Amal (2007)

Autorickshaw driver Amal is content with the small, but vital, role he serves - driving customers around New Delhi as quickly and safely as possible. But his sense of duty is tested by an ... See full summary »

Director:

Richie Mehta

Writers:

Richie Mehta (screenplay), Shaun Mehta (screenplay),

Stars:

Rupinder Nagra, Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Biswas

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rupinder Nagra	...	Amal Kumar
Naseeruddin Shah	...	G.K. Jayaram
Seema Biswas	...	Advocate Sapna Agarwal
Koel Purie	...	Pooja Seth
Vik Sahay	...	Vivek Jayaram
Roshan Seth	...	Suresh Gupta
Tanisha Chatterjee	...	Priya
Siddhant Behl	...	Harish Jayaram
Amardeep Jha	...	Radha Kumar
Maya Mankotia	...	Simran Jayaram
Dr. Shiva	...	Dr. Shiva
Gurpreet Chana	...	The Tabla Guy (as Gurpreet Singh Channa)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mukesh Chhabra	...	Subhash
Vijay Deepak Chhiber	...	Ram Agarwal
Sanjiv Chopra	...	Thakur 'Godfather'

Storyline

Autorickshaw driver Amal is content with the small, but vital, role he serves - driving customers around New Delhi as quickly and safely as possible. But his sense of duty is tested by an eccentric, aging billionaire, who, moved by Amal's humility, bequeaths him his entire estate before passing away. With only one month to discover and claim the inheritance, Amal's struggles with duty and wealth are threatened by all those around him - from a young injured beggar girl and a lovely store merchant, to the danger of the old man's upper-caste friends and siblings, all seeking to claim their share of the riches.

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Plot Keywords:

rickshaw | driver | will | scene during end credits | money | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes the poorest of men are the richest...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

Hindi English

Release Date:

8 August 2008 (Canada)

Filming Locations:

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Poor Man's Productions Ltd., A71 Productions, Films Seville Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Rahi nagufta mere dil me" is a very popular Ghazal by Meer Taqi Meer that is featured on Naseeruddin Shah in the bar scene. It has been sung by Dr. Shiva, who also plays the role of the doctor who treats the little homeless girl. Dr. Shiva also composed the tune for the Ghazal.

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Connections

Remake of Amal (2004)

User Reviews

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.