Indian Cinema 101: Tamil Movie Sad Scenes That Can Make Anyone Cry

It is a fact that we cannot separate “crying scenes” from Tamil movies especially when you watch the old movies. but sometimes sadness can come in other forms as well especially when you have Kamal in the lead role.

I may have my “bad moments” with Tamil movies (and worse ones are the Tamil Serials) but I have to admit that some Tamil movies or some scenes are simply gems. I talked about comedies in Tamil movies and coming to the other spectrum of comedy, this has to be one of my favourite sad moments from Tamil movies has to be this:-

(Note: Sometimes this video shows an error message – video is not available but a retry later show it is working. I don’t know why. Alternatively, snippets of the scene can be found in Google video here)

The scene from Kamal Haasan’s 1989 “Apoorva Sagodharargal” where he plays a dual role of a midget clown (no thanks to the villain in the movie) and car repairman – the role of midget was superbly done and especially at a time when Tamil movies rarely use CGIs.

The background story

Appu (Kamal Haasan) is a midget and works as a clown in a circus. The circus owner’s daughter has been away studying medicine and has returned back to the circus. She has been close to him lately so much so Appu begins to think that the daughter is in love with him.

One day, the daughter gives him a ring and asks him to keep it safe and a couple of days later, tells him that she is taking him to the wedding registrar which Appu thinks is for his and the owner’s daughter marriage. He even tells his midget friends in the circus.

He gets so excited and could not wait for the day to come.

Scene 1 (at the registrar office)

Appu gets down from the taxi happy but when he turns to see, the daughter is with another guy. All the earlier excitement fizzles out. Apparently, Appu was brought in to be the witness for their marriage. Appu is now made fun of by the guy’s friend and the registrar. Illayaraja’s haunting background music and the sadness on Appu’s face say it all – it was a heavy moment.

Scene 2 (at the circus)

The owner of the circus is very angry about his daughter’s secret wedding and considering Appu had been in this wedding from the start, scolds Appu for his actions (Appu, of course, is unable to answer the owner as he did not expect this himself).

Appu’s mother comforts the owner by saying that the guy is a good partner for his daughter as he is a doctor and comes from a good family. In the same statement, Appu’s mother says that unlike his son (Appu) who is a retarded (Appu gets a shock and walks away), the guy is more suited for the daughter.

Appu now walks away, unable to cry in front of everyone and soon his midget friends surround him consoling him on the moment. Kudos to the supporting actors who managed to keep the faces calm seeing Kamal at the moment – I would have cried there and then!

Next (in the video)

The scene moves to Appu singing a sad song (a great hit by SP Bala) and attempts to commit suicide

What I liked about the above scenes is where Kamal Haasan manages to give the expression of being cheated and humiliated but at the same time, of not being able to tell what is in his heart. You need not know Tamil to understand the scene – Kamal’s excellent acting says it all.