Pushpak

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Pushpak
Directed by	Srinivasa Rao Singeetham
Produced by	Ravi Kishore
Written by	Srinivasa Rao Singeetham
Starring	Kamal Haasan
Music by	V.S. Narasimhan
Release date(s)	1988
Running time	131 min.
Language	Silent
IMDb profile

Pushpak (English title: The Love Chariot) is a black comedy Indian film released in 1988. Set in an large unnamed Indian city (shot in Bangalore), the film is based on the king-for-a-day story. The film is notable for its inventive recasting of the silent movie form. This movie was released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, kannada and Malayalam. Though shot in color and featuring incidental noise, the film does not have any dialogues. However, unlike classic silent movies, the film has very little mouthing of dialog; instead, clever cinematography, implicit and physical communication, and creating scenes or shots where a dialog would plausibly be absent are used. Additionally, crafty camera placement is sometimes employed to rationalize the inaudibility of dialog.

It won the 1988 National Film Award for Best Popular Film.

1 Reception
2 Plot summary
3 Cast
4 External links

[edit] Reception

Because of its modern reinvention of the silent film form, effective blend of slapstick comedy and dark social satire, an unconventional ending and Kamal Haasan's commendable acting, the film was lauded by critics (including those of the Cannes jury) and has come to be considered as one of the greatest Indian films. The film was not proportionately well received by the general public and is relatively unknown. The film is one of the highest rated films in IMDb, rated 9.4 out of 10 as of January 2008.

[edit] Plot summary

The film follows an unnamed, almost penniless and unemployed youth (played by Kamal Haasan) whose fortunes change when he stumbles upon a millionaire drunk by the roadside. He takes the millionaire prisoner in his house and assumes his identity to taste the luxury of a five-star hotel(actually shot at Windsor Manor Hotel, Bangalore). In the process, he falls in love with a magician's daughter (Amala). He uses his false identity to enjoy a romantic day with her. Meanwhile a contract killer is sent after the millionaire who engages in repeated failed attempts to kill Kamal with knives made of ice. Finally after seeing the millionaires wife lamenting her missing husband and witnessing several other incidents that affect his view of life deeply, Kamal decides to give up his new-found luxury. In any case, it would not have been possible to keep up the charade for a length of time.

In the much-acclaimed ending, Kamal frees the millionaire and confesses everything to magicians daughter. The magician's daughter tells Kamal she still likes him and throws Kamal a flower and her address/phone number from a car. Before Kamal could catch them, a wind takes them some distance away. The last shot shows Kamal standing at the employment line, once again a very poor man.

[edit] Cast

Kamal Haasan as Unemployed graduate
Amala as Magician's daughter
Tinnu Anand as Killer
Narayana P.L. as Beggar
Farida Jalal as Magician's wife
Sameer Khakhar as Samir Khakhar, the rich man
Ramya Krishna as Ramya, the rich man's wife
Loknath as Lokanath, the hotel owner
Prathap K. Pothan as Pratap Potan, the lover
K.S. Ramesh as Magician