Anbe Sivam (2003) on Netflix
NR20032h 40mAdventureComedyDrama
Flooded Bhubaneswar: advertisement director Anbarasu wrongly reports the disabled activist Nallasivam as a terrorist. The two must reach Chennai, one for his wedding, one to pay union workers.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb8.6/1028,628 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Anbarasu works in advertising under the shortened name A. Aras and is expected at his wedding in Chennai. Nallasivam, known as Sivam, is a social activist who has to deliver thirty-two lakh rupees to a group of union workers as compensation. The two meet in Bhubaneswar while each waits for a flight, and when reports of a terrorist threat spread, Anbarasu mistakes Sivam for a terrorist and hands him to the authorities. Heavy rain cancels the flights and floods the city, so the two strangers spend the night sharing a hotel room. In the morning they board a bus toward the Coromandel Express, and on the way thieves take Anbarasu's bag, leaving him with no cash and a card he cannot use.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Anbe Sivam (2003)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kamal Haasan said the disfigured activist Nallasivam was inspired by the life of Safdar Hashmi, the communist playwright and street-theatre figure. Hashmi died on 2 January 1989 after being attacked by members of the Indian National Congress while staging the play Halla Bol.
- Anbe Sivam's box-office failure hit Lakshmi Movie Makers so hard that the company stopped investing in other ventures for the rest of 2003. Estimates put its losses at ₹65 million (The Economic Times) and ₹50 million (India Today).
- Director Sundar C said Anbe Sivam changed him personally and professionally, but later said its failure left him almost bankrupt and unpaid, and the Income Tax Department froze his bank accounts for a year.
- Nandita Das and Shobana were the original choices to play Balasaraswathi and Mehrunissa in Anbe Sivam, but both declined because of schedule conflicts, according to the film's script assistant and costume designer Sujatha Narayanan.
- Director Bala said the scene where Haasan tells Madhavan that loving unconditionally makes people Gods inspired him to make Naan Kadavul, for which he won the 2010 Vijay Award for Best Director.
- After Vidyasagar composed the title song of Anbe Sivam, he suggested that Kamal Haasan sing it himself to get the effect Haasan wanted; Haasan accepted.
- The flood scenes set in Odisha were re-created using outdoor sets of city roads submerged under water, erected on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.
- Kamal Haasan learnt to play the thavil, a barrel-shaped percussion instrument, over three weeks for a brief sequence in the song "Naatukkoru Seithi".
