Amal (2007)

Director:

Richie Mehta

Writers:

Richie Mehta (screenplay) and
Shaun Mehta (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 August 2008 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes the poorest of men are the richest...

Plot:

Autorickshaw driver Amal is content with the small, but vital, role he serves - driving customers around New Delhi as quickly and safely as possible...

Plot Keywords:

Driver | Hard Worker | Based On Short Story | Singing | Money

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Rupinder Nagra	...	Amal V. Kumar
Naseeruddin Shah	...	G.K. Jayaram
Seema Biswas	...	Advocate Sapna R. Agarwal
Koel Purie	...	Pooja Seth
Vik Sahay	...	Vivek G. Jayaram
Roshan Seth	...	Suresh Gupta
Tanisha Chatterjee	...	Priya
Siddhant Behl	...	Harish G. Jayaram
Amardeep Jha	...	Radha V. Kumar
Maya Mankotia	...	Simran G. 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'
Fenulla Jiwani	...	Poker Woman #2
Asif Ali Haider Khan	...	Raju
Ellora Patnaik	...	Casino Director
Amrita Rai	...	Amrita

Runtime:

Canada:101 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Company:

Poor Man's Productions Ltd.

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.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Amal (2004)

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.