Hey Ram

Hey Ram follows Saketh Ram, an archaeologist whose wife is killed during the 1946 Direct Action Day riots in Calcutta, sending him on a path of radicalization that eventually intersects with the historical plot to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. Kamal Haasan wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film, which was among the most expensive Indian productions of its time and used elaborate period recreation of 1940s Calcutta and Delhi. The film sparked considerable debate for humanizing a character drawn toward communal violence and for its imagined proximity to Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, but was widely praised for its technical ambition, Ilaiyaraaja's score, and its ultimately Gandhian message of non-violence and reconciliation. It was India's official submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film that year.