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Reviews
I Am Kalam (2010)
A celebration of perseverance and friendship over odds and pitfalls
As I am talking about the film "I am Kalam", it simply reminds me of the lines which former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam wrote in his memorable book "Wings of fire":
"I am a well in this great land
Looking at its millions of boys and girls
To draw from me
The inexhaustible divinity
And spread His grace everywhere
As does the water drawn from the well."
And I think the director Nila Madhab Panda was superbly taken this valiant poetry forward by transpiring this into a inspirational plot. Offcourse he created a fable, a fairytale along the line of Prince and Pauper but the thread that keep this tale magical was this poetry. Before I give any actual review I must tell that this is really a great film not only for its message but also because it chooses a leader (who has proved ability to inspire) from new bright colorful India, beyond B&W eras of Gandhi and Nehru (though apart from Dr. Kalam, we really have long 64 years of drought of the leaders who we can count on). Every generation needs a leader to inspire its young people to put aside their sorrows and guilt and ascend towards where the sky is. This time its our beloved Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
"I am Kalam" is a story of a two child one who is from 'havenot' class and other from 'have' class. Former is alive with his all innocence and aspires to become what he can not in normal circumstances. He has examples of Dr. Kalam and Lal Bahadur Shashtri to follow. Other is a Prince-with all the palace to wander, but is lonely. His heart too is innocent. So when they meet they simply bond with each other. They simply complement each other. And at the end they both write their own destiny. So how it is inspiring? It is where the spin of fairytale was yarned that shows the determination and perseverance of one side to acceptance and true friendship of other side.
The film is brilliant and optimistic. No doubt about it. But is this fun to watch? The answer is yes. The writer and director both has put a great effort to never slip in regression of darkness which is cliché in Indian Cinema esp for plot like this. So between those pivotal characters they splattered color, harmony and light so precisely that this film comes as worth watchable.
And this movie sends a clear message to all the people that as Panda said in an earlier interview:
"The idea of the film is to give a message that every child should go to school which is relevant to the right to education and that effort is more powerful than fate. It also urges the privileged masses to join the effort to educate the children and help them to dream and turn their dreams into breathing reality,"
and as writer Sanjay Chauhan said: "Every child has the right to live his childhood, childhood way."
As for the acting everyone does his/her job according to their role.
So for this Indo-French collaboration I will give 9/10.
Dastak (1970)
Dastak is one of the real gem of Hindi Parallel Cinema
Dastak (the knock) is one of those rare movies of Indian Film Industry whose story is as relevant today as when it was first performed in a All India Radio play "Naql-e-Makani" (moving to a new house) in 1944, and again when it was adapted in this film in 1970 by its original playwright Rajinder Singh Bedi, the finest writer of Urdu fiction.
Making a directorial venture with this film Bedi sahib depicted the experiences of a newly married lower middle class couple whose respectability and integrity was tested time and again by their neighborhood, when they unknowingly moved into an apartment formerly occupied by a prostitute. From this film the Mr. Bedi brilliantly portrayed the psychology of a man whose honesty and morality, which are the only assets he possess, is in question, a woman whose integrity and character is painted by the sexual brush, due to which she feels like an imprisoned bird, and a bourgeois society whose benchmark of morality is based on a person's external appearances and environment and have no more space for internal standards of respectability.
This film not only tries to express the psychology of such complex nature but also tries to test the limit of the one's border of tolerance after which one could collapse and departs from one's own standard of morale and principles to save one's hard real life.
I very much like this film not only for its story (if you like, you could buy a Paper book novel of the same name from Hind Pocket Books and will have same profound effect if you read it), but also for sheer acting prowess of Sanjeev Kumar who as always gave his finest shot as Hamid and Rehana Sultana who, despite being a débutant in this film, beautifully characterized the role of restricting, stultifying and imprisoning Salma whose life as housewife was marred by the "Prostitute" label she got from the greedy neighborhood.
Another highlight of this film is its soul-touching songs which are, I think, is the finest creations of Madan Mohan Sahab's as a musician and Majrooh Sultanpuri's as lyricist, and Lata Mangeshkar's & Mohd. Rafi sahib's as singers. Because as you listen to each song you will literally feel the pain or pleasure of character for whom these songs were written. Whether the private moments of love through "Bainya Na Dharo"(don't hold my hand) and "Tumse Kahoon Ek Baat Paro Si" (Let me tell you a word as light as feather) or the silent cry of "Mai Ri Main Kaa Se Kahoon Peer" (Oh Mother ! who should i tell my pain) or the agony of a woman whose honor is bleeding, "Hum Hain Mataye Koocha Bazaar Ki Tarah" (We are like an item-on-sale in the street).
Moreover, Kamal Bose too had done a great job with its B/W cinematography. So the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee as Editor.
All in all I give it 10/10 for its traumatic yet beautiful story, excellent piece of work from a Rajinder Singh Bedi, unforgettable songs and more than impressive acting by its lead actors. I would highly recommend it if you like serious film.
Though it was way ahead of its time in treatment and statement explicitly, the film had very implicit meaning. Dastak is a classic in its own term.