Sunday, October 18, 2009

20 Iconic On-screen Couples of Tamil Cinema

Disclaimers:
The list is not arrived at after a comprehensive survey of the entire film history and is only a reflection of the author’s tiny acquaintance with the cinema of the region and hence the list is undoubtedly personal.

It’s real sad that none of Gemini Ganesan’s (hailed the “Kadhal Mannan” aka “The king of romance”) movies could make it to my list, the only reason being ... I haven’t watched any of his films except “Then Nilavu” and that too as a kid. And, some of the iconic couples who won’t be seen in the following post for the same reason are, MGR – Saroja Devi, Sivaji – Padmini, Gemini – Vyjayanthimala, Gemini – Savitri etc.

And, No prize for counting the number of times, the word “Chemistry” is used in the post.

So, What’s this Iconic couple stuff, anyhow ?
- Ever since cinema dawned as the principal entertainment medium for people, “Love” seems to be the one common aspect that both the film makers and the audience are obsessed with. From the days of MKThiagaraja Bhagavathar & PUChinnappa till “Vaaranam Aayiram”, romance-themed movies have always had a remarkable shelf life and entertainment value. And naturally, when a film captivates the audience, its protagonists or the lead actors stay with us. Art imitates life or life imitates art ... No, not a debate ... but there shouldn’t be any ambiguity on the fact that beautiful stories inspire lives (Be it any form of artistry – poem, novel or cinema). So, the following lengthy write-up is a result of my decision to relive and revive some of the wonderful on-screen couples who entertained us all these years.

Musicals - Our brand of cinema is very different from the other world cinema in a way that almost all our films are “Musicals”. Yeah, you can count the songless films in our film history, probably with the fingers of your hands. Songs are always seen by the west as needless hindrance to the flow of the movie – but honestly, there’s no underestimation of the importance of songs to our cinema. Our culture is distinctively different that, stage-plays and “Therukkoothu” were a part of our lives earlier and so when cinema took over at later stages, songs can’t be ruled out. There were instances when our cinema had more than 70 songs and that almost whole of the narrative is expressed via musicals. But on a purely personal note, item numbers and introduction songs are something that should be shown the red-card, I feel. So, why is this all said now ? ... Look down the following list and you will realise the importance of the melodious romantic songs and catchy duets in substantiating whatever is not said via the dialogues.

So, Into the list now ... (In no particular order ... The numbering is done only to provide an ordely view).

1) Moondraam Pirai (1982) – Kamal and Sridevi


Kamal and Sridevi – should be the favourite movie couple of any 80s film viewer. Starred in more than 20 movies together, they define everything related to this topic – attractive, elegant, alluring, charismatic and what not. “Varumayin Niram Sigappu” and “Meendum Kokila” offer good examples but there’s not a better example than “Moondraam Pirai”. Still considered a dream-role for any heroine, Sridevi’s performance was mindblowing. And then there’s the famous climax sequence which fetched Kamal a national award. The song “Kannae Kalaimaane”, the last one penned by Kannadasan, should summarise everything about the film.

2) Idhayam (1991) – Murali and Heera


They never looked into the eyes, they never sang duets, they never proposed and above all ... they barely talked to each other in the movie. Yet, the impact this on-screen romance created is still unparalleled & fresh and will continue so, across generations of viewers. While Murali’s “Unproposed love” is referred to in a lot of later movies, Heera created a style statement by placing the rose at the side of her banded hair. Ilayaraja’s BGM let romance flow throughout the film.

3) Mouna Raagam (1986) – Mohan and Revathi


Mohan represented the elements of an ideal husband with all his good-to-be behaviours and Revathi was caught between her old love & the new marriage. The portrayal of their love boiling down towards each other was awesome. Also, the Karthik – Revathi track in the flashback narrative featured an implicit & natural chemistry between them. The later is a “Haikoo” while the former is a charming "poetic nebula". Ask your mom her favourite movie and there will be a very good probability that the answer is “Mouna Raagam”.

4) Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006) – Surya and Jyothika


The movie premiered on the day of their wedding and this was the last time we saw the pair together on-screen. Thanks to a lot of movie appearances of the couple before this film that they appear to have a natural affinity and the chemistry appeared near-intrinsic. The Surya-Bhumika track in the movie will try to over-shadow this one but not so convincingly.

5) Sindhu Bhairavi (1985) – Sivakumar and Suhasini


Driven by desperation to share & discuss music, JKB (Sivakumar) finds an ideal companion in Sindhu (Suhasini). Suhasini’s performance with all her proactiveness, enthusiasm and genius of music, always looked deserving the National Award she won. This is not about love and bond – but about companionship. Though not completely platonic, the movie travels through a very thin line between professional companionship and personal intimacy.

6) Paruthi Veeran (2007) – Karthi and Priyamani



Can very well be hailed the biggest debut movie for an actor after Sivaji Ganesan’s “Parasakthi”, Paruthi Veeran launched Karthi on a real grand scale. Being truly regional, the film won numerous accolades at National (Best Actress – Priyamani) and International film festivals as well. The film can be justifiably compared to the arrival of “16 Vayathinile” in 1977 for its freshness and cult value. The film was a box-office blockbuster that the audience could feel the smell of the red soil and the intensity of a very raw romance in the A/C cinema halls. Toned camera work and beautiful serenades – the film definitely produced a perennially romantic couple in Veeran and Muthazhagu.

7) Mudhal Mariyadhai (1985) – Sivaji and Radha


Practically speaking, Sivaji Ganesan possessed every material in him to become a world class method actor. But our cinema only fed him with roles that demanded loud deliverance of lengthy monologues and groomed him into a overacting thespian. And, a few exceptions of this would include “Mudhal Mariyadhai” and “Devar Magan”. “Mudhal Mariyadhai” portrayed a platonic relationship between an aged village man and a young boat rower. Legendary Sivaji Ganesan just presented his character without any overacts and flamboyant Radha proved her acting prowess in the midst of iconic Sivaji. The songs “Vetti Veru Vaasam” and “Poongaatru thirumbuma” did ample justice in the build-up of this beautiful relationship on-screen. The movie’s songs found mentions in many later movies whenever a mature man-young girl relationship needs to be portrayed.

8) Rhythm (2000) – Arjun and Meena


This is one of my favourite movies – An unsung movie it is, it’s all about relationships. All the three romantic tracks involving Arjun & Jyothika, Ramesh Arvind & Meena and then Arjun – Meena were interesting. The movie’s song tracks had a uniqueness in the way they were written, covering all the five elements of nature – Water, Earth, Fire, Sky and Air. The protagonists were absolute strangers and the way they were drawn towards each other – poetic. The movie in its course portrayed various stages of a relationship starting from absolute outsiders through companionship, friendship and love.

9) Panneer Pushpangal (1981) – Suresh and Shanthi Krishna



Panneer Pushpangal, very boldly treated a usually overlooked but eternally present phenomenon – High school romance. The movie brilliantly delineated the hostel life at a convent, pointless puerile jealousies and the most characteristic aspect of the age – Immature mind and Infatuation. The movie didn’t actually required a chemistry between the lead actors and hence naive performances from Suresh and Shanthi never looked bad. After all, they were playing school kids in the movie. Prathap Pothan played a school teacher and his performance is quite acclaimed. “Anandha raagam” and “Kodaikkaala kaatre” were brilliant tracks from the movie.

10) Hey Ram (2000) – Kamal and Rani Mukherjee


This particular sequence involving Kamal & Rani is very short in the movie – less than 20 minutes considering the length of the movie that runs for over 200 minutes. But that couldn’t resist me from including this in my list. The scene opens with Rani’s eyes through the door-lens, the way she speaks tamil, the piano with a Kamal - Rani picture over it, the Bengali poetry and last but not the least - “Nee Paartha Paarvaikkoru Nandri”, an absolute musical gift from Ilayaraja - Everything you see and hear is romantic. And, I have seen this in many a movies - The piano - whenever it is shown, will be a metaphor for love or a romantic relationship. Catch this at Nammavar’s “Poonguyil Paadinaal” also. So, the next time you see the lights on a piano – Expect a romantic tickle there.

11) Johnny (1980) – Rajini and Sridevi


Wielding the angry young man looks and image, Rajini’s film career is mostly studded with action oriented mass entertainers. Mahendran offered a glimpse into a very different Rajinikanth – soft and lovable. Sridevi is a singer and Rajini likes her music and loves her. “En Vaanile ... Orey Vennila” – the way the song unfolds and progresses leaves you mesmerised. And Yeah, there was a piano here also – Read the “Hey Ram” description above.

12) Kadhal Kondaen (2003) – Dhanush and Sonia Agarwal


One of the rare kind of movies that explored relationship complexities. Vinodh (Dhanush), out all afresh from his church school couldn’t quite identify the affiliation he has with his classmate Divya (Sonia) at college - Is it friendship, love or lust ?. Divya looks at him as a friend but Vinod, driven by possessiveness just couldn’t let her go off him. Dhanush with those boyish looks and insane behaviour, made full use of the acting opportunity and won a lot of acclaim for the performance. And the movie brought the gorgeous Sonia to the tamil screens.
தாயாக நீ தான் தலை கோத வந்தால் உன் மடி மீது மீண்டும் ஜனனம் வேண்டும் ...

காதல் இல்லை, இது காமம் இல்லை, இந்த உறவுக்கு உலகத்தில் பெயர் இல்லை ...

The lyrics of "Nenjodu Kalandhiru” pinpointingly presents the confusion and complexity of the relationship. The tracks were chartbusters and provided an elevated feel of the film.

13) Oru Thalai Raagam (1980) – Shankar and Roopa



T Rajendar’s first directorial venture, the film depicted “One sided love” in all its colours. Though the lead actors weren’t noticed much, the film and its songs were very famous for the way it treated the tragic face of a romantic relationship. Set in a college backdrop, the film will only present a boring endeavour to an audience of our generation, the only reason being the dismal performance of the lead actors. No emotions, No modulation in dialogue delivery – they just speak the lines aloud. Nevertheless, “Oru Thalai Raagam” is a very important film for two reasons – One, the film is still used as an image of “love failure” and two, its proven boxoffice abilities. The film’s soundtrack featured seven songs all sung by the male protagonist.

14) Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) – Surya and Sameera Reddy


Considered the most personal movie of Gautham Menon, Vaaranam Aayiram provided the much needed freshness in our cinema’s portrayal of romance. Invariably liked by everybody, the Surya – Sameera conversation in the train, Surya’s meeting at Meghna’s (Sameera) home and then the crispy US narrative – the sequence provided an eventful and memorable romantic presentation classily different from the usual dull & routine depictions. The fervour of the on-screen romance was so deep that the film could successfully connect both the ecstatic romance of the couple and the excruciating pain of love, to the audience. Credits are due to Harris Jayaraj for the magic this movie created.

15) Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal (1989) – Rahman and Sithara



For the most part of his career, K Balachander remained an iconoclast and always seemed interested in blasphemic and taboo breaking relationships. This particular relationship portrayed in “Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal” was very interesting that it will just begin without a basis, proceed seamlessly driven by a wild passion - more like a oarless boat before it will face an abrupt end at the climax. But, the flow was poetic and the relationship was lyrical. Accompanied by mellifluous Ilayaraja numbers (especially “Keladi Kanmani ... Paadagan sangathi”), the movie’s song picturisations were engaging.

16) Kushi (2000) – Vijay and Jyothika



This S J Suryah venture still remains the prototype of a lot of later movies that present “Ego in romantic relationships”. It had a very clear screenplay expressing one of the most easily-seen but complex-to-explain facets of any relationship – ego. Screenplay played the hero of the movie but Vijay-Jyothika sequences had a pleasant substance and that material undoubtedly carries the film forward. The very famous “Jyothika Iduppu” scene and Mumtaz’s presence provided an enjoyment stimulus and electrified the audience.

17) Chinna Thambi (1991) – Prabhu and Khushboo


Perennially occupying the gossip pages of every tamil magazine during the early 90s, their on-screen romances as well as off-screen antics received a lot of attention and media glare. Prabhu’s performance with his well enacted childishness & ignorance was received well and the movie was a big-break for Khushboo – and the couple undoubtedly had that enviable sizzle associated with them. The movie’s boxoffice success was phenomenal and Khushboo’s arrival to the fore paved the way for the import of a lot of fair-skinned ladies from the North (to be cast as heroines) during the later stages.

18) Alai Paayuthe (2000) – Madhavan and Shalini



Dreamy and delightful urban romance, Alai Paayuthe launched Madhavan as a sensational lover-boy to the tamil cinema and Shalini, with all her unpretentious girl next door looks and homely behaviour - the couple shared an instantaneous chemistry. Definitely not the typical Maniratnam style movie, the film had a non-linear narrative structure and Rahman’s wonderful BGM & songs were instrumental in providing a wholesome romantic experience. The conversations between the two lead actors, specifically the one at the local train ("Aana idhellam nadandhudumonnu bayama irukku") were very engaging and memorable.

19) Guna (1991) – Kamal and Roshini


Guna is the story of a man mad(e) in(with) love. It presented a celestial love story where the male protagonist treats his lover, equivalent to a goddess (Abhirami). It had an ugly-looking Kamalhaasan in love with the angelic Roshini (real sad that she is not seen on-screen after Guna). It had a very different perspective of love – It’s depicted as a supernatural feature and a lustless bliss. “Kanmani Anbodu” and “Guna caves” still speak the impact, the movie created. But, the film which opened on the Diwali day met “Thalapathi” at the boxoffice and had a very poor run across the state.

20) Kadhal Kottai (1995) – Ajith and Devayani


Love seems to be the only impetus that manoeuvers our cinema ahead from time to time. “Every kind of love has been dealt with ... I should come up with a radically new and creative depiction of love” thought Agathiyan and the result was “Kadhal Kottai” - which had the lead actors who haven’t seen each other, in a romantic relationship. The idea was novel, the movie was a grand success and Agathiyan was gifted with the “Swarna Kamal” for the best director (National Award). When there’s no scope for dialogue deliverance across the couple and duets together – how to convey and reciprocate love ? ... Letters did it and the sweetness of the song “Nalam Nalamariya Aaval” conveys a lot. When Surya (Ajith) and Kamali (Devayani) meet at the railway station (yet again !) at the climax, you exhale in relief and send out a happy sigh.


Some other entries that narrowly missed the list are, Jeans – Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai, Bombay – Arvindsamy and Manisha Koirala, Alaigal Oyvathillai – Karthik and Radha, Keladi Kanmani – SPB and Radhika, Kilinjalgal – Mohan and Purnima, Poo - Shrikanth and Parvathi, Pudhiya Paadhai - Parthiban and Seetha, Idhyathai Thirudathey - Nagarjun and Girija, May Madham - Vineeth and Sonali.

So, the cruise gets over here ... Get out of the stream. Pour in your comments on the post.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Antarmahal: Views of the Inner Chamber (2005)

It gets very difficult to say something about this film. I don't really want to write about this film but this has been sitting across my mind that I chose to shed them off me, by writing them down. The storyline is not a very usual one-liner and if I try to speak something on the story, it very well will be the spoiler and turns off the entire experience for a viewer.


It's a Rituparno Ghosh film with a very illustrious & beautiful star cast that includes Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Bachhan, Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan and Raima Sen. The three ladies of the cast - Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan & Raima Sen (Though Raima's is a short special appearance) all with that typical "Bengali-ness" take no time to transcend the viewer to the late 19th Century Bengal. And a special mention on the charming Soha Ali Khan who revives back the beautiful Sharmila Tagore of the 60s on-screen. A striking resemblance ...



Sharmila Tagore in Devi (above) and Soha Ali Khan in Antarmahal (below)

Two things stand out distinctly for me -

One -- The stunning & visually appealing art direction and wonderful set decoration. The sets are so minute in detailing everything that, the period feel is kept intact right from the first frame till the last one. The story is set in a Bengali Zamindari house and such a colourful art direction will definitely stay in oneself for a long time. Somebody shows you a picture or a clip without the stars of the film and you will identify - Its that Artistic and beautiful. Combine a bright and colourful cinematography with that and everything you see on-screen is beautiful.

Two -- The film offers a saddening look on the social practices and treatment of women in ancient India. We know them all from our history books but they offer only the textual knowledge -- Polygamy, Domestic violence, a foolish dependence on whatever advice the priests have got to offer etc, all portrayed with a satirical sense. Male Chauvinism over-boils and flows through out...

And, then there is a lot more the film has got to offer ... The British rule in Bengal, "Rai Bahadur" title for Zamindars, the grandeur of "Durga Pooja" celebrations, Queen Victoria etc.

A very rewarding cinematic experience it will be. The next time you watch a Bengali art, you know what to expect ...

Friday, October 9, 2009

Mother India (1957), Sippikkul Muthu (1985) and India's Official Oscar Entries

Mother India (1957)

Mehboob khan's "Mother India" is India's first submission to the Oscars and quite deservingly, it won a nomination also in the "Best Foreign film" category. It not only received a nomination but also gave a stiff competition to Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria", that the jury voted for as many as three times and it is only the third time "Nights of Cabiria" emerged the winner by a margin of just one vote. Such is the greatness of this still-favourite-of-many classic.


"Mother India" is the saga of a woman – Radha (Nargis Dutt). Radha enters the village as a newly wed bride with her husband Shamu (Raaj Kumar). There's an evil-headed money lender, Sukhilal who exploits the illiterate family and carries away the reaps from their farmland, as the interest for the money he has loaned, every year after the harvest. The family turns immensely poor and tragically, Shamu loses his hands in an accident & walks away from the family. Then, it's all about Radha's struggles with poverty & raising up her two sons, Birju and Ramu and Birju's revolt against the atrocities of the money lender Sukhilal.

The first part of the film is all about poverty and struggles. There was a lot of hopelessness & despair and Nargis scores heavily with these sequences. Portrayed with a sheer sense of motherhood, patience and sacrificial attitudes – Nargis stands tall and evokes a lot of sympathy in the viewer.

The film provides a vivid and colourful picture of India of the 50s. The villages, traditional and cultural values in the society, healthy dependence on Agriculture (backbone of India's economy), Construction of dams, tanks and canals (Temples of Modern India, as Nehru refers to) etc - India in its infancy of growth and development.

Then there's this famous fire scene, which has been re-enacted in "Om Shanti Om", with SRK and Deepika. During the shoot of a fire sequence for the film, Nargis was caught between the flames and Sunil Dutt (plays Nargis' son in the movie) saved her and the two got close that it ended up in their marriage.

One of the signature scene sequences of the 50s and 60s films should be, the closeup shots of the heroine's face. The heroines would be heavily made up so fair and with thick red lipstick, a real curvy and dark eyebrows, black dots on the chin (dhrushti) and then they would be shot with that girlishness covering up one half of their face with one hand – "Nalina"and "Naanam". There's one such sequence here and it was beautiful.


A colour film in the 50s – The film is a Indo-Russian co-production. The film's international vision could be seen by the fact that the title cards and credits are fully in English and not in Hindi. The film is technically wonderful considering the fact that it is made 52 years back - Crops and farms are photographed quite beautifully, Depiction of a flood is really good, Editing and scene-transitions though seem trivial now, would have been very well ahead of the times during 50s. More than anything, it provides a cinematic and filmy feel, when the Indian films of the period were considered stage-playish and dialogue-centric. It definitely conveys things with that "cinematic language".

The length of the movie is something that might haunt you. It runs for about 3 hours – short by 6 minutes. Honestly speaking, the last one hour had a lot of drag-ons and I felt there are more than one unnecessary scene sequences. But, again you can never be in the shoes of a 50s cinema viewer.

The realistic portrayal of poverty in the first half and Nargis' performance are the sure highnotes of the film. Though the film has stood the test of the times, I still feel it hasn't really got a lot of cinema to offer to a modern cinema viewer of our generation. After all, It's been more than half a century since it was made.

Sippikkul Muthu (1985)

Swathi Muthyam (1985) by K.Vishwanath is India's Oscar submission for the 1986 edition. The film starred Kamal Haasan and Radhika and it was dubbed in Tamil as "Sippikkul Muthu". Sankarabharanam (1979), Saagara Sangamam (1983) [Salangai Oli in tamil] and Swathi Muthyam (1985) are three important films by Vishwanath, which redefined the telugu cinema audience's taste. All the three were made with that "auteur" sense, which we more commonly call "Art films". The first one Sankarabharanam won a National award while the last two have been India's Oscar submissions.

In "Sippikkul Muthu", Kamal Haasan plays an autistic person (retarded mental growth) with no real knowledge and understanding of whatsoever thing, he comes across. He develops a child like affection towards a widow (Radhika) & her son in the village and one fine day, ties the nuptial knot (to her surprise) to pull her out of her woes. The way he matures up and leads a meaningful life for his wife & her son , forms the rest of the plot.


Yet another good performance from Kamalhaasan and Radhika is no less. Beautiful songs, wonderful music - "Varam thantha saamikku" is still used by mothers as they feed their young ones. Definitely, A good film it is.

One thing that haunted me through out is the dubbed voice for Kamal in the tamil version, Sippikkul Muthu. We are so used to that manly Kamal voice that we miss it in this movie. And it was difficult in the beginning to get along with this dubbed one.

Both "Saagara Sangamam" and "Swathi Muthyam" - though good and worthy films on our national circuit, definitely donot deserve an Oscar nomination, in my views. Looked upon with an international vision, they have their own compromises like needless song sequences, Jayaprada's bathing sequence in "Saagara Sangamam", Deepa's bathing sequence in "Sippikkul Muthu", a not-so-fitting old man look of Kamal in "Sippikkul Muthu" etc. It is said that the jury rejected "Saagara Sangamam", as Kamal Haasan dances "Bharathanattiyam" without having his underarms shaved, which shouldn't be so. [May not be an authentic information]

India's Official entry to Oscars 2010

So... It's "Harishchandrachi Factory", a Marathi feature that is expected to bring that coveted "golden lady" to India for the first time in "Best Foreign Film" category. And what is more delightful is that the film is on Dadasaheb Phalke, rightly considered the father of Indian Cinema. It depicts the struggle of Dadasaheb Phalke in making "Raja Harishchandra" in 1913, India's first feature film, thus the birth of Indian cinema (Wiki says so). And, while I am writing this - Germany's official entry has been announced and it is none other than the Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes 2009 - "Das weiße Band" or "The White Ribbon". So, I expect it to receive a nomination and if at all our film also receives a nomination - It will be a Herculean competition. For this very reason - I respect the "Best Foreign film" winner at Oscar more than the "Best film" Oscar. The Best film oscar is fairly simple that it mostly (more than 95%) considers the Hollywood productions & English language films. And the real competition is at the "Best Foreign film" category where you have to first fight with the best cinematic works of each country to reach the final five. Once you have won a nomination, then it is all about "First among equals", I beleive. Of course, when you send a film like "Jeans" to the Oscars to speak about your cinema's valour to the west, the task becomes very simple for the jury to rule out stuff. "Jeans" over "Satya" in 1998 and "Paheli" over "Hazaaron Khwaishein aisi" in 2005 are a very few mentions of the horrendous blunders committed by the selection committee in India. Can you imagine the fact that two of the Shankar's films have been sent to Oscars from India next only to Satyajit Ray's three.

Enna Koduma Saravanan idhu !!!

Past is Past ... All the best Harishchandrachi Factory !!!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Die Welle (2008) - Review

Die Welle aka The Wave (2008)

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1063669/

Directed by: Dennis Gansel
Cast: Jürgen Vogel and an ensemble cast.

The Venue - A High school in Germany...
The Characters - A teacher and his class
The Occasion - A project week and the topic is "Autocracy"

The class begins with the discussion of "What is Autocracy ?" and progresses along the lines of "Dictatorship and Autocracy". There begins the simulation of an Autocratic society environment inside the classroom. Discussions branch out in directions of "What are the necessary ingredients in an Autocratic environment ?" and the answers being unity, discipline, social factors like political unrest and joblessness and the class simulate these one by one, in the classroom among themselves. The experimental exercise for the project gets really dangerous as the students develop a feel of them as "a mafiotic gang", alienate other students of the school and start developing this as a movement with a name "The Wave" (and hence the title), uniform, salutes (like the famous "Hail Hitler" bow), logos, websites, social parties etc.


The film presents a very lively and healthy classroom atmosphere where the students actually participate in the class, pour in their opinions on what-so-ever thing raised in the class, discuss their thoughts & ideas and debate various aspects. The film starts light and gets very serious as the students develop "that special feeling of unity and power" among themselves. Both the positive and negative aspects of this "unity amongst the class pupils" is depicted in whole of the movie. Though looks simple, the film offers several insights into the history of Germany (without explicit mentions) or the history of any country, for that matter. Every country will have that period of dictatorship, political unrest, social revolution etc in some phase of its' history.


I could feel the following thoughts & insights lingering in me, as I was going through the movie.

What is a teacher capable of ? - They are the sculptors of any society and a teacher own the real potential to influence and manipulate his students.

what is the young generation or the student community capable of ?
- The young blood will always be on the look for a common glue to stick them all together. It is characterised by an Infinite amount of energy and spirit looking for a channel to flow across - but it never has an idea of the nature of the channel and the destination. They always need something to stay united ... a common platform, a social setup or a peer network.

what a bad home atmosphere is capable of ? - Spoilt kids - people find no space in their families to share stuff and start feeling "The Wave" as a family.

what is peer pressure capable of ?
- We know this and we would have seen this amongst our own friend-circles. Peer pressure will work real wonders ... Though the nature of the cause, good or bad matters ...

what is the impact of a nation's history on a young mind ?
Germany ---> Bismarck, WW1, Hitler, The Third Reich, Berlin Wall crisis, Cold war etc. Through out the last century, Germany's society is always full of Chaos and unrest. There will always be agitated, revolutionary and radical minds in a war strewn country.
India ---> Generally a Peace loving country with utmost importance to the family setup and values. Ofcourse, the people belonging to 60s and 70s would have been student rebels and will have that spark in them - Anti-hindi agitations & the emergency.

We have seen some of these phenomenons explored beautifully in "Hazaaron Khwaishein aisi" -- a very rare movie shot with the period setup of Indian Emergency of 1975. And, Vijayakanth's final speech before the students in the Tamil film "Ramanaa" also offers an insight.

And I couldn't resist my mind travelling across various historical personalities as the movie was depicting autocracy and a fanatic-like worship of "The Wave". Some of them being Adolf Hitler, Indira Gandhi, Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamilnadu (1965) & Thaazha muthu Natarasan (immolated himself during the agitation) - Many students took active part in this agitation, Bhagat Singh - Sukhdev - Rajguru etc.

The movie definitely keeps you engrossed the whole 100 minutes, though you need to follow the English subtitles for the German conversations. And more importantly, it leaves you struck after it's over --- It kept me thinking a lot of things and painted a vivid collage of images, which I have tried reproducing above ... :)

My Recommendations ...
Rating : 3.5/5