Review of Hey Ram

Introduction

The film provides a look into the life of Saket Ram (Kamal Hassan), who had lived through the new and changing ways of India while it had become a free nation. But when it became free, the partition of India and Pakistan had changed the lives of many. One of these life`s is of Saket Ram who had turned to violence for sanity, during this insanity phase which was on the brink of civli war. But he soon learns that violence can never overcome a human spirit as he witnesses a sacrifice made for him.

Now made on an anamorphic DVD, for the very first time in its original language conception of Hindi. Will this DVD handle the difficult task of showing us the strong visual and sounds produced for this experimental film, by the ambitious actor/director Kamal Hassan?

Video

The DVD is presented in its original widescreen picture ratio of 2.35:1, as per the director`s original vision. However while anamorphically enhanced, you cannot select letterbox mode on your DVD player for those with a 4:3 television as this feature has been made disable. This will certainly affect viewers who haven`t got a widescreen television as the picture will remain stretch.

Signs of compression artefacts and of grain are near non-existent, and creates a rather smooth and clear picture for the difficulty shot film. The film does suffer from minor wear and tear, only allowing a fraction of dust marks. The reason for such wear and tear was that the film was directly transferred from a cinema 35mm print, and not the original 35mm print in Adlabs laboratories (India). Yet while this is so the film has never looked better, even beating the theatrical showing as much detail was seen.

Hopefully BMD will use the original prints in India to get rid of wear and tear mess on the 35mm print so that the film will look more fresh and better on DVD.

The overall picture information is full of details to the highest capacity, and level of sharpness was very satisfactory when tested, especially with small texts and set pieces. Little details like that enhances the viewing of the film on DVD as it makes a presence of quality felt. There are some very light shimmering while moiré effects were rarely seen to be present on this disc.

The colour fidelity and colour saturation is very natural never allowing hues, bleeding or wrong colour correction/processing to make its mark here. The colours looks impressive displaying the contrasting colours of brightness and darkness with ease.

Dark details and shadows is just the same and allows viewers to see more detail without a hint of problem. Contrast details was also great never allowing the halo effect to arise from the blinding whites seen in this film due to high lighting. The black and white scenes that the film has also was very well managed and was both vivid and vibrant allowing us to see more then what we bargained for.

Audio

The sound on this disc is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, and is just as one expected; magnificent. The presence of a 360 degree soundfield is present throughout the DVD, and is always filling the ear with precision and sound detail that helps us associates ourselves with the era the film takes place in. The mix is well integrated without any major distortion, while a sense of envelopment and imaging among the surrounds channels is very wide.

The film dialogue soundtrack has been recorded live, a rarity in Indian cinema for the past 20 years. As a result some light hissing is evident in the centre and front channels. Yet the studio recorded music, and sound effects made the dynamic range and fidelity of the overall mix superior. Dialogues are clean, clear and perfectly balanced, making it very audible on all levels of sound. The whole track is expertly produced regarding the problems that live sound can have in Indian movies. Bass is quite active via the LFE channel which will please the audiences.

Features

The supplement on this DVD is rather impressive. The film is quite long and since the DVD can hold so much one would assume that supplementary features will be rather limited on this title to compensate for superior picture and sound quality. Yet BMD have managed to give us an excellent supplementary features that is a first for Indian DVD........DVD-ROM interactive information.

If you have a DVD-ROM drive on your PC then you can access the film`s original website on this DVD. Don`t assume that the website is just a promotional tool. Instead the website information is very detailed, giving much inside information about the making of the film, and a detailed character look and a interactive story. Also included is wallpapers, screensavers and over 50 stills from the film production. I was very pleased with this feature as it was very informative and displays the hard work Kamal Hassan placed into this film.

Other supplementary features that the DVD includes is the option of having English subtitles on not just the Tamil language used in the film but the Bengali, Hindi and English language as well. This will help the audiences to understand the film more and was a great feature on this DVD. However while 100% of the dialogues are translated the songs aren`t. Hopefully on future titles BMD will subtitle the songs which played a significant part in the narrative.

The main menus consists of clips and the main track of the film being looped. They are thematically designed, and they have easy navigation. The menu designs and box designs was not disappointing.

Conclusion

An account of the times and trivia during the period of 1940 - 1949 has a high degree of violence and bloodshed that to this day still affects many people in India. While the background of this film is fact, the characters in this film are fictional. Yet you can believe that one person (or more) could have gone through this during the partition. The density and details that each character holds in this film are very realistic, obviously a lot of research has been placed into this film.

Designs of sets, set pieces and costume are very good, bringing the 1940`s back alive and well on the big screen. Sarika Hassan, overall designer of the film & Kamal Hassan`s Wife, has work hard on the designs and is definitely worthy of an award for her part. The sheer details are too list to long, from the cars and newspapers right down to jewellery based from that era. It must have been long hours in the library to research on all of that.

The film display fine performances that are very unique, original and humanistic that are the likes of British and American independent cinema. Kamal Hassan, one of the best actors around Indian cinema, varies in characteristics that the character `Saket` goes through impressing the audience and making them feel with him during all periods in his life. Over time Saket Ram goes through the many emotions he feels about the situation. For this Kamal Hassan easily fits into all phases making it believable and emotional.

Shah Rukh Khan, performs one of his best role ever since he first appear on the big screen with `Deewana (1991)`. It might be a short role but his presence has a high impact on the screen effecting the audience. His make-up was done well to suit the characteristic. I especially like his realistic beard and moustache make up, seeming at times as if it is not make up but that the actor actually grew it on his face. A compliment to the make-up artiste.

At times I feel Shah Rukh Khan is performing from the heart, maybe the partition had an effect on him through personal life as is did with many. If he did then I can understand why he performs in the style of manner in Hey Ram adding a sense of realism, dramatics and light humour.

Rani Mukherjee`s set-up & costume design was also very unique, helping her to perform her character as a Bengali woman with ease and authenticity. Again since her first film `Raja Ki Aaygi Bharat (1995)`, she has never perform this good on screen, and it seems to be improving since her last blockbusting hit, `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)`. This is far away from her glamour roles in films like `Ghulam (1998)` and `Badal (2000)`.

Vasundhara Das, who plays Kamal`s second wife in the film, performs her part the best one can with innocence, spontaneous and strength at the same time as she has to support a complicated man in the plot. For a debutante her performance is superb, and is a force to reckon with if she continues to act in films. Originally a singer she debut with the hit A.R. Rahman song `Shaka Laka Baby` for the film `Mudhalavan (1999)`. Her role in Hey Ram, is also daring as she performs a sex scene, but it is vital to the film`s narrative and is done in a dignified way.

The film music score is also very good, suiting to the main themes and circumstances that arises. Illayaraja had replaced the noted musician L. Subramaniam, who was demanding quite a bit from the producers. L. Subramaniam had already composed some songs for the film which Kamal Hassan had shot, but when he left Kamal Hassan did not want to re-shoot the whole song again. He hired his favourite musician, Illayaraja, to compose music to the already shot sequences. The result is pure magic, with no traces that this has actually occurred, and at the same time serving such fine melodies that the film deserves.

Other technical values are brilliant from fine photography to striking and natural lighting adding contrast to the film. The lighting at time reminds me of Chinese director, Zhang Yimou, who has made some noted films like `Red Sorghum (1987)`, `Ju Dou (1989)`, `Raise The Red Lantern (1991)`, and `The Story Of Qiu Ju (1992)`. This is a film worth watching as it informs, entertains, and educates us to never go down the violent road that Saket Ram, and many others did, during the 1940`s.

Great picture, great sound, and a fine presentation of the film from newcomers BMD. It is much better then the Hindi DVD done by EROS international some months back. Looks like BMD are to make its mark in Indian DVD if they continue to provide us with quality.

A caution of warning: the film is best subject to adult viewing only due to high graphic violence and sex scenes present.