Indian

Producer and actor Kamal Haasan dealt with the burning issue of corruption in his movie Hindustani (1996) which was originally made in Tamil as Indian (and also released in Telugu under the title - Bhaaratheeyudu.

Hindustani (Indian) is the story of an aged Indian freedom fighter - Senapati (Kamal Haasan) who has shed his perspiration and blood for the motherland during the struggle fro freedom from the British rule, remained a soldier in the Indian National Army led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and married a girl (Sukanya) by saving her honour. Now in free India, he is peacefully living with his daughter (Kasturi) and son (Kamal Haasan's double role). The thing which changed the course of his life is the corruption rampant in the Indian system of governance. His daughter passed away for want of medical aid because he refused to pay bribes to the doctors, the cops and the people holding chairs in the system and not ready to move a finger till their pockets are warmed. The loss of his beloved daughter got followed up by the separation of his son named as Chandru who feels that his father is sticking to his outdated ideals and not moulding with time and that only resulted in the death of his beloved sister.

Chandru becomes a corrupt person by all means and grabs a creamy (from corruption viewpoint) job in the Regional Transport Office, warming his pocket through bribes. On the other hand, Senapati gets a mission for the remaining part of his life. And that mission is a crusade against the corrupt who rule the roost in India, rendering agony and injustice to the innocent commoners every day, every hour, every minute. Now the lone crusader Senapati starts ruthlessly killing the corrupt government servants and thus sending a message far and wide that any corrupt government servant won't be able to survive his attack. This mysterious killer is now trailed by a dedicated cop (Nedumudi Venu). Chandru amidst his romances with Aishwarya (Manisha Koiraala) and Sapna (Urmila Maatondkar) is going ahead with his corruption-soaked life till a lethal accident takes place leading to death of many children. Now Senapati comes to know that his own blood is no better than the other corrupt people sucking the blood of the masses in every nook and corner of India. Can he spare Chandru just because he is his son ?

Hindustani is a movie whose story comes straight from the heart of a person who has devoted his heart and soul to his motherland but found that post-independence, all the ideals and values that he had fought for, have been thrown by his countrymen into the Indian Ocean. No regard is left for truth, no regard for justice, no regard for honesty, no regard for humanity and sensitivity. Greed for corrupt wealth has turned the Indians into stone-hearted fellows for whom money supersedes over everything noble, just and human. The Indian offices are studded by parasites more, human-beings less. And the collusion of the corrupt reigns from the bottom of the hierarchy to the top of it. Freedom fighters leave for their heavenly abodes one after another as their age takes over them. And the surviving ones keep on weeping at the abasement of the nation and more so of the people those populate it. We did not fight for the freedom of our motherland and hence the pinch is felt relatively less by us, we get used to the corruption and degeneration of values and adjust with the same. But how can a person soaked in the ideals of patriotism and truthfulness tolerate it and if he can, to which extent ? And thus the freedom-fighter of this story raises arm to launch another freedom struggle in which the adversaries are his compatriots only.

Director Shankar has directed his own story very well but only to the extent it shows Senapati (both young and old) and his activities. When it comes to the activities of Senapati's young son Chandru, the movie appears to be no better than a regular Masaala movie made in India. Songs, dances, romance, comedy; everything is unnecessarily imposed on the main story which is sensible and sensitive. It's a digression from the main track which could have been and should have been avoided. Either you make a hard-hitting movie or you make a Masaala entertainer. When you make a two-in-one of them, you do nothing but dilute the quality of your product, reducing it from excellent to good. And that's where the director - Shankar has disappointed.

Performance wise talkiing, Kamal Haasan takes the cake. He has done an excellent job especially as the old Senapati and quite sensibly has donned the wrinkled face to bring perfection to the persona being presented on the screen. He has done well as the young son of also but the image that remains in the heart after the movie is that of the aged father only, the lone crusader against corruption.

With my highest regards to the fictional Senapati of this movie, I will support every such person who undertake such a mission to eliminate the corrupt. However at the same time, I also underscore that killing eliminates the corrupt individual and not the corrupt mentality which has spread across the length and width of our country like poison dissolved in a pond. The permanent and long lasting solution is something else - inculcate moral values and ethics in our young ones and go for character building of the generation next.

I highly recommend to watch this movie for two type of audiences- first, those who expect a good thriller from Indian cinema (of course not only Bollywood) and second, those who have only heard Kamal Hassan's name but never watched his any single movie yet. Kamal parts here dual role, one as an old man (Senapathy) who stops the corrupted people, and the other as his son (Chandru) who works in transport department concerning licenses. Kamal did brilliant job in this movie by offering both the roles of a father and a son. Perhaps, if examined clearly this is his career reflecting movie. There are some high definition visual scenes where we can see the real freedom fighters like Subash Chandra Bose and Senapathy together. This is a remarkable work from director Shankar, or say in Indian cinema. His directorial works are highly appreciable. For action lovers also this movie is a good reference.

In romantic words, this is a love-triangle movie due to the presence of Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar, both who love the same Chandru. They did their own works, and run the movie. But again, this movie falls under three categories- thriller, political (mixed with social) and patriotic as the title itself denotes. I watched countless times, but never felt bored as it is highly entertaining for the three hours continuously. It has two versions, original one in Tamil and another in dubbed Hindi version. In Hindi version there is a slight uneasiness with the uttering words of the actors in their lips as those do not match exactly, since it is a dubbed version.

Firstly, I like to say I am a Kamalhassan fan. But you don't have to be Kamal fan to enjoy this film. This is one of his best performances in his career. I rate this film has one of my all time favourites. The climax was very surprising and unpredictable. The film has a great cast. Kamal dominates the film, as father and son. Sughanya also gives good supporting performance. A mixture of a great script, good cast, good songs, and good actions scenes make this a 8.5 out of 10.

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

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?