Anbe Sivam - A Tribute

This had been posted on orkut in the "Anbe Sivam" community...superb movie with a wonderful theme and exquisite direction and histrionics...

karaigal oivai virumbinaalum alaigal viduvadhillai,
kilaigal oivai virumbinaalum kaatru viduvadhillai,
odi odi olindhapodhum vaazhkkai
viduvadhillai viduvadhillai viduvadhillai

This is one movie that made me feel very very warm and really "made my day". It is a movie that would have made an impact on me, no matter what the circumstances of viewing were; but the impact was truly magnified by the presence of my close college-mates and the fact that all of us were a little deflated by our loss at an inter-college maths fest. Here's the story as a tribute to Anbe Sivam and the eternal truths that it expounds!!
Myself and 4 others set off to the Chennai Mathematical Institute's inter-college maths-competition at a hall on Bazullah Road & it would suffice to say that we were weighed measured and found "wanting". With this depressed mindset we started back to our college. However, someone came up with the idea of watching a movie and 4 of us set off to Satyam Theatre and none of us had any idea what this movie Anbe Sivam was about.
The movie simply filled my heart and soul. I do not want to sound immodest or self-appreciative but I have very strong belief in the inherent goodness of people, altruism, that there is a spring of kindness in all hearts that just needs to be kindled by some event or the other. This movie held up a mirror to all these beliefs and convictions of mine. I must say that I am not a big fan of Communism and so, chose to ignore that part of the movie which focussed on the hero's communist leanings and activism. It was probably included to obtain a basis for his atheist stance.
The song "yaar yaar sivam...." is among the very best I have heard in terms of lyrics alone. Add to it the music and the visualization and it can bring tears to anyone's eyes simply by making them feel "human". The movie truly is a classic because like a true classic it has some scenes that dont jell but those scenes do nothing to take away the value of the movie. Every classic has such scenes but the good and great scenes are the ones that endure and this is true for Anbe Sivam. The expression of Kamal hassan in the mirror after the accident is a mixture of self-pity, joy at being alive and a "never-say-die" attitude that refuses to perpetuate the self-pity. And the tender yet stern, loving yet methodical voice and acts of the nun who nurses him back to health and the atheist's respect bordering on devotion to this nun are, for me, among the best displays of emoting ability in Indian cinema (in the league of Sivaji Ganesan, Dilip Kumar etc). A classic is a work of art that has something in it which transcends time. A classic defeats art's most notorious enemy - Age and the the threat of obsolence that it brings with it. "To kill a mocking bird" might not be relevant to americans of 80's and later but it has a message in it that is eternal and that is why it is a classic.
Anbe sivam portrays the greatest truths of the world in a contemporary manner and although the contemporary framework may die out, the truths are eternal and values immutable and that is why it will live on.
There might be a lot of pessimism regarding the state of this world but it is this unsung and unknown acts of kindness and forgiving that sustain this world. Ordinary men and women render acts of such kindness and sacrifice for sake of people who are absolute strangers to them, simply out of love and bonding to a fellow human-being; It is such deeds that keep the human race from fighting itself to extinction.