pride and sadness. Once hung to death, the British dis- played Narasimha’s head for 30 years to remind people of the consequences if they revolted. That itself reveals the strength of Narasimha and the power of his rebellion. It also reminds us of the supreme sacrifices many have done to bring us this precious freedom. Music is all right. Nayana Tara and Tamanna did justice to their short insignificant characters, and Amitabh Bachchan was utilized well to lure in North Indian audi- ences. However, after Chiru, it is the character of Jagapathy Babu as Veera Reddy and Sudip as Avuka Raju that will impact you the most! Pictured at the cost of 2 billion INR, Sye Ra is exquisite in its production values! I was also touched by the array of freedom fighters (I haven’t even heard of several of them before!) shown at the end titles! Heartening to see so many of them including Mahatma and Pundit Nehru! I am a sucker for such visuals and sentiment! I would have loved it more if the title of the movie was just Sye Ra Narasimha, rather than adding the surname and would have been more appealing to people like me. A must watch at least once! IPM rating 3.5/5
Nayanatara looks and acts more like an ethnic jewery and silk sari model than a freedom fight- er’s wife who is dependent on the British for his monthly pension!
role instead of a fair skinned damsel and paint her body dark? Or just let her be the way she is? I mean there are fair skinned south Indian women you know Mr Surender Reddy? What I liked: Sye Ra depicts how the British exploited India and why they are the real villains and not the indigenous Muslims who made India their country. British looted India and degraded Indians and its heritage. Divided communities and rulers to facilitate their rule and loot. And Sye Ra pro- jects this point quite well. People always revolted and fought against the British those days, never against Muslim rulers. Muslims were part of their culture and heritage but British never were as they always viewed Indians disparag- ingly and intended to loot the country to enrich Britain and the queen. I loved the part where Muslims, Hindus, Chieftans and Farmers come together to fight the British! It also in a way reveals how Indians for centuries are used to slavery without actually being slaves, to religion, power and politics! For centuries they are used to bending low to power and money that it became second nature! Even today we are slaves to powerful politicians and rich Ambanis and Adanis that we are in awe of their wealth and power but never have the guts to question them or their means! Thats why its so easy to keep Indian population in control in the name of religion and power. I liked Sye Ra for Chiru’s dynamic action, the story telling and the subtle message of Unity in Diversity that India stands for. The story-telling swells your heart both in
Watching Tamanna, with her artificially tanned body and dubbed voice to represent South Indian women, made me won- der why the director just couldn’t just cast a South Indian actress instead? Or just let her be the way she is? Fair?
9 www.indiaparentmagazine.org
October 2019
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