The eternal struggle between Europe and Asia. Although my week of watching retro movies is over, I still watch retro movies. I saw this movie for the first time today. But I'll never forget him now. The story is based on real events.
Central India, 1857 Rebels against the yoke of the English conquerors. Sipai (Indian soldiers) point their weapons at their captors. In a small town where there is a British garrison, the Sepoys kill not only soldiers, but also their families. The faithful servant Ramjamal (Kulbuhshan Kharbanda) rescues the wife and daughter of the murdered officer Labrador (Tom Alter), but they fall into the hands of one of the Sepoys, Javed Khan (Shashi KapoorJavedJaved is a traitor, his mother is at risk, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>David, Ken/b and his daughter is at risk. To save their lives Javed proposes Ruth to become his wife, but both Mariam and the whole family Javed, especially his lawful wife Firdous (Shabana Azmi). The British suppress the uprising, ruthlessly destroying its leaders.
About the film. The script is magnificent, the director's work is always brilliant... it is Shyam Benegal (another amazing work of the great director), the battle scenes are perfectly shot, the music of Vanraja Bhatia (staff composer Shyam Benegal) is magnificent, tense, consonant with what is happening on the screen.. It was a symbiosis and it was great.
Actors play. Nasiruddin Shah. It was he who I liked most in the film, the fearless, infinitely courageous and decisive leader of the Sepoys, how much anger in his eyes, how much hatred for the enemy and at the same time how much love and tenderness in the heart for loved ones, for relatives, for the Motherland. Nasiruddin once again proved that he is an amazing actor "for all roles" endowed with a rare ability to reincarnate.
Shaban Azmi plays the role of the wife of Javed Khan. Perfectly captured the essence of the heroine, rejected, but not lost dignity and pride, and her character here is not sugar, knows how to put in place. And again, an amazing game with eyes... facial expressions, gestures, this cannot be taken away from Shabana. As always impeccably sits on her national clothes, "b" is effective, insanely beautiful and aristocratic.
Dipti Naval. She is very beautiful here, the role seems not too significant, but she coped perfectly.
Kulbuhshan Kharbanda. The role is small, but played normally, not bad externally.
Jeniffer Kendall (lifetime wife of Shashi Kapoor). She played a great role as an Englishwoman, it looked great.
Shashi Kapoor Oh, he's so good, he fits into the movie great. He proved that he is not only a commercial actor, but also an amazing dramatic actor. The role of Shasha is, in my opinion, one of the best roles of his period. What makes this role special is the deceptive simplicity of his character. It is extremely difficult to play a role that is on the boundary between sanity and madness. The actor must gather all his talent to bring to life such a complex contradictory personality, and this is where Shashi Kapoor triumphs, effortlessly passes through the whole range of emotions during performance.
Nafis Ali. Played the role Ruth. Great work, shows the whole tragedy, the role on emotions and she coped well, although outwardly not very beautiful, so a little gaudy and nothing more. And how could I exchange the heroine of Shabanah for her? But, men have their own preferences, they always obey some of their internal laws.
The incomprehensible beginning - it seems, a ten-minute hymn on the opening credits, and then in the frame, accompanied also by the dance of some diviner-blessed - did honor Satyajit Rey, spiritual mentor and idol Shyam Benegal. And in some moments of the subsequent action that takes place in 1857 in India (when the Sepoys rebelled against the British colonizers, and innocent women from British families were caught between two fires), you can also find some directorial finds. Benegal, thanks to his groundbreaking cinematic work in the 70s and 80s, rightfully established himself as the undisputed heir to the great Indian authors, whose works paved the way for a new movement in Indian cinema in the late 40s and 60s, which is widely known as the Indian New Wave - parallel cinema. The first four films of Benegal caused a great stir among fans of Indian cinema.
The voiceover text in the film read Amrish Puri... what do you say ... is akin to Levitan - power, tension is felt ... or otherwise it can not be.
This film is a beautiful love story and depicts the feudal lifestyle of the landed aristocracy in Northern India, especially in the region of Avadh (around Lakhnow), the main center of the War of Independence of 1857.
"Madness" is a cinematic epic that serves as a powerful discovery for modern Indian filmmakers. And although, despite the year of release, this film is still with subtitles, I watched it with pleasure (although I do not like films with subtitles), for the sake of Shyam Benegal, I am ready to watch this (although at my current level of knowledge of Hindi, it is easy to watch the film without reading the subtitles, just knowing what it is about).
"Madness"- is a great example for acquaintance with classical Indian cinema and can become a kind of example, for the creation of a real Indian cinema of a new generation
10 out of 10