GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

sudip-28-697695 Fate of a billionaire and that of a poor rickshaw driver both in love of humanity tries to meet and help each other in their bid to keep humanity alive. But destiny has some other plans which results in them lost in translation i.e. a letter that Amal can't read.

tollini I am a judge for the Indianapolis-based Heartland Film Festival. This feature film is a Crystal Heart Award Winner and is eligible to be the Grand Prize Winner in October of 2008. The Heartland Film Festival is a non-profit that honors Truly Moving Pictures. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life."Amal is a 30ish autorickshawdriver in New Delhi. He appears to be simple and quiet and even naïve. He dutifully lives with and supports his Mother, and works long hours to make ends meet. He is so out of place with the rest of the huge city of New Delhi. His fellow autorickshawdrivers seem to be hustlers and cheats. And his passengers and Delhi citizens are even worse. They include conniving lawyers, loan sharks, thieves, bribers, and spoiled adult children. One day Amal chases a little girl who has stolen a purse from a regular passenger. Amal accidentally causes her to be hit by a car and seriously hurt. Amal, out of the goodness of his heart, takes on the welfare of the child in a hospital. We begin to see Amal's incredibly generous and giving nature.Amal also has another chance, life-altering encounter when he picks up a surly old man who hates the world and tries to negotiate hard. Amal won't play his game, and cheerfully acquiesces to the old man's wishes. Unbeknownst to Amal, the man is rich and is so moved by their brief encounter that he leaves Amal in his will.There is a painful irony between Amal needing money to help the hospitalized girl and almost being wealthy by a kindness of a curmudgeon. This irony drives the story, and keeps your interest high.Amal is unaffected by worldly matters that consume everyone else. He is centered by his goodness and honesty and integrity. Sacrifice is all he knows – except for his rich life in the help of others. FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.

yonsei73 When I saw Amal, I noticed that some people found the ending disappointing. I knew exactly why this happened: The majority of the world thinks that money and happiness are basically equivalent. I can see why it has a 6.1/10 user rating because there are those who love it and those who hate it.Then, I read this: "It was was such a disturbing twist to me, because of how I had grown up," Richie Mehta said, referring to his self-described middle-class background growing up west of Toronto. "What I had been taught what success was … this story was a slap in the face to that." ~From http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tiff/story/2007/09/10/tiff-amal-mehta.html

gaston-roberge As the film opened I could not help being reminded of the Indian film Manasarovar (2004) about which I commented on this site. One link was the auto rickshaw. Stronger still was the character of Amal and the two male characters of Manasarovar, George and Ravi. These three young men, to my mind, represent the world of the Indian young adults. While Ravi and George were on a search for meaning, in this film, Amal had already reached, largely through the influence of his father, an experiential knowledge of what is meaningful in life. As a result he was happy, although he had a moment of sadness when the little beggar girl he is trying to help dies. But he is not crushed. Like George and Ravi of Manasarovar, Amal delights in helping kids. And all that he does is for others. So, no wonder, if in the end he casually gives the letter that names him as a heir of a millionaire, to a beggar girl who needs a scrap of paper to write. The film says there is joy in life, and joy does not depend on what you own or the superficial pleasures you may indulge in.