Anbe Sivam

Written on 10:30 AM by Arun Sethuraman

Language:Tamizh
Director:Sundar C
Starring:Kamal Hassan, R.Madhavan,Nasser, Santana Bharathi, Kiran, etc.
Music:Vidyasagar
Year of Release:2003

Communism is not about power; it’s about the people. It’s about how the world belongs to everyone; not just the rich or the poor. It’s about creating a world that is free from divisions; a utopian society that sees everyone in the same light, through the same many eyes that are one.

Marx did not talk of killing and burning buses for a share in a material world. He asked people to stand up for their own rights; to pride in what they are and their culture. That way, he’s no different from the buddha or the redeemer or the prophet. They’re all the same. They loved their people. They loved the world. They are all gods.

Anbe Sivam; “Love is God”. When I first came across these words atop the Kabaleeshwara Temple in Mylapore, Madras, it made me cry. The truth in the words struck me like a branding iron. I was proud that I knew and believed in a religion called love, if not anything else. The deities inside exuded this love. I felt warmed by it. I felt loved.

“Anbe Sivam” is about a man who believes in this simple power; the power of love. Nallasivam is a communist worker; an artist by profession, he stands up for the rights of underpaid tea factory workers. The story takes a turn when he is badly maimed in a road accident. He survives like a miracle. Like a resurrected god. Love saves him. Everyone.

The movie is also about Anbarasu, an advertising agent who meets Nallasivam in the midst of a Bhubhaneshwar flood. They are forced to travel together and he grows as their journey takes them home. As brothers. Just like the rest of the world.

The circumstances that weave the two stories together, the everyday humour, the astounding music, the simplicity of men; a dash of everything that go to make a good movie.

As for the acting, I guess that nothing needs to be said of Kamal Hassan. He is easily the best actor that Tamizh cinema has seen. Madhavan does an awesome job too; possibly his best till date. Nasser and Santhana Bharathi are naturals; they tell me that good Tamizh cinema isn’t dead yet.

My definition of good movies is a trifle different from what others would agree upon. I think that a good movie should make you cry. It should make you think. It should strum that string in you that’s always been there but was never played. It should make you want to watch it over and over again and make you cry every time like it were the first time.

I’ve watched Anbe Sivam four times. And I’ve cried with it. Every time.

Posted in Indian, Tamizh |