the slaughter of the protagonist's wife and his subsequent conversion to avenging angel...The second question I had -- I am an unabashed Gandhi-phile, rating him the greatest human that ever lived -- is how could a Hindu want to kill Gandhi? Again, this movie brilliantly depicts how a section of society could fixate on Gandhi as the root of all of India's ills, and determine that his execution was the solution to India's ills. These aren't raving lunatics plotting to kill Gandhi, but patriots -- misguided surely, but patriots in their own minds -- who are willing to kill Gandhi for the good of the nation. Saketh's conversion to the self- appointed assassin is totally believable.Finally, apparently a lot of people were upset that this film showed anti-Gandhi sentiments (apparently the irony of stoning theaters to protest a film seemingly disparaging the Apostle of Nonviolence was lost on the protesters). Here is where, I disagree, and the single reason why this film lingers in my mind. (Spoilers follow:)THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST PRO-GANDHI FILM EVER MADE. Yes, even more than Attenborough's deification of the Mahatma.Yes, the first 99% of the film is profoundly anti-Gandhi, but at the very end of the film, when Saket Ram repents and goes to seek Gandhi's forgiveness transforms this film completely. Because Saketh Ram's change of heart is driven not by Gandhi himself, but the actions of Amjad Khan (Shahrukh Khan in one of his best roles), Saketh's friend, and a true Gandhian. And that transformation is so powerful and authentic, that the film remains fresh in my mind today -- can't wait to see it with my children. And for that reason, flaws and all, I give it a 10.

Hey Ram is the story of Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan), an archaeologist. He is on a dig in pre-partition Harappa with his buddy Amjad (Shah Rukh Khan) when communal violence erupts in the region and the dig is closed down. Saket Ram goes off to Calcutta to visit his new wife Aparna (Rani Mukherjee). Calcutta is in chaos with religious strife and Ram's wife is brutally assaulted and killed by some Muslim men a few days after his return. He becomes unstable and seeks out the perpetrators of the crime and deals with them. While wandering the streets Ram meets with Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni) who tells him that his family has suffered a similar fate and that the one man responsible for all this is MK Gandhi. Ram goes off to Tamil Nadu and after seeing Maithili (Vasundhara Das) agrees to marry her. All the time he is still traumatized by Aparna's death and planning revenge. When Abhyankar is paralyzed in a polo accident Ram vows to take his place as the killer of the Mahatma. He moves to Delhi and there he re-encounters his friend Amjad. Now hatred for Muslims and his prior closeness to Amjad are at war and Ram must choose his path - will it be the road to revenge or redemption? The story is excellent and the movie manages to retain its grip on the viewer for over three hours. The direction is for the most part very good. There are a few strange moments that seemed unnecessary to me - why is there the surreal stuff when Ram is shown with Maithili? The Marathi dance seemed unnecessary. Why were the bullets in a cartridge in a pre-partition handgun? Can one talk after one's throat is sliced open? But these are indeed minor quibbles in an overall excellent film.The background score is a bit intrusive, the songs not memorable. Maybe this is not the best of the Maestro Illayaraja. The beginning song/dance in the club is sort of silly, certainly not needed. Surely bonding between friends can be shown in other ways.Acting is very good throughout. For me the outstanding performance was given by Rani Mukherjee. She breathed life into Aparna and was at her most attractive and charming as a Bengali Bodhu! Kamal was very good. He showed love, passion, anger, rage, madness very well. And what looks at nearly age 50! The man is awesome. Shah Rukh gave a great performance as Amjad - a very restrained and balanced performance that in the end showed us which path Ram would choose and why. Atul Kulkarni was awesome as the fanatical Abhyanker. Vasundhara Das was luminous and did an excellent job playing Maithili. Naseer Shah as Gandhi, Hema Malini as the mother were all very good. In fact there was no bad performance in the film.This is a fine piece of movie making and deserves all the accolades it got. If you have not yet seen this film then you are in for a rare treat.

its a real good one.!! a reality show telling viewer what makes a human worse than a cruel and mad animal..and then again shows that still humanity is live like always.. and why our world is best place to live...certainly because our goodwill.. A reality show,fully mature and a search for the truth.its a great story telling with even greater acting by all its characters. it may some time make you think that path of gandhiji was not right,but eventually just like the hero knees down you would think that whatever Mr. Gandhi had in his hand he did his best. thanks to Mr. kamal haasan for his i think best Hindi movie and one of my best one too.. and finally i got it worthy enough to give it 9.9 out of 10.