Pushpak

<p>An unemployed poor graduate living in a ramshackle lodge called Anand Bhavan dreams of riches. He tries to show off his meagre wealth in front of a roadside beggar but is then humbled to discover the beggar has accumulated more money than him. Once as he is window shopping, he drops in an emporium where he meets a young woman trying on earrings. He suggests her earrings without she asking him to do so. Then he sees her again while waiting in line to apply for job vacancies. She mistakes the expensive car he is leaning against to be his, and he happily pretends she is right. He finds that she is wearing those earrings suggested by him. One night, the graduate finds a drunk rich man unconscious by the roadside. Finding in his pocket, a key to a suite in the plush “Pushpak” hotel, the graduate kidnaps and imprisons the rich man in his room at Anand Bhavan, while he moves into the rich man’s suite at Pushpak, buys new clothes, shoes and sunglassesv with his money and takes over his lifestyle, he has always desired for. The rich man’s wife has an with his friend, who hires a to kill the rich man without her knowledge. The friend hands over some money and only the suite number (no name) to the killer. The killer stakes out the rich man’s suite at Pushpak and mistakes the graduate as his target. The graduate discovers the same young woman in a suite opposite his balcony in the same hotel. She is the daughter of a magician performing at the hotel. One day, at buffet counter, she slaps him after mistaking him for pulling a prank on her. But she is ashamed of her deed when she discovers that the prank is done by a young boy. They mend ways while paying tribute at the funeral of the hotel owner, and then they spend time together and develop a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, the killer tries to kill the graduate with ice daggers, but he fails in every attempt, with the graduate unaware of the threat to his life. Eventually, the graduate realises the killer is in the hotel to kill someone but does not know who. The killer intrudes into his suite, and barely survives getting electrocuted while trying to stab the graduate. While the killer is still unconscious, the graduate drops him in his suite. Upon gaining consciousness, the frustrated and frightened killer travels to the lover’s bungalow to report his failure, and the graduate follows him and learns the truth. The rich man’s wife learns of her lover’s treachery and leaves him. In a montage shown about the hotel owner, the graduate realises that owner was once a poor man similar to himself. Seeing what the hotel owner achieved by fair means, the graduate begins to question his actions. He sees the roadside beggar has died, and workers arrive to take away the body. However, discovering the beggar’s stash, they abandon his body and squabble over the money. The graduate decides to stop his deceit. He frees the rich man and explains the situation to him in a letter. The rich man and his wife reunite, and he stops drinking. The graduate decides to come clean to the magician’s daughter too. He learns the magician’s family is about to leave Pushpak. He confesses the truth to the magician’s daughter through a letter, and to his surprise she forgives him. As she is leaving the hotel, she tells graduate that her home is quite far away through signs. She writes down something (probably her address)on a paper and drops a rose wrapped in the paper from her car window as they depart Pushpak. The graduate picks up the rose, but the wind blows the paper into a gutter. Later, the graduate is shown standing in line again to apply for job vacancies. was assisting director in a film where there was a scene requiring a character to emote fear without dialogues. Srinivasa Rao wondered if he could make an entire film that way for a long time, but did not have an idea for the story. The idea for the film that would become came to Srinivasa Rao when he was in a shower, after which he wrote the screenplay within two weeks. agreed to work on the film after being impressed by the script. According to him, the story was originally a , but after being inspired by , he and Srinivasa Rao decided to change it to a . thus became the first full-length dialogue-less film in India after the ” ” of cinema. The film struggled to find a producer, prompting Srinivasa Rao to take over production himself. When actor , a relative of Kannada matinee idol with whom Srinivasa Rao was working at that time, heard that Srinivasa Rao was producing a film on his own, he asked about the subject. Srinivasa Rao narrated , Nagaraj showed excitement and joined as co-producer, with the film being produced under Mandakani Chitra, a company based in , . was the only film Nagaraj had produced in his entire career. Cinematography was handled by , editing by D. Vasu, and art direction by , who had worked with Srinivasa Rao on (1981). Since the film had no dialogue, Srinivasa Rao chose to cast actors from different parts of India. Haasan, a native of , was cast as the protagonist, an unemployed graduate. He had to shave his signature moustache for the role. Srinivasa Rao initially wanted to be the female lead, but she wanted to wear “glittering costumes” like in films; hence, Srinivasa Rao did not cast her. After seeing compere an awards function in , enquiring about her and getting to know about her background, he approached her and she accepted. Srinivasa Rao decided to cast as the drunk rich man, inspired by his drunkard character Khopdi from the television series . Srinivasa Rao initially approached to portray the , but he could not accept the offer due to unavailability of dates. Haasan’s then-wife showed a photograph of and successfully recommended him for the role. , then known mainly for portraying dark characters, played a comical character, the of Ramya’s character. Srinivasa Rao initially wanted magician to portray the female lead’s magician father, but ultimately chose K. S. Ramesh after seeing his performance in a magic show on television in Bengaluru, where the story is set. , who was then visiting Bengaluru, was cast as the female lead’s mother. According to Srinivasa Rao, proved the “ideal choice” for playing the beggar. Thota Tharani constructed a street set for the film beside the Hyland Hotel in Bengaluru. The ramshackle room where the graduate lives, and the building itself, was constructed above the hotel. Most of the shooting was done in the Windsor Manor hotel in Bengaluru. The management of Windsor Manor were not initially willing to let the film be shot there, but after Nagaraj told them that “the entire world will know about this hotel after the film”, they agreed. The scenes where the graduate meets the beggar were shot at a bridge near Windsor Manor. According to Anand, Srinivasa Rao wanted the entire cast to be present at all times, regardless of whether they were filming scenes or not. As Ramesh was not as old as his character, Srinivasa Rao “made him look old”. The killer’s is an ice dagger. For this reason, every night, an ice mould in the shape of a dagger was kept in the freezer; however, the ice dagger would often melt soon by morning because of the strong density lights being used in the shooting. Srinivasa Rao ultimately decided to use an acrylic dagger, which looked like an ice dagger. To capture background and ambient noise accurately, sequences were shot twice. The entire budget of the film was 35 lakh (worth 13 crore in 2021 prices). The film had no songs, only background score. Srinivasa Rao wanted a composer who could work as per his demands and requirements for the scenes, for this was chosen to compose the score. exponent Janardhan Mitta contributed to the re-recording using two other instruments apart from minimal orchestration. Eminent Indian film Director Satyajit Ray was approached to make the background score. But his health issues did not permit him to join the project. Srinivasa Rao called a personal film because “that’s the life I lead. I don’t want to amass wealth. At the same time, I am not a person who romanticises poverty. Money is important, but that is not everything.” Anjana Shekar of said the film satirises unemployment, an issue that was prevalent in India in the 1980s. She compared it to ‘s novel because of the concept of identity switching, with the difference being that in the switching is not mutually agreed upon and the two men do not look alike. Anjana said that the climax in which the graduate is shown standing in a long queue of job seekers indicates that nothing has changed for him “except that now, he’s willing to take the metaphorical stairs to succeed in life.” Historian noted similarities between the graduate and , because of how the former “fantasises about riches”. Srinivasa Rao named (1949), where a civil servant is mistaken for a high-ranking inspector, as an inspiration on , and also took inspiration from his personal experiences in the 1950s. Writing for , Madhu Jain described as “the story of the modern Indian male . But with a different end – and moral: Money is not everything though pursuing it is entertaining.” She noted the contrast in the name of the graduate’s lodge, Anand Bhavan (Abode of Bliss). Film critic said the film gives the message that “money is the root of much evil and honesty is the best policy”. Ravi Balakrishnan of said that though it eschews formulaic Indian cinema conventions like songs and dialogue, it has “all the elements that make a great mainstream entertainer – a love story, a crime caper, a thriller and a comedy – with plotlines blending together seamlessly”, while comparing its primary narrative to Charlie Chaplin’s (1931), and the graduate to Chaplin’s character . was released on 27 November 1987. The film was released under different titles for different linguistic regions: its original title in Karnataka (in the language), in ( ), ( ) in -speaking regions, ( ) in ( ), and in ( ). In Andhra Pradesh, it was distributed by , in Mumbai by actor , and in Madras by . The film was featured in the section at the . Retrospectively it was featured in the , and . The film received critical acclaim for its creativity, making and the cast performances. Reviewing , the magazine said that to make a silent film needs a lot of courage and the filmmaker needs to be congratulated for that, rating it 50 out of 100. N. Krishnaswamy of said, “For [Kamal Haasan], the film is yet another achievement. For Singeetam, always the bold experimenter […] should provide both critical and commercial mileage. It is music director L. Vaidyanathan’s task to provide the ‘silent’ film a worthy musical foil to match its varied moods and needs: this he does with panache.” of the magazine appreciated virtually every aspect of the film, calling it a must watch. Filmmaker applauded the film and told Srinivasa Rao, “You have created a love scene around a dead body”, referring to the scene where the graduate and the magician’s daughter walk around the hotel owner’s dead body during his funeral several times just to spend some time together. s critic wrote, ” is a bold and timely reminder that verbal diarrhoea drowns out meaning. Silence is not only golden but eloquent.” Though no-one expected the film to succeed, it was a , completing a 35-week theatrical run in Bengaluru, and grossing around 1 crore according to estimates by Madhu Jain and Garga. became a landmark of Indian cinema. According to film theorists and , it “opened up a new dimension in entertainment”, and “helped change [Kamal Haasan’s] screen image”. Srinivasa Rao has stated that after the film’s success, many people wanted him to make more dialogue-less films but he was uninterested, saying, “My fascination was for the first one that I made.” Amala listed it along with (1987), (1988), (1989) and (1991) as her most memorable films. The film is listed among ‘s “hundred greatest Indian films of all time”. It was also listed by in its list “Singeetham’s gems before Christ”. On Haasan’s birthday, 7 November 2015, Latha Srinivasan of considered to be one of the “films you must watch to grasp the breadth of Kamal Haasan’s repertoire”.</p>