So, naturally Kamal was into a thorough research on the freedom movement and its obscured characters. It would be of interest to note that the film was being made when another Kamal film had already kicked off, Marudhanayagam. I have provided a downloadable version of the same analysis at the end of the series of posts.

Please feel free to agree/disagree at comments section of the relevant posts. English translation of the same has been provided for universal access. I have tried to give the key images while trying to explain those scenes and also the conversation transcript wherever necessary. I have tried to cover them wherever applicable. The film is fraught with symbols, metaphors and allegories that become clear only on multiple viewings. In the following work, I would try to dissect the film and present an analysis of the film, though in no way, exhaustive. One such film, Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram is arguably the best Indian film of all time. Not over a handful of movies have come out from our country that handles these issues with solemnity. A prime example would be Florian Donnersmarck’s Das Leben Der Anderen (2006) (aka The Lives of Others), a film that firmly had a foot in political chaos of the post war Germany, its political ideologies and restrictions imposed due to the same, but spoke about the universal concept of art and humanity.

By culture, I not only mean traditions and practices of the country but also its inescapable history, politics, its figures, its events and the social impact of those. Movies that last a lifetime are the ones that are rooted in the culture of their country of origin, but deal with themes that are contemporary and universal at the same time. Hey Ram, by all means, not only qualifies but even has the power to top the genre. Any film whose intentions and strides are of mammoth proportions qualifies to suit the genre. An epic film does not necessarily mean high production values and a period setting. Such is the effort, brilliance and technique put into the work. Kamal Haasan’s body of works can be broadly divided into two categories: Hey Ram and non Hey Ram.

Hey ram movie