Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Rajesh C The films major instance Direct Action Day (16 August 1946-announced by the Muslim League Council to show the strength of Muslim feelings both to British and Congress) event shown in movie is a good effort to depict the killing of around 4000 people on that day(the overall killing happened due to partition riots is estimated to be 2lakh approximately(could be even between 200 Thousands to 2 Million and stands next to holocaust which cost around 10 Million lives app)) is an shocking information to know for political outsiders like me to understand what India has gone through as a nation. The amount of research gone into this movie is evident(definitely that which is not included might even be more valuable).Even though this movie is a historical fiction, doesn't mean its only for old timers and history buffs. In fact not training the mind to take this sort of movie was one of the reason the film might have failed to reach its deserved acclaim(but indeed was profitable reasonably recently been Tweeted by KH for its 16th anniversary). This movie (and indeed Confluence with Ocean) deserved an Oscar which didn't attain(of course Oscars are very American not international indeed). This story and direction (visuals + conversations(a fine punch "The poor child has not even decided about her god and the ones about vegetarian food and Khyber canal-drama at its best.")) was one of the flawless and prolific effort in Indian films. KH's influence of European and Malayalam movies is the curse and blessing of this movie(and of course his acute sens of drama and eccentric casting where SRK gives his best, a humble man indeed). The silence, pause, slowness indeed is part of the realism which acts as part of the realism and cant be written off. Historical fiction is the best genre because we need not take care of the theme and sense as the history intertwined in the story takes care of itself(this theme been before in Mani Ratnams Bombay and Salman Rushdie's midnight children).Many characters were even based on true story like Mortimer Wheeler, Gandhi(Gandhi sleeping with lights ON told in the movie is interesting to know about his eccentricity indeed proves the depth of research done on Gandhi(and his writing volume is 65000+ papers is an surprise info i heard recently)) etc. The only downside is the language which has many essence and consistency lost in translation.

rao-bharat I hesitate to call this a great film, because it has too many flaws (I was particularly annoyed by the "old Saketh Ram" scenes). Nor is it a film I yearn to see again, like many other films. So, why a 10 -- a rating, I've only given to 4 other films?Because, more than a dozen years after I first saw it, it remains the most powerful and thought-provoking film I have seen. For answering two questions I had, and also for its powerful transformation. First the questions:I had always wondered when I read about riots and seemingly common people going berserk and killing people from another religion, "how could someone kill an innocent person just because they were Sikh/ Muslim / Hindu?" In dialogues with friends, it was easy to pass that away with "It is the uneducated, poor, dis-satisfied -- led by a bunch of thugs," and remain comfortable with the knowledge, "That could never happen to me."This movie shows with amazing clarity how a normal peace-loving academic, with no communal feelings, can turn into a killing machine, dispatching Muslims without a shred of remorse. Powerful scenes with the slaughter of the protagonist's wife and his subsequent conversion to avenging angel...The second question I had -- I am an unabashed Gandhi-phile, rating him the greatest human that ever lived -- is how could a Hindu want to kill Gandhi? Again, this movie brilliantly depicts how a section of society could fixate on Gandhi as the root of all of India's ills, and determine that his execution was the solution to India's ills. These aren't raving lunatics plotting to kill Gandhi, but patriots -- misguided surely, but patriots in their own minds -- who are willing to kill Gandhi for the good of the nation. Saketh's conversion to the self- appointed assassin is totally believable.Finally, apparently a lot of people were upset that this film showed anti-Gandhi sentiments (apparently the irony of stoning theaters to protest a film seemingly disparaging the Apostle of Nonviolence was lost on the protesters). Here is where, I disagree, and the single reason why this film lingers in my mind. (Spoilers follow:)THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST PRO-GANDHI FILM EVER MADE. Yes, even more than Attenborough's deification of the Mahatma.Yes, the first 99% of the film is profoundly anti-Gandhi, but at the very end of the film, when Saket Ram repents and goes to seek Gandhi's forgiveness transforms this film completely. Because Saketh Ram's change of heart is driven not by Gandhi himself, but the actions of Amjad Khan (Shahrukh Khan in one of his best roles), Saketh's friend, and a true Gandhian. And that transformation is so powerful and authentic, that the film remains fresh in my mind today -- can't wait to see it with my children. And for that reason, flaws and all, I give it a 10.

sridhar k Best movie and requires intelligent audiences!! Hard hitting storyline!! Great script, screenplay, direction and cast!! Of course the legend himself has performed very well. Mind blowing music by the maestro illaiyaraja!! Truly depicts the condition of the country just before and after independence!! Certain dialogues are very sensible and heart touching in many situations!! Over all it is one of the best movies from kamal and kollywood!! He is the only hero who is multi talented and can carry himself very well!! i started watching the movie at 9p.m and i was struck in my seat till the movie ends!! It is a must watch movie!!

HeadleyLamarr Hey Ram is the story of Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan), an archaeologist. He is on a dig in pre-partition Harappa with his buddy Amjad (Shah Rukh Khan) when communal violence erupts in the region and the dig is closed down. Saket Ram goes off to Calcutta to visit his new wife Aparna (Rani Mukherjee). Calcutta is in chaos with religious strife and Ram's wife is brutally assaulted and killed by some Muslim men a few days after his return. He becomes unstable and seeks out the perpetrators of the crime and deals with them. While wandering the streets Ram meets with Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni) who tells him that his family has suffered a similar fate and that the one man responsible for all this is MK Gandhi. Ram goes off to Tamil Nadu and after seeing Maithili (Vasundhara Das) agrees to marry her. All the time he is still traumatized by Aparna's death and planning revenge. When Abhyankar is paralyzed in a polo accident Ram vows to take his place as the killer of the Mahatma. He moves to Delhi and there he re-encounters his friend Amjad. Now hatred for Muslims and his prior closeness to Amjad are at war and Ram must choose his path - will it be the road to revenge or redemption? The story is excellent and the movie manages to retain its grip on the viewer for over three hours. The direction is for the most part very good. There are a few strange moments that seemed unnecessary to me - why is there the surreal stuff when Ram is shown with Maithili? The Marathi dance seemed unnecessary. Why were the bullets in a cartridge in a pre-partition handgun? Can one talk after one's throat is sliced open? But these are indeed minor quibbles in an overall excellent film.The background score is a bit intrusive, the songs not memorable. Maybe this is not the best of the Maestro Illayaraja. The beginning song/dance in the club is sort of silly, certainly not needed. Surely bonding between friends can be shown in other ways.Acting is very good throughout. For me the outstanding performance was given by Rani Mukherjee. She breathed life into Aparna and was at her most attractive and charming as a Bengali Bodhu! Kamal was very good. He showed love, passion, anger, rage, madness very well. And what looks at nearly age 50! The man is awesome. Shah Rukh gave a great performance as Amjad - a very restrained and balanced performance that in the end showed us which path Ram would choose and why. Atul Kulkarni was awesome as the fanatical Abhyanker. Vasundhara Das was luminous and did an excellent job playing Maithili. Naseer Shah as Gandhi, Hema Malini as the mother were all very good. In fact there was no bad performance in the film.This is a fine piece of movie making and deserves all the accolades it got. If you have not yet seen this film then you are in for a rare treat.