Pushpak

Language – Silent

Director – Singeetham Srinivasa Rao

What is the movie about?

An unemployed youth (Kamal Haasan) comes across a room key of the luxurious Hotel Pushpak in the pocket of an inebriated millionnaire. The youth switches place with the millionnaire and moves into the lavish suite of the Hotel Pushpak assuming the millionnaire's identity. He also falls in love with a magician's daughter staying at the hotel. Meanwhile, a hitman fails repeatedly in his attempts to kill the youth. The youth realises that the real target is the millionnaire and decides to set things right.

Who is it by?

Pushpak was a reinterpretation of the silent film genre written and directed by the renowned South Indian film director, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao.

Why should I watch it?

Pushpak is a black comedy that, in the absence of dialogue, deftly uses background music and symbols to convey meaning. The Pushpak Hotel with its winged halo logo is an allegory for the lavish life on board the Pushpak, a mythological flying machine mentioned in the Ramayana. At another level, the movie explores the fleeting, illusory world of money and the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

In 1988, Pushpak won the Golden Lotus among the National Awards for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's September 2012 Issue.