Indian Tamil Movie
Indian (Tamil: இந்தியன்) is a 1996 Tamil political thriller film directed by S. Shankar and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film starsKamal Haasan in dual roles with Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar, Sukanya and Goundamani appearing in other pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography was handled by Jeeva. The film tells the story of corruption in India, with a former soldier becoming a vigilante to stamp the problem out.
Indian was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996. The film also went on to win three National Film Awards including that of Best Actor for Kamal Haasan's portrayal, while his performance also saw him win at the Filmfare Awards and the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The film was dubbed and released in Hindi as Hindustani with a few scenes reshot and also in Telugu as Bharatheeyudu.
Plot
The story runs on two tracks. One is that of Chandra Bose alias Chandru (Kamal Haasan), a small-time broker outside the RTO (Road Transport Office) who gets people to high positions by accepting bribes. He is supported in this work by Subbiah (Goundamani). Paneerselvam (Senthil) plays an officer in the RTO who has conflicts with Subbiah. Aishwarya (Manisha Koirala) and Chandru are in love with each other. Sapna (Urmila Matondkar) is the daughter of Gandhikrishna, an officer in RTO. Her father promises to get Chandru a job of being a brake inspector in the RTO, if he runs errands for them. He agrees to work for them, and soon he becomes a brake inspector.
The other track is of Senapathy, alias Indian (Kamal Haasan), a 70-year-old man who kills top government officials (like Commissioners of Corporation etc.) in an extreme attempt to weed out corruption from Indian soil. Senapathy is also Chandru's father. Krishnaswamy (Nedumudi Venu) is an intelligence officer out to nab the Indian. He manages to somehow trace his way to Senapathy's house and finds Senapathy posing as an ex-freedom fighter. Archived newspaper reports say that Senapathy was a soldier in the Indian National Army who was an extremist. Senapathy's wife Amirthavalli (Sukanya) is asked what Senapathy did to deserve a freedom fighter tag, and at this point, we are taken to the 1940s. Rebellions against the British, atrocities etc. are shown, culminating in Senapathy marrying Sukanya but leaving for Singapore to join Subhash Chandra Bose as part of the INA. He returns after independence. Krishnaswamy tries to arrest Senapathy, but his attempt is foiled, and Senapathy escapes with his expertise in the ancient martial art called Varmam.
Senapathy then goes on to commit a murder in front of television audiences by killing a corrupt doctor (Nizhalgal Ravi) who refused to attend immediately to Senapathy's daughter (Kasthuri), who was suffering from third degree burns because he insisted on a bribe, which Senapathy refused. Chandru parts ways with his father because of his excessive insistence on honesty etc. and considers these values to be dead and worthless. How Senapathy evades the police and escapes arrest forms a major portion of the remaining part of the story. Public support is very high for the Indian because he exposes so many corrupt people. Senapathy does not do his son any favours either. Chandru had earlier taken a bribe and given a safety certificate to a bus with faulty brakes. The bus meets with an accident, killing school children it was carrying and thus Chandru is held responsible. Senapathy is bent on giving Chandru the same punishment as he gives others, i.e.death. After a few chase sequences, in the climax sequence in an airport Senapathy kills Chandru and apparently dies in an explosion. Krishnaswamy discovers through a video that Senapathy escaped moments before the jeep he killed his son in, exploded.
The epilogue shows Senapathy calling Krishnaswamy from a foreign land (Hong Kong), indicating that he will be back should the need for him arise. Finally , he told that there is no death for " INDIAN "
[edit]Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Senapathy and Chandra Bose
- Manisha Koirala as Aishwarya
- Urmila Matondkar as Sapna
- Suganya as Amrithavalli
- Manorama
- Aruna Irani – Hindi Version for Manorama
- Goundamani as Subbaiya
- Senthil as Panneerselvam
- Nedumudi Venu as Krishnaswamy
- Kasturi as Kasthuri
- Nizhalgal Ravi
[edit]Production
In June 1995, producer A. M. Rathnam signed on Shankar, who had directed two blockbusters in Gentleman (1993) and Kaadhalan (1994), to make a new venture featuring leading actor Kamal Haasan in the lead role. The film was reported to be loosely based on the life of prominent Indian freedom fighter, Subhash Chandra Bose.[1] Shankar tried to rope inAishwarya Rai to make her debut and portray the leading female role but her commitment to her advertisement agency until October 1995 meant that she was ineligible to sign the film.[1] Subsequently Manisha Koirala, who appeared in the critically acclaimed 1995 Mani Ratnam film Bombay was selected to make her debut in Tamil films. The producers signed on Raadhika to play the pair of the older Kamal Haasan in the film, but her television commitments meant that she was unable to fulfil her contract. Urvashi subsequently replaced her, only for Shankar to throw her out for missing a day's schedule to attend her sister's wedding. The role was finally handed to Sukanya, who had previously appeared alongside Kamal Haasan in Mahanadhi.[1] Hindi actress Urmila Matondkar was signed on to play a role in the film after the producers were impressed with her performance and the success of her 1995 Hindi film, Rangeela. The producers roped in Hollywood make-up artistes Michael Westmore and Michael Jones to work on the designs for the senior Kamal Haasan's and Sukanya's look in the film.[2]
For production work, Shankar visited Las Vegas to learn about new technology and purchased cameras for the production. Furthermore the director visited Australia alongside cinematographer Jeeva and music director A. R. Rahman to location hunt and to compose tunes.[1] The film's unit were given strict order to maintain privacy, with Hindi actor Jackie Shroff being notably turned away from visiting the shooting spot. A song for the film was shot at Prasad Studios featuring Kamal Haasan and Urmila Matondkar alongside 70 Bombay models.[3] This led to a protest from the Cine Dancers Union who argued that Tamil dancers should have been utilised instead, with Shankar opting to pay them off to avoid further hassle. Another duet between Kamal Haasan and Manisha Koirala was shot near the Sydney Opera House in Sydney and Canberra for fifteen days. A flashback song was canned with four hundred dancers and a thousand extras at Gingee with Kamal Haasan and Sukanya, while another song featured shooting in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.[2] The film engaged in competition with K. T. Kunjumon's production Kadhal Desam to be the most expensive Tamil film til date until 1996.[1]
[edit]Release
[edit]Awards
1997 National Film Awards (India)
- Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Actor – Kamal Haasan
- Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Art Direction – Thotta Tharani
- Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Special Effects – Venky
1997 Filmfare Awards South (India)
- Won – Best Actor Award (Tamil) – Kamal Haasan
1997 Academy Awards (United States)
[edit]Sequel
In 2011, producer A. M. Rathnam discussed the idea of a sequel to this project as anti-corruption leaders like Anna Hazare were becoming active.[4]
[edit]Soundtrack
Main article: Indian (soundtrack)
| Indian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 30:05 | |||
| Label | Pyramid | |||
| Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack album includes five tracks composed by A. R. Rahman[5] and was released on 1996 by Pyramid.[6] The soundtrack proved popular upon release and was also released in Hindi as Hindustani by TIPS[6] and in Telugu as Bharateeyudu by T-Series.[6] The lyrics were written by Vaali and Vairamuthu for the original version, P. K. Mishra for Hindustani and Bhuvanachandra for Bharateeyudu.
The soundtrack proved extremely successful upon release and was sold about 6 lakhs records within a few days of release.[7]
| Indian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singers | Length | Lyricist |
| 1 | "Telephone Manipol" | Hariharan, Harini | 6:15 | Vairamuthu |
| 2 | "Maya Machindra" | S. P. Balasubramaniam, Swarnalatha | 5:37 | Vaali |
| 3 | "Pachai Kiligal" | K. J. Yesudas | 5:50 | Vairamuthu |
| 4 | "Akadanu Naanga" | S. P. Balasubramaniam,Swarnalatha | 5:52 | Vaali |
| 5 | "Kappaleri Poyaachu" | S. P. Balasubramaniam, P. Susheela | 6:28 | Vaali |
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