Change Your Image
gaston-roberge
Reviews
Amal (2007)
A heartening film to see at a time when we are losing faith in our humanity.
As the film opened I could not help being reminded of the Indian film Manasarovar (2004) about which I commented on this site. One link was the auto rickshaw. Stronger still was the character of Amal and the two male characters of Manasarovar, George and Ravi. These three young men, to my mind, represent the world of the Indian young adults. While Ravi and George were on a search for meaning, in this film, Amal had already reached, largely through the influence of his father, an experiential knowledge of what is meaningful in life. As a result he was happy, although he had a moment of sadness when the little beggar girl he is trying to help dies. But he is not crushed. Like George and Ravi of Manasarovar, Amal delights in helping kids. And all that he does is for others. So, no wonder, if in the end he casually gives the letter that names him as a heir of a millionaire, to a beggar girl who needs a scrap of paper to write. The film says there is joy in life, and joy does not depend on what you own or the superficial pleasures you may indulge in.
Manasarovar (2004)
A film about Young India
Manasarovar was shown at the Kolkata Film Festival, in November 2005. The hall was full to capacity. Throughout the screening you could feel that the audience fully identified with the characters in the film. There was a psychological symbiosis. Why? Modestly, yet effectively, Manasarovar tells a story of young India and of her quest for answers to questions regarding life and love. "What do you want to do with your life? and "How come you are not married?" ask both George and Ravi. "I don't know," replies Malathy.
Through a long interaction, Malathy and Ravi dispel the clouds in their minds and arrive at clarity of vision. Not yet, perhaps, the purity of mythical lake Manasarovar, but they journey towards it. The lake remains an unattainable goal: what matters is to keep running up the hill of life.