Director: S. Shankar
Story: S. Shankar, Sujatha
Cast: Kamal Hassan, Manisha Koirala, Sukanya
Music: A. R. Rahman
Time: 185 minutes
Bottom-line: Could have been executed so much better
I know I am in the minority here, so I am going to get myself some protection from the curses… I found Indian to be very poorly made. India’s submission the Oscars for Best Foreign Film, and winner of 3 National awards for Best Actor, Visual Effects and Art Direction, Indian was at that time, the highest grossing Tamil film. Starring Kamal Hassan (in a double role) and Manisha Koirala in the lead roles, this is a story of a vigilante who plans to root out corrupt officials in the country.
Chandra Bose aka Chandru (Hassan) is a middle-man working outside the RTO office, by doing under-the-table paperwork for people to get licenses and permits. His love interest is Aishwarya (Koirala), an animal rights activist. She is jealous of Sapna (Urmila Mathondkar) – the daughter of an RTO official to whom Chandru has to suck up to, in order to get a job in the office – who has a crush on Chandru. Meanwhile, Senapathy (Hassan) is a 70-year-old man, who is an expert in an ancient Indian form of martial arts called Varma kalai. As we later get to know, he is an ex-freedom fighter and also Chandru’s father. We see him stab a corrupt government official to death, and the police is hot on his trail. Later, he even broadcasts a live murder on TV. Determined to eradicate the concept of bribery, Senapathy – calling himself “Indian” – has a mission in his hand. How does he go about it?
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| Hassan as Senapathy |
One characteristic feature of Shankar’s films is his grandiose; he is like the James Cameron of the Tamil film industry. And that includes the strengths of Cameron, and the stuff I hate. To start with, this has to be the worst Goundamani-Senthil “comedy track” (in quotes) ever. For the amount of screen time given to them, I expected at least some laughs and quotable jokes, but I got none. Next, who let Urmila Mathondkar in? As if one annoying actress in the form of Manisha Koirala wasn’t enough – at least her character was important – Urmila’s acting was equally irritating, and her character could have been done away with. 185 minutes is way too long. If Shankar’s main intention was to get the idea out, he could have made a clean film with less than two hours of screen time.
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| Hassan as Chandru, Urmila as Sapna (centre) and Koirala as Aishwarya |
The highlight, of course, is Kamal Hassan – winning his second National Award for acting, after Nayakan – or to be precise, the Hassan who plays Senapathy. With stylish moves, cunning ploys and powerful lines, this character is a wake-up call to the Indians. The part of the film that shows his young life in the Indian freedom movement has been captured beautifully on screen – with amazing sets and visuals. Sukanya, who plays his wife, has done well, but I would have preferred another actress playing her older self. While Kamal’s makeup is immaculate, that of Sukanya’s is terrible!
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| Sukanya as Amrita (all the pre-independence scenes are presented in black-and-white) |
(Spoiler) I, for one, find it a hard to believe that a man can be so stringent on rules and honesty when his own daughter is a few minutes away from death. I am not supporting bribery, but it doesn’t seem realistic that the first time Senapathy encounters bribery is when his daughter is dying (how did this guy get his driver's license?!). He could have started his mission after saving her; the corruption wouldn’t have lessened anyway. And if Senapathy is so insistent on doing things lawfully, doesn't he realise killing is also illegal? The ending is also disappointing. After willing to rid the country of corruption, why would Senapathy himself escape to a foreign land?! Where did all the patriotism go? (On a side note, I liked how his escape at the airstrip was similar to the unknown fate of Subhash Chandra Bose in reality).
Overall, Indian was not at all impressive. With excessive screen time, horrible acting by most and a plot that could have been so much better, the 2 stars go entirely to Kamal’s performance and the visuals for the scenes of the independence struggle. That’s all there is.
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