Indian (1996) :
Brief Review -
A Kamal Haasan hysteria in Shankar's blockbuster magnum opus of human elements. I have seen this film many times on TV in childhood and enjoyed it every time but i never got that chance of one take viewing with critic/movie buff's mindset. Shankar is maverick director who always tried to bring larger than Life Stories on screen with human connect. His storytelling has always been grander than other directors but what made those films work is that he did not use artificial elements like Hollywood films. His kept his context related to human lives and especially his socialism worked much better. Indian is another powerful human story from him which closes off a smart deal with human sentiments of social sense. A veteran freedom fighter enraged with the rising crime and corruption in the society murders all the wrong doers one by one using an ancient martial arts technique. Like his other films, Shankar uses large eye to execute this saga of hardcore patriotism. You can easily see his humongous vision in high tech action scenes, stupendous sets and even the songs are shot on very big scale. These all things were far ahead for Indian cinema of 90s when South was busy making gangster+negative shade films and Bollywood was busy making romantic and family dramas. So, it works for sure and it worths your time as well. It is dated, not outdated, try to understand the difference. Kamal Haasan in dual role sets a benchmark for other actors that how versatile and compatible one actor can be. Manisha and Urmila are cute and decent whereas Sukanya and Venu sir are convincing enough. Indian is all about Shankar's gigantic vision which provides a wholesome entertainer along with a hard-hitting social message. Like I said it's dated because Shankar has made even better films like Anniyan and Mudhalvan but it is still very much watchable and with 90s mindset it's a freaking amazing experience anyday.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestesst.
A Kamal Haasan hysteria in Shankar's blockbuster magnum opus of human elements. I have seen this film many times on TV in childhood and enjoyed it every time but i never got that chance of one take viewing with critic/movie buff's mindset. Shankar is maverick director who always tried to bring larger than Life Stories on screen with human connect. His storytelling has always been grander than other directors but what made those films work is that he did not use artificial elements like Hollywood films. His kept his context related to human lives and especially his socialism worked much better. Indian is another powerful human story from him which closes off a smart deal with human sentiments of social sense. A veteran freedom fighter enraged with the rising crime and corruption in the society murders all the wrong doers one by one using an ancient martial arts technique. Like his other films, Shankar uses large eye to execute this saga of hardcore patriotism. You can easily see his humongous vision in high tech action scenes, stupendous sets and even the songs are shot on very big scale. These all things were far ahead for Indian cinema of 90s when South was busy making gangster+negative shade films and Bollywood was busy making romantic and family dramas. So, it works for sure and it worths your time as well. It is dated, not outdated, try to understand the difference. Kamal Haasan in dual role sets a benchmark for other actors that how versatile and compatible one actor can be. Manisha and Urmila are cute and decent whereas Sukanya and Venu sir are convincing enough. Indian is all about Shankar's gigantic vision which provides a wholesome entertainer along with a hard-hitting social message. Like I said it's dated because Shankar has made even better films like Anniyan and Mudhalvan but it is still very much watchable and with 90s mindset it's a freaking amazing experience anyday.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestesst.