The Man who made me cry

While my growing years have taught me not to shed tears, my early years never poised me to balance my emotions. Of course, life was too tender then and fundamentally too naive. I cannot attribute my sadness to various people who I have met in all my 27 years. I don't remember the bully of my school, neither I fancy artificial emotions nor I can list all those who have some way or the other became the cause of my cry. And it would be stupid though if I mention my rona dhona in real life. Simply put, Tears have no value in this fabricated world.

However, this article is a tribute to the man who showed me that "It hurts when you see a movie with your heart involved"

Kamal Hasan teamed up with Balu Mahendra in the Tamil film Moondram Pirai, which was later dubbed into Hindi as Sadma and Vasantha Kokila in Telugu. The picture tells the story of a young woman(Sridevi) who regresses to childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash. Lost, she ends up trapped at a brothel before being rescued by Kamal Haasan, a lonely school teacher who falls in love with her.

After all the series of hardwork and attempts by Kamal to comfort Sridevi, I was amazed at the amount of loftiness Kamal brought in the entire film. Making her glee with his manoeuvre skills, jumping like a monkey after Sridevi expresses her fascination towards that Madaari

It's a performance that Kamal creates out of thin air, based on his own understanding of the character. Remember the toughest roles to play are the ones that are too simple, too normal It's not easy playing an average guy, but Kamal does it marvelously.

In the end, Sridevi does not recognize Kamal Hasan after she regains her memory and she understands him as a mad beggar. Kamal's memories, heart and soul are put into this very last scene when he reaches out to her. His eyes strikes us instantly with his tragedy, his attempt to get her attention by making unusual faces, the way he trots on the platform to grab a bowl and keep that on his head. And the moment when he bangs against a pole while running after the train, it hit me like a bullet. It hurt me more when when he sits helplessly on a platform and his student, shocked by Kamal's avatar, gets scared and leaves him alone.

Its an ending which the regular film junkies would never have predicted and would have been totally shattered by! Not even a Taare Zameen Par was able to shake me as much as Kamal Hasan did.

I was 11 years old when I saw this movie. I hated Sridevi for leaving Kamal. I never saw this scene again for some years ( Read : audacity lost)

The last 10 minutes of the film showed me the irony of life - You give so much and when giving you never even realize how much of you is also given in it.

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