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NOTES |
I believe
the country of origin is India though the language of the film is
Tamil.
The film begins with a song by the blind main character which may be
enough for you to decide whether this film is your cup of tea. But
do perservere if not.
There are many close-ups of the hero's, Kaasi, face showing what
looks like to be a genuine impairment to his eyes though probably
the result of 'contact lenses'. I suspect Vikram who plays Kaasi is
a big Tamil star. IMDB does not list the film so it's hard to check.
Yes, he is a big star at least as a singer.
Kaasi's mother still bathes him and his sister looks out for him but
he is independent and in fact the family bread winner through his
singing.
The father is bitter and resentful for having a blind son. He
himself is 'confined' to bed .
Kaasi goes off to town on his own using a walking stick with a
bicycle bell attached. He meets a woman en route who cannot speak
and uses some kind of sign. She turns out to be his financee and she
has not spoken since her father was killed by a falling tree. They
are considered fit for each other. She helps him across a very
narrow bridge (basically a plank). In town he has problems with the
traffic and is helped by a waiter who limps very badly.
There he 'busks' and makes a reasonable living but his money is
taken from him by his brother-in-law who is greedy for the dowry
promised him. Oddly the crowd just watches as Kaasi is beaten up.
Kaasi takes out a loan to pay the dowry from a rich accountant who
has returned to his native village with a friend the son of an M.P.
This man who is worshipped by the villagers also arranges for Kaasi
to see an eye specialist. The specialist tells him that his optic
nerves are O.K. and what he needs is an eye-transplant. His
girlfriend, Kaveri, offers one of her eyes. But the father is
worried that he won't make any money from his singing if people know
he isn't blind.
The accountant and his friend lure Kaveri and Kaasi's sister to
their house and it appears they are raped. The girls are told to
keep quiet and one is threatened with being burned to death.
Kaasi's sister drowns herself leaving a note explaining what
happened to her and Kaasi strangles the accountant to death and then
walks away from the village.
Amazingly despite the occasional forays into song and dance the
realism of this film in both background and script would put most
western films to shame. Kaasi's is a poor family . Everyone Kaasi
meets he knows. The geography of the film is the extent of Kaasi's
world.
I cannot remember ever seeing a western film in which a blind person
as the main character actually looks blind. Either when blind from
birth or accident. Think of John Garfield's character in Pride of
the Marines who was blinded by a grenade going off in his face.
There's not a mark on his face. Kaasi's obvious blindness is thrust
in your face. And while he hams it up a bit and does more than his
fair share of crying he is an appealing character. The sister and
mother are particularly good actors except when the script pulls the
rug from under them.
This film despite the melodrama and the song and dance is definitely
recommended. There are no cures and no simple resolution.
I saw the film on DVD
but I don't know if it is available in Europe or North America. |
