Amaran

 

"Amaran" (2024) is based on a military hero Major Mukund Varadarajan and his wife, Indhu.  His wife, recites the story after his death.

They met at college and after as a mentor he persuaded her to participate in a fashion contest they came to see each other more often and dated.  A key thing occur when he shows her to his family and his mother objects.  She is a Malayali while he is a Tamil.  He persists and even after a breakup they get married.  

At first she did not realize he wanted to be in the military.  He reassured her there was nothing to be worried about.  One of the adjustments was he spent a lot of time away from home.  He was involved in training, but also in various conflicts in India and outside as well.  He rose to be a major and was well regarded by not only superiors, but also those he led.  Along the way we see normal marital events such as buying a house, raising a child and dealing with in-laws.

The other adjustment was fear that the risk of death was higher than normal for non military men.  He owned up to the risk, but said it was worth it.  At one time he was wounded and she cried when she saw the wound and he admonished her never to cry over a wound and furthermore not to cry should he die.  He was tended to by his father in law who was a doctor.

A major military concern in India was with Kashmir.  My knowledge is scant, but I do understand that in 1947 different states were asked if they would join India or the newly constructed Pakistan designed to be a haven for Muslims.  The ruler of Kashmir declined to make a choice.  Their independence was first breached by Pakistan (reaching out to the the majority Muslim population.and thereafter there was much violence, some against India, some against Pakistan and some that just wanted to be independent.  A couple of men were designated as terrorists that as one witness said are characterized by others as freedom fighters.

The "terrorism" is pretty brutal and there are many followers wanting to rid Kashmir of Indians.  Major Mukund is in the thick of it.  An election is the focus towards the climax that the terrorists want to disrupt and nullify.  There is much action and inevitably there are deaths.  Military traditions (with a stiff upper lip and martial music) are maintained.  I don't usually summarize the films I promote, but this is fairly modern history.  At the credits we are shown photos of Mukund and his wife and you can appreciate the two main actors were selected and groomed to match closely.  It must be added they both fit their roles not only in looks, but in their demeanor.

This highly rated and engaging film brought together a wide range of talents such as the following.

Rajkumar Periasamy directed and wrote the script.  Previously he had seen a video in which Major Mukund had taught his daughter to sing a song.  He has 4 credits as a director, 2 as a writer and 1 as a cinematographer.

The producer Kamal Haasan might be described as the most prominent film maker in India.  He got his first acting award at age 6.  Early on he was involved with dancing (choreography) and playback singing.  Later he took makeup workshops and wrote music and lyrics.  He has worked in several languages; Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and English.  Seven of his movies have been nominated for Oscars, more than for any other Indian.  When he met Jackie Chan he admitted he emulated many of his stunts and accumulated 32 fractures.  He was once prevented from flying to the U.S. by the U.S. Customs at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2002 as he was thought to be Muslim which  he wasn't.  He has 223 acting credits 50 for music department,  36 for writing and 7 for producing including  "Sadma" (1983), "Nayakan" (1987),  "Guna" (1991), "Chachi 420" (1997), "Hey Ram" (2000), "Anbe Sivam" (2003) and "Dasavatharam" (2008),  In the film's dialogue, Major Mukund is heard to say that "Anbe Sivam" is the best Tamil film he has ever seen.

G.V. Prakash Kumar provided the music.  His mother was the elder sister of A. R. Rahman which gave Prakash an opportunity to sing some Rahman's songs in films.  His stage singing encouraged some film makers to offer acting roles.  He has 105 composing credits, 55 for the music department and 35 for acting including "Bombay" (1995), "Aadukalam" (2011), "Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012), "Soorarai Pottru" (2020), "Vaathi" (2023), "Lucky Baskhar" (2024) and "Thangalaan" (2024).

Ch Sai was the cinematographer.  He has 6 Camera and Electrical Department credits and 3 for cinematography credits.

R. Kalaivanan was the editor with 4 editing credits.

Sivakarthikeyan played Major Mukund.  He has a degree in computer engineering and a M.BA.  He was very good a mimicry in school and was coerced onto stage which in turn led to being a playback singer and also writing lyrics.  He has 27 acting credits, 14 for the mucic department and 6 for producing including "Doctor" (2021) and "Don" (2022)

Sai Pallavi played Indhu.  She graduat4ed from Tbilisi State Medical School, but never practiced in India.  She has appeared in numerous language films and is conversant in Georgian, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, English.   She once declined a huge sponsorship from a fair skin corporation as she believed in natural beauty;  see   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/08/bollywood-and-skin-colour.html  She has 19 acting credits including "Fidaa" (2017), "Shyam Singha Roy" (2021) and "Virata Parvam" (2022).

Bhuvan Arora played a close colleague, Vikram.  He has 24 acting credits including  "Shuddh Desi Romance" (2013), "Chaman Bahaar" (2020), "Farzi" (2023) and "Chandu Champion" (2024).  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/08/chandu-champion.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/farzi-or-fakes.html

Rahul Bose played Colonel Amit Aingh Dabas.  He is a prolific award winner internationally and domestically.  In school he successful in boxing, cricket and rugby and later became president of Rugby India.  A tv. commercial he did combining Hindi nnd English (Hinglish) was a major success.  He has appeared in Hindi, Taml, Bengali and English films.  He has 56 acting credits, 2 for directing and 2 for writing including "Chameli" (2003), "Jhankaar Beats" (2003), "Before the Rains" (2007), "The Japanese Wife" (2010), "I Am" (2010), "Midnight's Children" (2012), "Dil Dhadakne Do" (2015) and "Poorna" (2017).

Geetha Kailasam played Mukund's mother who objected to his girlfriend.  She was a chartered accountant who got to audit the books for a film studio.  That led to being a producer with 4 credits.  She then got into acting with 15 credits including "Maamanan" (2023).

Shyamaprasad played Indhu's father who hapepened to be a doctor.   He graduated with a Master degree in Media Production from Hull University in England.  He has 16 directing credits, 14 for acting and 9 for writing.

If you are only a little quesy you can watch "Amaran" subtitled on Netflix.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.