"'Would anyone give their life for a language', you ask?"
"Languages aren't just sounds and alphabets."
"It is the breath of a race."
"It is an identity."
"England obliterated the Gaelic language when they occupied and enslaved Scotland."
"The day Mikhail Gorbachev decreed Russian to be the sole language for all..."
"...there was heavy resistance in the Soviet Union."
"The day Jinnah imposed Urdu as the sole language in East and West Pakistan..."
"...people began demanding their rights."
"This brand of fanaticism took root in India for the first time in 1918."
"By claiming English to be an oppressor's language..."
"...the Indian leaders up north decided everyone must speak Hindi."
"They proceeded to covertly and overtly implement this imposition."
"Those who resisted this change were arrested en masse."
"They were assaulted and tortured."
"When fear arose about the Hindi imposition..."
"...leaving the studies, jobs, and lives of many in dire straits..."
"When it was believed there were none left to rally against this..."
"...an army rose up to protect their mother tongue."
"A army of students that knew no fear."
"The Puranaanooru Squad."
He was part of the very first batch trained in espionage by Russia's KGB, sir.
One of the finest and sharpest officers we have.
Officer Thiru. Thirunadan.
KGB, huh?
You must be brilliant.
I am what I am.
Who is that arrogant prick?
Sir! Ibrahim Kamal, IPS.
Madras Liaison Officer.
At your service, sir.
Just got on at the last station.
Sir?
Don't, Chezhiya! Fall back!
Should we die for a language?
Then what? Should we keep bowing to them for life?
We must strike back! We must create history!
We're fighting for your language too, Govind!
Join us if you want! If you're scared, run away!
You'll die! Please listen to me!
Back away! -Chezhiya!
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
Ibrahim! -Yes, sir?
Make sure all three VIP coaches are protected!
'Bring your hands together and bolster the army'
'Fall as a seed and make the world bloom'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
There are too many of them.
Never mind the protestors.
Protect the ministers.
Okay, sir. Come on!
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
Come on! -'Ours is a great army'
Hurry!
Make it fast!
(Let justice prevail)
Get everyone out, Major!
Nobody must remain in the compartment! This is Major's order!
(Telugu) "Major"? He didn't clear the last selection!
(Telugu) Just a "Minor!" -You'll salute this Major one day!
Nobody panic! Leave calmly!
(Malayalam) Go quickly!
(Bengali) Careful!
Get going!
Come along, I say!
Come on! -(Hindi) Let go of my hand!
Hold on! -(Hindi) Don't be scared!
You needn't be afraid!
You needn't be afraid, ma'am! We're...
We're only fighting the imposition of Hindi!
We're not against Hindi or its speakers!
Please don't cry. Don't be afraid.
Tell me what I need to do.
Get them out of here safely, Govind.
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
Go to Madurai and lay low at home, Govind.
I'll send word! Come later! -Okay!
Ensure he leaves safe! I'll check if there's anyone left behind!
Sir!
'Bring your hands together and bolster the army'
(Let justice prevail)
'Fall as a seed and make the world bloom'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
Govind's left, hasn't he? -He left with Aavudai!
Hurry! No one should get caught by the police!
Long Live the Prime Minister!
I proudly welcome the citizens of Madurai who are here today...
...for the inauguration of the Gandhi Memorial!
Our beloved Prime Minister has arrived!
Welcome, sir. Make way!
(Hindi) Who did this?
Hooligans from the opposition. We'll get them.
No one to beat them, sir! Top class work!
The fire was made by people who know chemistry. It spreads fast!
They've planned their next moves thoroughly.
They stopped the train between two stations so they'd have an easy escape.
They wrapped it up in just six minutes and took off.
Tamil fanatics, huh?
Not exactly.
Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi speaking students!
About twenty in all!
I think it's a student movement, sir.
Spread across the country.
Mr. Prime Minister, this act seems to be for political gain.
Wait outside, Thiru.
Thiru?
Sir...
There were railway job openings listed in Hindi newspapers.
But not in the Tamil ones.
This is what provoked the students.
So, they burned the train.
This is purely reactionary.
But, sir...
We must hunt them down!
They should be eradicated.
No.
This issue can't be solved with violence.
It shouldn't give rise to more dissenters.
I want this incident to be depicted as nothing but a fire accident.
Understood?
Thiru!
(Sanskrit) "Alertness Every Moment".
Always alert.
That's the IB's motto, right?
Did someone steal your revolver, or did you give it away to your comrades?
(Hindi) Hold up!
How can you fire it...
...when the Tamil blood of your father runs in your veins?
You're not just any misbegot.
You are a Madrasi misbegot.
You have an accurate summary of my blood report.
Had you been as thorough with the ground report...
...we could've avoided all this, Chief of Intelligence.
You're the one who gave the false report, wasn't it?
This isn't over!
You'll face an enquiry for this! You will pay for this!
"It has come to my attention..."
...that my brethren from the Southern states...
"...are troubled by the Official Languages Act."
"Should they be forced to only speak in Hindi..."
"...in official correspondence with the government..."
...I understand the fear of those in non-Hindi speaking regions...
"...of being denied access to welfare schemes..."
...and opportunities they rightfully deserve.
"I truly comprehend and sympathize with your emotions."
"Until all non-Hindi speaking states..."
"...give their unanimous consent to accept Hindi as the official language..."
"...I pledge that English shall continue to be an official language until 1965."
"And will remain so..."
...even beyond that. You have my word.
Tamilarasan! -Present, sir!
'She, who is as sweet as Tamil...' -Muthiah!
You heard the song! A fight fete is about to start!
'She, who is like a flowering vine...'
'She, who is like a flowering vine that smiles like the moon'
'With her honey lips, she will endow the essence of life'
'As you savor it drop by drop, she will bend her head shyly'
'She, who is as sweet as Tamil...'
'She, who is like a flowering vine that smiles like the moon'
Freedom! Isn't that what we want?
Yes!
One can have love for a language!
But what you are possessed by is language fanaticism!
We see Tamil only as a language, sir!
They're the ones turning it to fanaticism.
Think we'll let trains enter our town when railway jobs aren't listed in Tamil papers?
When none of us can get those jobs, how can we permit it?
How can we?
We won't!
Never mind! Such ads used to come in English!
We only asked why they were discontinued!
English is an alien language.
To us, everything but Tamil is an alien language!
Isn't Hindi an alien language in many states?
With English, you can talk to anyone in the world, Mr. Principal!
Why are you getting mixed up with these kids, Mr. Tamil Professor?
Wouldn't it be helpful to the government, if we all speak the same language?
For national unity, right?
Mr. Principal!
We were united when we sent the British packing!
Were we all speaking the same language then?
No!
Answer Chezhiyan, sir!
No matter how he protests, he's still the college topper!
These guys are Delhi politicians!
That's their vow for now. Don't trust them.
If they break their vow, their domain will be torched next!
The vow of the students!
We always walk the talk!
Yes, we will! -Good grief...
Yes, we will!
Can I carry that for you, sir?
Move aside!
Mr. Principal doesn't need English, but only needs English cars!
'The time is ours...'
'With the speed of fire'
'Unhating courage... Worthy sacrifice...'
'Let's stand for our language'
'Strap on those wings and step up'
'Hit that beat and sing your heart away'
'Directions eight will join hands, because of you'
'Our blood is on fire'
'The crowds roar when your name is heard'
'Our nation shall triumph, because of us'
(Long Live Tamil)
'Every town is our own'
'Tomorrow is ours for the taking'
'When hands join together as one...'
'...anything is possible now on'
'If we all just tend to our homes, who will tend to our nation?'
'Charge in with all your might'
'No town an alien land... No person a stranger...'
'Come on, comrade... Let's begin'
'Celebrate like never before, for that is our culture'
'Should anyone come to divide us, step up and question them'
'Keep moving forward... As our ancestors taught us'
'Their good words guide us onward'
'The time is ours...'
'With the speed of fire'
'Unhating courage... Worthy sacrifice...'
'Let's stand for our language'
'Strap on those wings and step up'
'Hit that beat and sing your heart away'
'Directions eight will join hands, because of you'
'Our blood is on fire'
'The crowds roar when your name is heard'
'Our nation shall triumph, because of us'
You relay messages on money orders, Chezhiya.
After which members of your Puranaanooru Squad come over...
...to burn down trains and conduct protests.
You guys are a force to be reckoned with!
But you're all done, right?
Why send another money order?
What if we need it for the next protest?
Be careful, son.
The police are on the prowl.
If caught, they'll trump up the charges and bury you sixty feet down!
Like we'll let it happen!
The Young Lawyers Association will fight for justice of students for no fee!
That's my lawyer for you!
How's our legal counsel, sir?
Is that why you studied 'Brahmi' with me?
Hey Aavudai!
Where's Govind?
Chezhiya...
"The train transporting central ministers to Madurai met with a fire accident."
"A student passenger burned to death."
With your name constantly on his lips...
...he'd always be right by your side!
And yet, you stand here without him!
What are you saying, mom?
You think Chezhiya would've let this happen to Govind?
Chezhiya is one of us, mom!
(Saurashtra) He's family!
Come in, Chezhiya!
No, Chezhiya! We'll slip and fall! -Hurry!
I'll bring him back safely every vacation, auntie!
(Saurashtra) Travel safe, dear!
Come! -(Saurashtra) Bye, grandma!
(Saurashtra) Take care! -Be safe, dear!
You'd never have come if I hadn't called!
Hello?
Brother Thambi?
Chezhiya?
Michael Reddy, Shariffa, Chacko and Bindhya...
They're safe at Thambiraja's mill in Pollachi.
They asked if they have to come.
What do I tell them?
(Hindi) Clench your fists.
Your pulses are very weak.
Your nerves have been damaged. You will need an amputation.
No!
Stitch it up!
What are you doing, Thiru?
What's your problem?
You slept with a Tamilian and gave birth to me!
Once he was satisfied, he abandoned you!
Thanks to another Tamilian, I lost an arm!
How will I fire now?
It's our Puranaanooru Squad.
Shall I ask them to come, Chezhiya?
No one needs to come anymore.
I'm not ready to lose anyone else.
As of now, I'm nothing but a Tamil-speaking cripple!
A Madrasi traitor!
If that's what you believe...
...the world will continue to belittle you and mock at you!
The Puranaanooru Squad is no more!
Understood? -Chezhiya!
No more money orders, protests... No nothing!
The Puranaanooru Squad is dead!
Mom?
I accept who I am.
I don't want anyone else to die because of me!
I don't want anyone else to die because of me...
"The Supreme Power."
Brother! Turn off that valve!
If the pressure rises, it'll explode!
(Hindi) What? Everything's fine! What are you saying?
(Broken Hindi) "What happened?"
Had it blown up, you'd be in pieces!
You'd have killed 250 people too!
"Engine blowback"! Didn't they teach you that?
You'd have been toasted! -(Hindi) What?
(Hindi) Speak in Hindi, Madrasi!
(Hindi) From January 26th, you'll have no choice!
(Broken Tamil) You must speak it then! For now, just do your job, fireman!
(Hindi) Got it?
Nothing's going to change!
Just watch!
The PM maybe no more, but his vow to the Parliament still is!
(Hindi) What?
Back to Hindi, eh?
(Broken Hindi) Lal! When a Madrasi goes to Delhi, he'll talk in Hindi!
(Broken Hindi) When a Hindi guy comes to Madurai, he must talk in Tamil!
(Broken Hindi) Got it?
(Hindi) Madurai... Madrasi... What?
Chow down!
(Hindi) This fritter is delicious!
How's that?
You don't want Tamil, but you want our fritters, eh?
Your whack is waiting!
(Hindi) Come again, Madrasi?
Two one pennies!
Goddamn it!
Don't say it like that, you dumbos! -How else then?
"One penny plus one penny equal two pennies."
One penny plus one penny equal two pennies!
Don't shout, sillies!
"Due to the death of the Indian Prime Minister..."
"...the last twelve days were declared to be a period of mourning nationwide."
"It comes to an end today."
What a good man!
Without warning, he left us all!
You thought he'd die after a heart-to-heart with you?
The Telugu girl from next door has arrived!
Her eyes and ears are always here!
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
What are you staring at there? -(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
Good grief! She's at it again!
Kid!
Chezhiyan will be here soon!
Why try to fix it yourself?
You don't need him for this!
(Telugu) I got it!
Careful, Ratna!
Easy does it! -Just take this wire...
...and stick it in like this.
All done!
All done, indeed!
Why's the power out, grandma?
Only one bulb was flickering.
She just had to mess with it!
The entire house went dark! -She's had it!
She truly has the magic touch!
Didn't I tell you not to let her in here, grandma?
Like I let her in!
Want to pull wires? Do it at your house!
I will if you get out of my way, tosser!
Who are you calling 'tosser'?
You toss coal, right?
Coal tosser!
Why do I even talk to this creature?
Dinner ready, grandma?
It's been ready for a while! The same tamarind stew!
It's back!
There's a letter for you, Chezhiya!
A letter?
Where is it?
Here! -Let me see!
Who is it from?
Your grandson's going to become a ticket examiner!
He's being called for an interview!
Posting's in Delhi! -Really?
If anyone calls me a coal tosser again, tell them I'll rip their tongue out!
You just have to learn Hindi!
Hindi, huh?
That's a hopeless cause for our entire clan!
I sent you to three teachers when you were a kid.
You couldn't even get three words right!
I couldn't because I didn't need it then!
Wherever you go to work, you must learn the local language!
Then how am I any different from that Hindi speaking loco pilot?
Don't you know Hindi well, Telugu girl?
Why don't you teach him?
Who? Her?
I'd rather shovel coal for life than learn Hindi from her!
There's the Hindi Federation, right?
I'm your only option in this entire locality!
But I can't teach you!
Pay for a course and learn!
It's late. I have an important news recording in the morning.
Trains will run without him.
Even the government will run without my father!
But without Ratnamala, the National Radio will be at a standstill!
Understand that! Move, tosser!
Ratna!
I've never once heard your voice on the radio!
What station should I connect to? -What, indeed?
First, disconnect that deaf ear of yours!
The mouth on this girl!
What did she say?
Come feed me dinner!
They've closed down colleges.
Durai's not home yet?
Like he ever tells me when he comes and goes!
He roams around town like a jackass!
You slog in that oven all day for him and come here dark as the night!
After raking coal all day, you expect me to shine like the moon?
He's at the top of his class.
Don't scold him.
I can understand sending it to Govind's family.
But why send money to your brother when he's not even asking for it?
You took loans all over town to make him study!
Does he ever think about that?
Will you serve dinner or not?
He needn't think about anything!
It's good enough if he becomes an engineer and works a cushy job!
As long as he does that, good.
Serve dinner!
National Radio!
Greetings! -Greetings, dear!
(Telugu) 'The man's world quakes'
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
Please move, ma'am.
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk...'
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
Your tea, sir.
Greetings, ma'am.
Good Morning, ma'am!
Greetings, ma'am!
Good Morning, ma'am!
(Telugu) 'The man's world quakes'
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
(Telugu) 'The man's world quakes'
Who told you to clean the windows, miss?
Your father will sack me if he learns you're not doing the announcer job!
Just once come to the studio! Read this!
Me? -Yes! Look!
Just seeing a mic paralyzes me!
You can do it! -I'll stammer!
Just read this once! -You already know that!
You can do it! Just try! -Sir!
Goo... Good Morning. Here's the morning news.
Excellent!
The central government's key obj... objective..
...is progress through peace.
Lovely!
A new...
...sch... scheme...
She thinks she can go on the air with that stutter!
...has been implem... implemented...
Miss? -...and...
She has come here using influence and is torturing us. So useless!
Didn't I tell you, sir? -Tell me what?
Rest assured, I won't tell my father about this!
Hold on!
Fill mine in first, sister. I'll have to send money to my grandson at college.
Such a stubborn one!
He'd rather starve to death than ask for money!
Fill mine! -Wait!
My son's hands are sore from working at the tannery!
I need to send money so he can buy medicine.
Look what these morons have done!
What is this?
Move. -Ask them yourself!
What language is this?
You've given the wrong form. I need the Tamil one!
This is how it is now, ma'am. By order of the central government.
What language is this?
It's Hindi, ma'am.
The central government has made these forms mandatory.
I'm the one sending money. My grandson's the one receiving it.
Neither of us know this language, dear fellow!
Fill it out yourself!
Wouldn't we have become ministers in Delhi if we knew Hindi, ma'am?
You useless nincompoops!
So we'll have to personally go to Delhi to send money orders?
Come along!
Nothing to discuss here! Let's go!
Come along! Hurry! -Way to give us trouble!
What will my grandson do for sustenance? -Go tend to your errands!
We got him on the line! Come, Muthammal!
PP holding trunk call from Annamalai University.
"Annamalai?"
(Telugu) Is this an MP's residence or a post office, mom?
He and Ratna are childhood friends, right?
Go answer it, Muthammal.
Hello? -What is it, grandma?
Little one? -I hear you! Go on!
We can't send money this month to you. -What happened?
At the post office, every damn thing is in Hindi!
"Hindi?"
In just one day, these chumps rendered me, an eighth grade graduate, illiterate!
I'll have your brother send money to you by train.
What about the other students?
Shammi Kapoor is in a league of his own!
Who the hell stopped the screening?
The kid from the engineering department changed the reel!
Thinks he's a big shot!
Will you play a Hindi film or do I smash your head?
Hey, monkey!
Hindi films for three weeks in a row?
Sit quietly in a corner and watch our film!
Crackling dialogues right here!
Thrash him!
Careful, Durai!
Why are you beating up kids?
We've got bigger fish to fry! Come!
Come along!
The central minister has decreed the Hindi Federation as a national institution!
It'll be announced on the radio at 7 AM tomorrow!
Got it, Chinnadurai? -Hold on!
This is the first step they're taking to make Hindi our sole official language!
Then, we students have to land the first blow!
You brought quite a scoop in your first week on the job, Ratna!
We'll torch it!
'In street after street...' -Get the stuff! Get all the petrol cans!
Don't forget the bottles! -I have them, buddy!
Buddy! -Come on!
We'll crank it up... -Come on!
...and stomp it out! -You got it!
'Gums that flap needlessly, will have no teeth for company'
Why'd you come all this way, Ratna?
One trunk call and we'd have come over!
Good thing I showed up!
If I hadn't, that politician’s son would've rearranged your face!
'I'll be by your side, for sure'
'You may dispatch an army after us, we'll soldier on with all smiles'
Quick! Muthammal will scold us! -We're coming!
We're heading to tuition class, Chezhiya! -Right!
See you! Study well!
Mr. Teacher!
You said you'd teach me Hindi. Where are you off to?
The Himalayas! Want to join me?
Forget Hindi! You keep driving!
Haven't even started teaching, and you ask me to forget it?
Not a man of your word, eh?
What about the two rupees I gave?
Reclaim it from the Hindi Federation if you can!
Take it and put it on your forehead!
Keep driving! Go!
Stand back!
Back off, I say!
(Let justice prevail)
Hello, sir.
Welcome back, sir.
Ensure the reports are sent to the CM.
The brilliant KGB trainee!
You couldn't stop them from burning down the train, nor could you catch them!
And yet, they assigned you to this?
Arsonism.
The same method of operation as the train incident of 1959.
Could it be the same perpetrator?
She is the intelligence assistant.
Gauri. -Sir.
Deputed from the postal service?
Yes, sir.
What's my role at the Intelligence Bureau?
It's to not ask such questions and do what I say. That's all.
For doing a day of work, your husband earns a wage of five 'annas'.
Don't get me started!
Since when has he gone to work?
Useless fellow!
What Math geniuses!
School's out! Get going, oldies!
They gave you leave on the day the PM died. Why didn't you come?
I would've come had you died.
The elder grandson's here, right?
He earns well by being a slave to the Hindi imposing central government!
Wash your hands and feet!
Sure, talk all high and mighty!
Your father died in the line of duty, leaving a mountain of debt!
Your brother left his studies to go shovel coal!
Have you ever seen his coal-stained hands?
He is our savior, man!
Despite knowing that, you roam around like a hooligan!
Fine. Our savior's there and so, we can sustain ourselves.
You're there to cook tasty food. Don't you need someone to eat?
Come, grandma! Feed me! I'm hungry!
Come on.
We can barely afford good food.
And you intend to reform the country, Durai?
Tamarind stew today too?
Even the great Anna eats tamarind stew! -Brother!
Hello, brother.
Why'd you burn down the building?
Burned it? Who? Me?
Which building? -Drop the act!
My hand! It hurts!
Let him go!
I've come straight from college!
Definitely her handiwork! -"Her"?
Who?
Kannagi, grandma!
Her anger won't subside unless she burns something in Madurai once a year!
She definitely did it!
Trying to be funny?
Be it in blood or in water, I can recognize your handwriting!
(Let justice prevail)
Stop!
I've been soft with you as you're orphans, but you're always at each other’s throats!
Stop!
Don't!
Careful, O elder one!
'In street after street, we'll strike back in kind'
'If they try beating us down, we'll finish it, no sweat'
'Gums that flap needlessly, will no longer have teeth for company'
'This khadi-clad army will twist the system around'
Chinna!
You two have nothing better to do than fighting?
We're trying to work over here!
Get going, you! This is always a habit with them!
Why'd you burn that building, you rascal?
Get out of here! There are people around!
They changed everything to Hindi overnight!
Students didn't get their money orders!
If we don't pay up, they won't feed us at the mess or let us write exams!
You need to think it through!
The minute they imposed a language...
...notice how we begin struggling for food?
If we don't question this...
...they won't even spare the downtrodden!
There are folks in the legislative assembly to question that!
Not a brick!
Think acts of arson can fix everything?
The public will never endorse the use of violence!
Your only job is to study! Just focus on that!
They won't endorse violence, but they'll show up to watch it, right?
That's good enough!
Tamil will prevail!
Durai!
You wretches! Always a habit with you! -Stop!
Stop it! Why are you doing this?
Stop! -Listen to me, Durai!
At this age, you won't see my point.
You accomplished your goal, right?
Promise you won't burn or destroy anything again.
If you're caught, they won't spare you!
Have I ever asked you for anything before?
Alright, brother.
I won't burn anything anymore.
'Even if the town entire stands opposite...'
'...I'll be by your side, for sure'
'You may dispatch an army after us, we'll soldier on with all smiles'
'Even the skies will shake with thunder'
'So high is our aim'
What the hell? You gave your word in a heartbeat!
His beatings scared you?
Like that'd scare me!
For the first time in my life, my brother hugged me.
My precious!
You softie!
That Telugu girl next door is corrupting you!
Let's go.
What, brother? -Squat, brother!
Come home once a week, without fail!
For what? To eat Grandma's tamarind stew?
Buzz off!
Lay off the troublemaking! Listen to this 'anna' (brother), too!
Come on! I swore to you, didn't I? Then what?
Get on!
Get on, I say! -Always nitpicking!
Take these inside!
Come here!
Go on!
'I shall walk with pride, knowing my brother is by my side'
'Standing upon your shoulders, I shall snatch the stars'
'The world's in the palm of your hand... Spin it with style'
'Even when everything rises in opposition, let your spirit never fade'
Brother...
'We may be poles apart, but our pride's one'
'Let's see this through, come what may'
(Hindi) The train's moving! Get in! -Okay, sir!
The Chief Minister will see you now, sir.
Good Morning.
Since the year 1939...
...protests against Hindi imposition have taken place here.
They'll protest for a while before moving on to other business.
I've seen the same damn schtick for the last twenty five years!
Now, a bunch of hooligans...
...burned down a building.
Is it really that big an issue?
And you came all the way from Delhi to investigate it?
You're yet to witness January 26th, 1965, if I'm right.
That's why I'm here.
"Special Powers Act."
That means you have the right to do anything you wish?
You have an all-encompassing authority granted by the Prime Minister, am I right?
Then what are the cops and ministers here for?
They have an important job, sir.
To sign every file we send over.
(Telugu) 'O little lassie...'
"Ratnamala."
"Apprentice"?
"Trains will run without you. Even the govt. will run without my father."
"Without Ratnamala, the National Radio will be at a standstill! Understand that!"
Yes, I have.
"The High and Noble MP's daughter reaches high to clean windows!"
Great headline, isn't it?
How much do you want?
Keep it. You'll need it to buy cleaning fluids and wash cloths!
Teach me Hindi!
The Hindi Federation can do that!
You burned it down, right?
How can I teach you? I can't do it!
Why not?
I'm the secretary of the All India Anti-Hindi Students Council!
Does your daddy know about that, Ms. Secretary?
(Telugu) 'O little lassie...'
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk'
(Telugu) 'The womenfolk have risen'
Hey!
(Telugu) What?
5 AM tomorrow!
Not just my father. Nobody should know about this!
But no fee! Make note of that as well!
(Telugu) Stingy fellow!
What'd you just say?
Make sure you come by 5:10. Now go!
(Hindi) A for apple!
(Hindi) B for ball!
(Hindi) A for apple! -(Hindi) A for apple!
(Hindi) A for...
(Hindi) Apple!
(Hindi) A for... -Poovai!
Work properly or I'll whack you! -Got it!
Pay attention!
(Hindi) A for...
(Hindi) A for? -(Hindi) A for...
(Hindi) Apple! Apple! Apple! -Brother!
She's saying 'A for Apple'! -I'll rip your tongue out!
Spare me this crap! -Wait!
If you learn Hindi, you can sell soda up north! Business will boom!
I don't care if it booms or bombs!
I own this factory!
If anyone sees me getting whacked by her, I'll even lose local business!
Leave me be!
She'll teach us for no charge!
No one else does that! -(Hindi) Sit!
You received awards from greats like Anna and Periyar!
Should you learn Hindi from this sadist to make a living?
Come on!
Don't you know even Anna learned Hindi, Vaigarai?
We ought to know what's in it, right?
He probably learned from a good teacher! Buzz off!
A for Apple, eh? You've had it!
Why are you taking it out on me if you don't get Hindi?
You run along too!
I won't! I'm here to learn! Continue!
(Broken Hindi) A for Apple! B for ball!
You may be dumb, but you have passion.
Good. I like it.
(Broken Hindi) B for ball.
That's... from the engine...
If you come to class like a pile of dirty laundry...
...how can you learn properly?
Come neat and clean!
Then, we'll continue.
Run along!
That's all? Only two words? -(Hindi) Go!
At this rate, when will I finish learning Hindi?
How'd we get these donation boxes?
To get donations for the Hindi resistance, I had them placed all over Madras State!
We even sent receipts after learning where the money was sent from.
Most donations came from Madras, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Cuddalore!
Not just students. Even citizens donated wholeheartedly!
Pollachi went a step further.
Even cops donated!
Kid! Mr. New Officer!
Where did those protestors buy petrol to burn the Hindi Federation building?
Instead of investigating that...
...you're securing more funds for them?
Please do your job, sir!
Know where these were found, sir?
I went to a petrol bunk to get some, saying I need it for an Anti-Hindi protest.
I said I was going to burn down your party's office.
No one asked for money.
They gave it for free, and told me to burn down a few buses and trains too!
Mr. Chief Minister!
Your own people are at war with you.
If you don't pick up arms...
...they'll finish you.
We need to fight back!
Monitor all phone calls, telegrams and letters.
Heads of postal, telegraph and telephone departments of the state are here.
Flag any communication which seems suspicious!
We need to keep a close eye on anyone who are with the Tamil protestors, yes?
No, no.
Everyone!
Our ministers, government officials, civil servants...
Monitor everyone who has a telephone.
Then what about the Chief Minister?
Even my residence, kid?
Your residence alone has five telephones.
That's where I intend to start!
Sir?
This is war!
A call from Chidambaram on the PP call line. Proceed.
Hello? -Hello?
Hello? I hear you, Ratna. Go ahead.
They've begun searching relentlessly.
Didn't think it'd happen so quickly.
Who? The Madras Police?
No. Some demonic officer who came over from Delhi to investigate this!
He threatened all of us!
He correctly deduced this news was leaked by the National Radio!
You be on your guard, Ratna.
Let me know if you hear anything else. Got it?
He's cleaned up nicely!
Who was on the phone?
I'm the teacher.
I ask the questions here.
Head up.
'O precious pearl...'
'My heart's all a flutter'
'The ailment of love is at my door'
Broke into my house, have you?
Had he seen you...
You old crone! Today is Ugadi!
I've brought sweet custard!
I painstakingly made it myself!
Try it and let me know how it is!
Hey!
Careful with my pail!
Little one!
Why is the custard coming all the way to the bed?
True, grandma! I've never heard her talk like this.
Something's not right.
Get that custard!
He drank it all!
Grandma! The cow gave birth yesterday, right?
Yes! What about it?
Pour the colostrum in that pail!
They'll think ill of us if we return an empty vessel!
What do we care if they think ill of us?
Come here, you old crone!
What?
You'll have to go there someday to discuss marriage!
Come!
Oh my goodness!
Fine, I'll make some! Go give it to them!
Why must I give it?
Tell the one who drank the custard to do it!
Can't you do any chore?
Don't scold him, grandma!
He's an engineer.
I'll go give it.
How'd you figure it out?
Like it's rocket science!
She says it's Ugadi in the wrong month!
He drinks up custard without brushing his teeth!
Just to go next door, he takes a bath!
Hurry! -(Hindi) Is it "She came"?
(Hindi) Or "He came"?
(Hindi) Can a chair mend himself?
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!
How many times do I tell you?
Chair is of feminine gender. Bed is masculine gender!
Are the chair and bed looking to have babies together?
Why look at gender there?
Just follow my instructions!
Next one! Quickly!
I need to leave soon.
For what?
A woman has a thousand errands at any moment!
Should I check with you before doing them?
Understood.
You got some protesting to do with that damn Durai!
Don't talk about your brother!
He's out there fighting valiantly!
And look at you! Moron of the highest order!
(Telugu) Knucklehead!
(Hindi) Scaredy cat!
(Hindi) Scaredy cat, eh?
That means coward, right?
Jeez... -Right?
(Telugu) O dear God...
(Hindi) Greetings, sir! Have a good day!
(Hindi) What brings you here?
You said that perfectly!
You really are in a royal mess!
Like Rajaji went to learn Hindi from Mahatma Gandhi's son...
...this Member of Parliament's daughter is the best you could find?
Sure, let's go with that!
Something funny?
Rajaji ended up not learning even a single word of Hindi!
Then what was Gandhi's son doing instead of teaching him Hindi?
Hindi, Schmindi!
He wooed Rajaji's daughter and married her!
I see... -Chezhiya!
Heard you're getting married too!
Your grandmother seems to be scouring the town for a Hindi speaking girl...
...as you're about to land a job in Delhi!
She asked me about it too.
Sir!
Let me know if you know any good girls!
Can't say one word in Hindi, and she wants a Hindi girl for him?
Ratnamala! -That old crone wants the moon!
Stop, big shot! -(Telugu) At this rate...
Stop, I say! -At this rate, they'll sell us all out!
Hey, apprentice!
Please hear me out!
Way to light the fuse!
This will do for now.
I'll be back for my next vacation. Be ready.
Will contact you if I need more help, okay?
Ratnamala!
(Hindi) Get in the car.
(Hindi) I want to go home.
By bus.
That's where I'm headed too!
Good freaking grief!
Hey lady... It doesn't look like you're going home.
(Hindi) I want to go home!
You'd dare marry another girl and bring her here?
I'll kill you!
Couldn't you have said so earlier?
(Telugu) Right...
Yeah, right!
How was I to know?
That you'd think of another girl other than me!
(Telugu) How could you even think of marrying another girl, tosser?
I'll learn Telugu as well!
'You caress my heart and depart'
'O tidal wave'
'You steal gazes before taking to the skies'
'You confine this peacock within a cage'
'You set me ablaze and watch it sizzle'
'You appeared before me like a radiant orchid'
'It's moonlight that your eyes shower'
'Like a flower in the wild...'
'...I shall thrive by your side'
'You caress my heart and depart'
'O tidal wave'
'You steal gazes before taking to the skies'
'Day after day...'
'You toot like a train'
'You twirl like a peacock'
'Spare me your tall tales'
'Do away with all these lies'
'A girl's heart, can bear it not'
'Do not bury it all in a bed of flowers'
'You devoured me entire, O deer'
'You caress my heart and depart'
'O tidal wave'
'You steal gazes before taking to the skies'
'Like a flower in the wild...'
'...I shall thrive by your side'
'You confine this peacock within a cage'
'You set me ablaze and watch it sizzle'
'Upon your spine...'
'...shall I flow like a river?'
'Shall I weave together blooms with the caress of my fingers?'
'Even when you play a game of cards, only I shall be the Queen of Hearts'
'A comrade, you may be... But I shan't spare your life'
'I shall forever be...'
'...an earring, hanging on your word'
'You confine this peacock within a cage'
'You set me ablaze and watch it sizzle'
'You appeared before me like a radiant orchid'
'It's moonlight that your eyes shower'
'Like a flower in the wild...'
'...I shall thrive by your side'
'You confine this peacock within a cage'
'You set me ablaze and watch it sizzle'
He waited all day at the assembly for you, sir.
He came home first thing in the morning!
Per the intel I received, black flags will fly here on January 26th.
I need your signature to ensure it doesn't happen.
You're going to Madurai to inaugurate Hindi Week, yes?
There'll surely be resistance.
I'll take care of that, dear boy.
You take care of things in Madras.
What's going on in this country, brother?
Tamilians are dying in a famine like no other!
If we ask for grains to eat...
..the central government stuffs Hindi down our throats!
Down with that!
At ease!
What is tomorrow's headlines, Mr. Karuna?
Rise up, brother!
It's time to go to war!
Ten paise.
Pick up tomorrow's edition of 'Sudar' at the stand and read it yourself!
Keep the change.
You dare try to burn down the constitution?
Call it baptism by fire!
As January 26th marks Republic Day...
If the police don't permit us to raise black flags that day...
...I suggest we raise black flags in our own homes!
Comrades! -You're under arrest, sir!
I urge you all to do so! -For treason!
You can shut down this press.
The same story is being printed in thirteen presses!
How will you shut that down, son?
When the sun rises, the drums will roar, for sure!
Now!
It's okay! I'll handle this.
I'll handle it! Travel safe! -Come peacefully, sir!
Shall we go?
This arrest shouldn't be on any official record.
Yes, sir. -Keep moving him.
Four days later, throw him into the Palayamkottai Jail.
You're going for your interview after paying Chinna's college fees?
Make sure you pray.
O dear Gods, please band together and be by my grandson's side.
Take good care of him!
When you come back, it will be with a job!
You think so?
If they could arrest our leader overnight, think what they'll do to us!
So what if we have no leader?
We'll do it ourselves!
At the party office entrance in Maasi Street, Madurai!
No matter who gets in the way, we burn their party flag right there!
Who will burn it? We asked across the entire district!
No one wants to do it!
I'll burn it.
They'll arrest you for treason!
They'll target and destroy your family!
A few years ago, the Puranaanooru Squad...
...burned down a train and rolled back Hindi imposition!
We're just like them!
I say we proceed!
Even if I die, I die a warrior!
All hail Warrior Chinnadurai!
-Hey!
Who are you guys? What's happening here?
"Who are we"? Members of Madurai's Anti-Hindi imposition squad!
Who the hell are you?
Your precious comrade who's all 'consequences be damned' over there?
His big brother!
Please understand what we're fighting for...
Don't get in the middle of our family issue. Go!
Fine, beat yourselves to death!
What's with you, sir?
You have a home, get meals on time, good clothes and money whenever you want!
So, you feel privileged enough to protest!
Know how much these kids' parents struggle to educate them?
Considered their future?
Expect us to learn Hindi and become sycophants like you?
That's my fate.
You just focus on studying!
No one here can get a job!
Then why do we need to pay college fees?
Why'd you rip the demand draft?
Stop it, brother! -Why'd you rip it?
Don't you know the value of education?
Brother!
Durai!
No, brother! Don't do it!
Durai! -Don't!
Don't fight!
You call yourself a leader?
Did you bloody think about your followers?
No, brother!
Let's see how you protest! -Don't do it, brother!
I'd rather see you be crippled than lie dead in the street!
Durai!
Your leader's leg is broken!
He must be bedridden for 45 days! All protests cancelled!
I'll head straight to Maasi Street after my interview!
If I see any of you there...
...I'll bury you all where you stand!
Just eat and only focus on studying!
Eat!
Give me a hand! -Get him to the hospital!
Let's get him to the hospital! -Go easy on his leg!
Hurry! Come on! -Lift him up!
Can't you watch your step?
Hey! Don't fall on the tracks! -My pen, brother!
Buy another one!
I don't have money for that.
I only have enough for a return ticket after my exam!
What exam, Ayyakannu?
The Union Public Service Commission exam.
This is my first trip to Madras!
Didn't know the route, and got lost!
I'm running late! This is my last shot!
The stress makes me feel I forgot everything I studied!
Here!
This is a very lucky pen!
The great Anna gifted it to me!
Do well!
Brother!
Thanks! I'll return it in the evening! -You better!
Don't drop it on the tracks! -I'll definitely return it!
I'll be the first collector from my town! Just watch!
When do you head back?
I take the evening Boat Mail Express once I'm done.
Very well.
What about your pen?
I'll leave it at this counter at 4 PM!
You better keep it, okay? -I will, brother!
Come! Get on this bus and get off at Panagal Park!
Your exam center will be close by!
Hurry! -Thank you very much, brother!
Those who are elder must be addressed as 'aap' (you honorific).
And those younger must be addressed as 'tum' (you).
And it's 'ithar aoongi' (I'll be there).
No, you're mistaken.
As you're a male, it should be...
...it should be 'aoonga'. My mistake, sir.
I'll correct it, sir.
Sorry. You are not eligible.
Sir...
Why, sir?
Didn't I answer correctly in the job-related questions?
Your Hindi is very weak.
The other candidates... Nikhil, Amit, and Keshav...
They've scored very well in the written and oral Hindi tests.
You are unemployable.
Mr. Che... Chezeeyan.
Better luck next time.
Sir...
I swear I don't get it.
You said knowing Hindi was good enough to land this job.
But now, you expect me to speak fluently like them?
How is this fair?
They've been speaking it since birth.
I've only been learning for a little while.
There's bound to be a difference, yes?
Even you couldn't pronounce my name properly.
Does it mean you're unemployable? No, right?
I put in a lot of effort for six months to learn this language.
I'll pick it up on the job, sir.
I speak English well, sir.
So what?
We've even asked the English-speaking President...
...to address the Parliament in Hindi.
You should change too!
Mister! Per the Official Languages Act, it's compulsory to learn Hindi fluently!
From the Supreme Court to Civil Service exams, everything will be in Hindi.
Within one year...
...the nameboards of every bus stand, railway station in South India...
...will be written in Hindi.
Instead of giving excuses...
...learn Hindi fluently and try again. We'll see.
Mr. Chay-Zhee-An.
Next! -Sir...
No, sir... I can do it better.
Give me just one chance. I'll learn it, sir.
Next! -One chance...
Long Live the Chief Minister!
Sir! -Hold it right there!
Sir! -Stop him!
Sir!
Hey! Get up! -Sir!
Sir! -Get up!
I came to take my last crack at the IAS exam.
They had postponed it by two months, sent us all home...
...and said the exam would be conducted in Hindi!
Son...
The National Language Committee is yet to decide if English can be added...
...along with Hindi as the medium for IAS exams.
Please wait until it is publicly announced, son.
Don't be hasty.
What if the committee says the exam will only be in Hindi?
So what? You can still write the exam in English!
They've announced that you can get a job in the quota system.
We studied in the Tamil medium, sir.
It took us 200 years to learn English!
Who knows how long it will take to learn yet another language?
We think in Tamil and write in English.
We have to check for spelling mistakes ten times over!
But Hindi speakers? It's easy, as it's their mother tongue.
They're rigging everything in their favor!
Shouldn't you speak for us as our representative, sir?
I beg of you, sir. Do not forsake us!
Toss this lunatic out! -Do not forsake us, sir!
Get up! Let's get going! -Sir!
Sir!
Come on! -I'm not a lunatic, sir!
Please hear me out, sir!
Poor lad!
"Hindi imposition burnt down the only dream I had."
"Your language politics burnt down my future."
"Your arrogant power burnt down my life."
"The useless shell that's left behind? I shall burn it myself!"
"Yours truly, R. Ayyakannu."
Long Live the Chief Minister!
Move aside! -Long Live the Chief Minister!
Long Live the Chief Minister!
Where is your chief?
The Chief Minister said Madras must remain quiet.
Our chief is on his way after enforcing that.
(Madurai - 7 Kilometres)
Step on it!
Long Live the Chief Minister!
(Telugu) Please turn that frown upside down, dear.
Long Live the Chief Minister!
It's just students who are protesting, right?
Why not let them, sir? Aren't you a Tamilian, too?
Pull over.
Sir?
I said so in Tamil, didn't I?
Pull over. -Sir...
Yes, sir.
Sir? Sir! No, sir!
Sir!
Long Live the Chief Minister!
They've shut factories for ink and dyeing as well as textile mills in Madurai, buddy!
We don't have black cloth, paper or ink!
How do we protest now?
We're surrounded by cops! Let's leave!
Come here, child.
Black...
Get lost!
Everyone will take notice of the black flags that fly in the sky today.
At ease!
Do you know why I came to Madurai to inaugurate Hindi Week?
I believe the very Madurai where the Sangam movement propagated Tamil...
...will also propagate Hindi which will unite our country!
At ease!
From now, the official language of India is no longer English!
To enforce that, I rechristen the Indian Gazette to 'Bharat Rajpatra'.
Under that name, I release its inaugural Hindi edition!
Praise be to India!
(Hindi) The Hindi Week begins!
Long Live the Chief Minister!
I saw a gang of students break into the bank, sir!
Let them be trapped in there.
Do nothing as long as the CM is here. Got it?
Do what you want to them once he leaves.
Long Live the Chief Minister!
Long Live Tamil! -Long Live Tamil!
Carbon paper?
Long Live Tamil!
Move aside! -Come quickly!
Move! -Hold it!
Hold him tight!
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
Get him!
So you'd arrest us if we raise black flags?
Our hair is black, too!
Arrest us if you dare!
Can your prison even contain so many of us, Mr. CM?
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
Light it up, brother!
We'll show them!
This revolution will spread!
It will rage!
It will rage on! -It will rage on!
Long Live Tamil!
Don't go in there, sir!
Let go of me!
Come on! This way!
Hurry! -Come on!
Come on!
You had 'Puranaanooru' tattooed on your chest!
You're the leader of that squad!
Get going! Take cover in Chidambaram!
Get in quickly, Durai!
Be safe, Poovai!
Get going! Step on it and head to Chidambaram!
What you said the other day?
The same MO as the 1959 incident.
Diethyl.
Arsonism.
The same man.
(Let justice prevail)
He's back.
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
Why are you mad at me?
Like you don't know!
Why did you keep this from me?
I didn't tell anyone.
I'm not just 'anyone'. I'm Ratnamala!
Ratnamala!
Is she your dear brother Chinnadurai to forgive you so easily?
You and your lies!
Way to screw up, Chief!
Talk to her in Telugu.
Are you really that naive?
You should learn all this, Chief!
'Ratnamala...'
(Telugu) 'Part not from me'
'Ratnamala...'
(Telugu) 'The moon parts not from the sky'
(Telugu) Picked up Telugu, eh?
(Telugu) How can I not? For you, Ratnamala!
'Why does the world spin round and round?'
'Why does it crumble apart?'
'Like a note scribbled in a book...'
'...I too am lost'
'Ratnamala...'
'Part not from me'
'O young princess'
'Just for you, a yearning knight awaits'
'With the orchard blooms as your witness...'
'...relay your response on a scroll'
'Is your heart made of stone?'
'Will the bed become one of thorns?'
'Will this lass torment me endlessly?'
'My welfare lies in your path'
'Are you well, my belle?'
'Can a letter tell...'
'...how I have fused my kisses in the pen's ink?'
'How I have run out of words to paint my love?'
'With you apart, this copy aches'
'My passion climbs onto this letter'
'Your image is my only shade'
'Turn real and be one with me, O love'
'O young princess'
'Just for you, a yearning knight awaits'
'With the orchard blooms as your witness...'
'...relay your response on a scroll'
'Is your heart made of stone?'
'Will the bed become one of thorns?'
'Will this lass torment me endlessly?'
'My welfare lies in your path'
'Ratnamala...'
'Eyelashes part not from the eyes'
'O beauty...'
'In the corner of your lips...'
'...seeps in a soft smile'
'Like lightning that streaks across a cluster of dark clouds'
'Like a song that extends from a semicolon'
'A pen twirls in between my fingers...'
'Why don't you exchange places?'
'Till the moment I caress you, I'm nothing but this letter's paper'
The telegram just arrived, right?
We'll handle it! Go!
A telegram from A. Ramasamy, the head of Madurai University.
At the attack in Maasi street...
...two student comrades passed away.
The ruling party goons brutally attacked students!
The cops stood back and watched!
We're doing a citywide procession against police brutality tomorrow!
We got authorization! We're going!
-Durai!
How'd they give permission on Republic Day?
The law gives carte blanche to the cops for any riots on Republic Day.
That's why they signed off in a jiffy!
They're luring us into a trap!
I don't care! They attacked students!
I'm going. -We'll go on a procession.
But on January 27th!
What's deemed illegal on Republic Day is a democratic right on the next day!
But neither you nor the Maasi Street crew need to come.
They're hunting you even as we speak.
I'll go get permission.
Forget what happened at Maasi Street!
Only peaceful protests from now!
That won't cut it, brother.
Violence is all they understand.
I lost a friend because I was more violent than you!
This is war! There will be casualties!
Not just Netaji! Didn't proponents of Gandhiji's non-violence also die?
Fear won't accomplish crap!
Durai... Don't mistake caution with fear.
It's wisdom.
You've used every weapon you have.
Leave this to me.
All our squads will hold processions in every district on the 27th at 9 AM!
I'll handle it. Please don't step out!
Alright.
As my brother, I don't have to listen to you.
But as my leader, I have no choice.
Call immediately if anything comes up on National Radio.
One of us will always be by the phone. -Okay.
Start the van, Soda!
I told you to give authorization to those students. Why'd you cancel it?
We didn't cancel it. They did.
The students postponed their mourning procession to the 27th.
We can do nothing to them that day.
We have shooting orders for tomorrow as it's Republic Day.
But to get it for the day after tomorrow, we need to invoke Section 144.
We need the Chief Minister to sign off on it.
He picked up the scent!
Smart bugger!
Did the CM answer our call? -No.
We're making sketches of the Maasi Street perpetrators. We're searching intensely.
I'll get the shooting order.
Rubber bullets, blank rounds, tear gas... They're all ready, right?
Yes, sir.
The CM isn't taking my calls ever since the Maasi Street Incident.
He wouldn't give me an appointment too.
Will he give a firing order?
You did this knowing Ratna is my daughter?
We've recorded several phone calls...
...from your house to Annamalai University in Chidambaram.
Treason.
Sedition. Life time imprisonment.
As it's your daughter, I came personally, instead of sending a police force.
Press, First Information Reports, this and that... it'll be embarrassing.
Hello? -It's Baskar Rao, chief.
Baskar Rao...
Let's invoke Section 144 at Chidambaram, chief.
Why do that now?
Those students are just conducting a mourning procession.
That's why.
Much like the how they burned down the Hindi Federation...
...we have reliable intel that they intend to burn...
...the post office, the telephone exchange and the railway station.
All central government facilities!
Who's the source?
Our youth wing students at that college.
Inform the district magistrate...
...and have them telex the order copy to me.
Yes, chief.
Had the CM picked up when I called...
...I wouldn't have bothered you, sir.
What is this?
(Telugu) What the hell?
(Telugu) What the... -Stop, miss!
(Telugu) Even after everything?
(Telugu) Just one call, dad! -Please listen!
This is for the students' future, dad!
You matter more to me than anything else.
(Telugu) Dad... -Come.
(Telugu) Please, dad.
(Telugu) Go to bed. -(Telugu) Please, dad!
(Telugu) Dad!
(Telugu) Keep her in there!
For your bet... betrayal of Tamil...
...your party will never come back to power, dad!
Tie it tightly.
This too.
Even higher if you can!
Brother...
Chezhiyan isn't here yet.
We don't have authorization.
Whether we have it or not, our squads will take to the streets everywhere at 9 AM!
There are millions of students!
How many people can they kill?
I'm going. Let's see what they can do!
Your brother told us not to go!
He said he'd get authorization too!
Did he succeed?
We'll join you! -Hey, dummy!
Want all of us to get caught?
We have a lot more to accomplish!
Stay here.
I'll go finish this.
We'll accomplish the rest together.
It's 8:55, sir! We only have five minutes!
The Collector agreed to authorize this.
Five minutes left, yes? Wait.
(Telugu) Come on! Come on! Come on!
The arrogance of Hindi oppressors is alive and kicking!
It is alive and kicking!
Law must prevail and curb their arrogance!
Long Live Tamil!
-Victory to Tamilians!
These people permitted a mourning procession.
But they also invoked Section 144.
Who's insane? Them or those of us who work for them? I have no idea!
"But they also invoked Section 144."
Everyone leave! Students are going to riot!
Close the shops! Everyone leave!
We will keep fighting! We will keep fighting for Tamil!
Long Live Tamil!
If your issue is with the government, go to Delhi and protest!
Did Gandhi do the Salt Satyagraha Movement in London?
Is Delhi the only part of India?
Is Chidambaram in China?
Long Live The Republic! Long Live India!
Long Live Tamil! -Palaniappan?
Sir?
Long Live Tamil! -Let them pass.
Sir?
Let them pass, I say.
Long Live The Republic! -Yes, sir.
Open it up! Let them pass!
Long Live Tamil!
We will keep fighting! We will keep fighting for Tamil!
Brother! -Brother!
They already left!
Durai left with them! -Yes!
We tried to stop him, but he didn't listen!
Brother!
None of you come along!
Stay here! -Listen, brother!
Do not impose! Do not impose Hindi!
Do not snatch away the rights of Tamilians!
We will keep fighting!
We will keep fighting for Tamil! -Hurry!
Lock the gate!
Do not snatch away the rights of Tamilians!
Close it quickly!
We will keep fighting! -Hold them off!
We will keep fighting for Tamil!
Do not impose Hindi!
Do not snatch away our rights!
The procession is going along peacefully, sir.
He's coming peacefully, too.
Are you sure he's our target?
He most definitely is not.
Load this.
Shoot him in the chest.
Sir...
This isn't a rubber bullet.
It's .303 caliber high velocity bullets!
It'll kill him!
We're not sure that he's our target, right?
You let the one we're after slip away at Maasi Street.
If we nab and question him, he'll talk!
Shooting him might cause a huge riot!
Not at all. He'll never talk.
Even the last remaining student here won't rat that man out.
Mr. Superintendent!
Know how 150,000 Britishers ruled over millions of Indians for 200 years?
They'd only shoot once.
But the sound of that bullet would be heard by ten million people!
This is just like that.
One outcome? Another person like him won't rise up.
The other? The sound will draw him out!
We'll keep fighting!
We'll keep fighting for Tamil!
Durai!
There are snipers in position!
Just rubber bullets!
They can't fire actual bullets!
Deploy tear gas.
Fire.
Fire! -We will keep fighting!
Won't listen, eh? Still protesting?
We'll keep fighting!
Leave!
Trying to spook us?
Long Live Tamil!
Don't fire!
Fire!
Long Live Tamil! -Don't fire!
Victory to Tam...
'As the fragrance in the wind, I'll stand strong'
'As the fire in my brother's words, I'll be reborn'
Don't fire!
Chinna!
'I'll brave everything...'
'...for my brother's beside me'
Chinna? -'Let the breeze in my breath...'
'...speak my brother's name'
'I shall walk with pride, knowing my brother is by my side'
You'll be okay!
'Standing upon his shoulders...'
Let's go! -'...I shall snatch the stars'
Move!
Don't panic, brother.
Such a puny bullet can't hurt me!
Don't say anything!
Chinna?
Chinna!
Chinna... -'You showed me the world'
'I was born to be your shadow'
Chinna? Look at me!
'Let's get the fireworks going'
'Let's twirl our moustaches'
Don't give up, brother.
You'll be okay!
Get up!
'You are...'
Stop! -'You are, you are God's witness'
Sir?
Puranaanooru!
My younger brother, sir!
Sir...
Let go of me!
Let go of me, I say!
Sir!
I'm coming, Chinna!
He's innocent, sir! Please spare him! Chinna!
Don't be scared! I'm coming!
He's innocent, sir! Please spare him!
I'm coming, Chinna!
He's still alive, sir!
If we get him to a hospital, we can save him!
Get him inside!
'I'll brave everything'
By saving him... -'For my brother's beside me'
...you expect to win an award for Best Nurse?
Let him go! -'Let the breeze in my breath...'
He's innocent! -'...speak my brother's name'
'I shall walk with pride, knowing my brother is by my side'
Let him go straight to the morgue!
'Standing upon his shoulders, I shall snatch the stars'
Chinna...
A college student...
...was shot to death by his own government!
This is a black day for our democracy!
Yes, it is! -At ease!
At ease!
The deceased isn't a student! He was a hooligan!
Despite knowing Section 144 was in effect in Chidambaram...
...he instigated students to go on a procession!
He violently attacked police officers!
Do you expect us to put a medal on him?
I can firmly say you didn't publicly declare Section 144 was in effect!
Those are tall tales, honorable member!
The student was fully aware Section 144 was in effect, when he gathered the crowd!
That's the truth!
You can spin it any way you like, as that student isn't alive to deny that!
Blaming them for your mistakes is old politics!
Yes, indeed! -Honorable Member!
There is nothing old or new in politics!
After taking these recent incidents into account...
To ensure the order of peace is in effect in our state...
...and to protect our people...
...I announce the strict enforcement of the DIR (Defence of India Rules) Law!
What? -Mr. Chief Minister!
The British put the DIR law in place to suppress freedom fighters!
But now, as soon as the authority reached your grasp...
...you've become the very thing you swore to destroy!
Speak up, everyone!
We severely condemn the DIR law! -At ease!
Who will answer for this death?
(The Hindi song 'Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam' plays on the radio)
"Greetings."
"Regional News. Professor's Radio."
"As teachers..."
...we are quitting from the language protests.
"We regret having stood hand in hand with students until now."
The student Chinnadurai...
Under the guise of a language war...
"...he assembled a group to enforce and execute his own wishes."
"We condemn that."
Tamil Professor.
You forced me to talk like this, you wretches!
When our people catch a glimpse of biriyani...
...they'll let go of their dignity.
You've had to eat a lot of biriyani, I see.
In the name of punishment posting, I was relegated to a sewer!
For six years!
For six years, I sought perilous missions...
...and earned my way back to the top like a dog!
Did I eat biriyani?
Or did you let me eat it?
You? A criminal who burned down a train? Seen as a hero!
I, who saved lives that day?
I got punished!
But now? Both brothers are criminals!
You broke my trigger finger.
They said my career was over.
Did I give up?
Didn't I learn to do everything with my left hand?
In the same way, we ask you to learn Hindi.
But the two of you brothers want to make students lazy...
...and intend to hamper the nation's progress!
A gang that's against its own country!
The Sepoy Mut...
A hundred years before the Sepoy Mutiny...
...it was Tamilians who first opposed the British.
We don't need anyone to lecture us about patriotism!
You're propagating national progress?
How is that?
After burying our fundamental rights?
On top of that grave?
Your brother lies exactly where he belongs.
We burned a corpse that reeked of sewer stench!
I want all their names.
Give a statement confessing you burned down that train.
You only killed one brother of mine.
There is an army.
There is a great army.
To protect my mother tongue...
...there is a great army!
I learned something from the KGB.
You can't get the truth out of anyone by relentlessly torturing them.
Because beyond a point...
...the brain shuts down...
...and they'll have no idea what to do.
They'll lose their senses!
But I know you have no such limits.
No breaking point.
So, I can do this as long as I want!
Kill me.
You went through hell for six years for letting me slip away once!
Let me slip away again, your entire life will be a living hell!
Here.
Stab me with it and escape.
Will you leave...
...or will you die at Thiru's hands like your friend Govind did?
Who are you people? Tell me!
(Hindi) Don't hit me!
Tell me the name of the man who hit me! I'll let you go!
(Hindi) Please don't hit me!
(Hindi) Please don't kill me...
(Hindi) Listen, kid.
(Hindi) This isn't your fight.
(Hindi) The names.
(Hindi) Please don't kill me!
(Hindi) The names of your allies!
(Hindi) Just give me the names of your allies!
(Hindi) Tell me!
(Hindi) Please don't kill me!
You were my only bloody clue!
Your friend didn't reveal your name till the end.
Thiru won't follow protocol. He'll just kill you.
Come on.
Go into hiding in Andhra Pradesh.
Trust me.
I'm a Tamilian too!
Will you tell us where Chezhiyan is or not?
Tell me where he is! -Answer me!
Where have you hidden him?
Tell me! Will you tell me or not?
If I arrest you all, you'll be in jail for life!
Don't let anyone go until they tell us where Chezhiyan is!
Get in the van! -Answer me!
Where is Chezhiyan?
Tell the truth!
Where is he? -The great Anna studied here!
Know what'll happen if he finds out?
Your precious Anna is also in jail! Move!
Sir...
I tried my hardest to stop him.
Who the hell are you to strike me?
I'm an IB officer like you too!
Are you and I the same?
Traitor!
You hiding your grandson in here?
Where are you going? Don't go in there!
Get up! Let's go!
Where's your leader?
Where is Chezhiyan? -Tell me where he is!
Don't hit them! -Get going!
Whack him!
I can't see!
Move!
Get in! -We're just his neighbors!
Get in! -Let us go!
Get in!
Hey! Get up!
Sir?
Thank you.
(Hindi) I don't need your thanks.
(Hindi) Your grandmother's cooking will suffice.
(Hindi) Be safe, brother.
No one here, ma'am!
No one in this compartment, sir. -Keep searching!
Check the next compartment, constable!
Check the engine, too! -Yes, sir!
Go there! -Okay, sir.
Chezhiya! -Chezhiya!
(Hindi) What the hell happened?
The money order arrived.
What's the plan, Che?
Many Delhi University students are with us.
South Indians, North Indians...
Even Fine Arts students!
What's our plan?
It's dangerous.
Tell us something we don't know!
Let's go!
The target is the All Party Meeting.
Just set up the stuff. I'll handle the rest myself.
You don't need this hassle! -Nonsense!
This is a fight against oppression!
If we let it lie, they'll keep escalating matters!
(Bengali) One by one...
They'll break our backbone!
But the Prime Minister is at the China border, Chezhiya.
He won't be present at tomorrow's All Party Meeting.
Let him stay there!
I'm here to meet someone else!
Whom?
You think it's so easy to meet her, Chezhiya?
Tear it apart!
All the bus boards have been changed overnight, ma'am!
What exactly have you written in Tamil?
They're fuming!
"Long Live Hindi."
I'm Chezhiyan!
From Madras, ma'am.
For just one day, we imposed a language you don't understand.
Much like you did!
How does it taste?
Hey, Madrasi!
(Hindi) Get down from there!
These fellows don't know Hindi!
Brains are filled with sand!
Duffers, ma'am! You should arrest them!
(Hindi) This was our only way to meet you, ma'am.
(Hindi) I learned Hindi for six months.
(Hindi) But I stopped.
I stopped learning it, ma'am!
Not because I couldn't learn Hindi.
But because nobody has the right to shove a language down my throat!
You first told us, "Just learn a few words and that's enough".
Now you say we have to speak it as well as those who've done so all their lives!
They're already at the finish line...
...while we start from the beginning and we kill ourselves to run this race!
If we don't do that, we are unemployable.
You won't hire us!
Are we not the citizens of this country, ma'am?
We are! -We are!
Ma'am! He's a fugitive!
He has escaped from jail!
Really?
Got any record of that?
Do you have any records of my arrest?
An FIR copy?
All we wrote is "Long Live Hindi"!
And it must thrive in this city!
We only ask to let Tamil thrive in our soil!
(Hindi) Your father gave us his word, ma'am.
It's your father's vow.
You need to uphold it, ma'am.
We want justice!
But you don't seem to care about the unity of this country.
In fact just the opposite, ma'am.
Unity in diversity is the strength of our nation.
We want unity.
You want uniformity.
That's the difference.
Ma'am...
I ask for a referendum. Let people vote for their future.
But referendums are not constitutional.
Then I ask for a signature campaign!
We'll seek endorsements.
Please hear the voice of the public.
As their representative, take it to the Parliament.
Isn't that constitutional?
And you said he's an illiterate goon?
But ma'am...
So what is it you want?
Firstly, ma'am...
We want English to continue as the official language.
But I can't decide that.
You don't have the support in the Parliament.
And you definitely don't have the 75% majority vote...
...from non-Hindi speaking states.
What if we prove that we have 75% support from the students of all non-Hindi states?
They're the ones who will vote for you.
And how will you prove that?
The state government says there's no dissent down south.
But I will prove that we're opposing this imposition, ma'am.
But I'm assuming that the Tamil people are not against Hindi.
Absolutely correct, ma'am! 100%!
We are not against Hindi and we will never be.
We will oppose it only when you impose it on us, ma'am.
Okay.
Show me the support when I come to Coimbatore on February 12th.
You have seven days.
How do we show numbers when the state govt. has imposed Section 144 on us?
Fair enough!
Section 144 will be revoked.
Ma'am...
But here's the thing, Mr. Chezhiyan.
While I understand your reasons for today's protest...
...I do not appreciate your methods.
It was wrong.
You should not have disturbed the public.
Sorry, ma'am.
We have decided to indulge only in peaceful protests now on.
Please uphold our trust, ma'am.
We believe in you, ma'am.
So according to you, he's not going to be able to demonstrate the right support, yes?
Not even one percent, ma'am!
Everyone's starving down there!
Will those people tend to their hunger, or focus on this silly protest?
Then why must you worry? You shouldn't. -Yes, ma'am.
You must understand.
The only way to end this, is to allow him to do this.
To lose in the eyes of the public once and for all.
And if he wins?
We're not bound to accept that decision. -Yes.
"A Tamil protest that brought Delhi to a standstill!"
So far, the voice of protestors would only echo through Madras State!
It has even reached Delhi now! -Indeed, sir!
Are you behind this, Mr. Anna?
No, sir. We are not behind this.
But whoever did this is a brother of mine!
But whoever has done this is my brother!
'She, who is like a flowering vine that smiles like the moon'
'With her honey lips, she will endow the essence of life'
'As you savor it drop by drop, she will bend her head shyly'
They think we're just young punks who can't achieve anything!
Let them!
An army is needed!
A great army is needed!
A great army is needed to safeguard Tamil!
'O army of comrades'
'Let's go to war'
'Be it life or death...' -Ensure no one finds out.
'...we shall face it together'
'With courage, we will seek answers'
'As a roaring wildfire, we will reclaim justice'
'Without seeing the light of change, these eyes shall sleep not'
'Even if bullets pierce our chests, our quest for truth will cease not'
What crap! What good will come of them? Look at the trash he's reading!
'We will guard our motherland now and forever'
'We took to arms that day'
'Even a calf will pounce in an attack'
'A needless, needless law...' -Steer clear of the cops!
'Won't the arrogance of those in power fall?'
'Our blood boils to stir us on'
'A war of blazing passion'
(Telugu) Dear...
Will you kill this old crone, dear?
Without Chinna or Chezhiya, I don't care who lives or dies!
(Telugu) Dear...
That soda guy is here.
Go. -A money order from Chezhiyan.
'Vanquishing oppressors does not count as sins'
'Set off like a storm'
'When your wings are torn apart, stand not with patience'
'If you rise with fury, the oppression cannot go on'
'Be the action'
'If there's evil afoot...'
'...mustn't it be quelled?'
'Cowards, we shall never be'
Chinna was right.
Comrades of both Gandhiji and Netaji laid down their lives.
Another war of independence! -'A day has a dawn and a dusk'
'Waging war is the way to victory'
'Let's get this done, one way or the other'
"Mere spectators, this puppet government!"
"A spineless government."
"A disgraceful, shameless, unjust government."
The opposition is ripping you apart at the assembly with these words!
'Our war is for the liberation of Tamil'
'Shatter the obstacles and leave our foes to dust'
'As mountains, we shall rise'
'Reclaim our birthright, we shall'
'Let the feeling that Tamil is our life soar'
'Even if the end approaches...'
'...let's fight injustice'
'As a fire, let's blaze... We shall never hesitate to rage'
'The culture that taught justice to the custodians of justice...'
'How can we accept the orders of the oppressors?'
'The culture known for its compassion even to a jasmine vine...'
'How can we accept trouble and be ruined?'
'Let's get this done, one way or the other'
'O army of comrades'
'Let's go to war'
'Be it life or death...'
'...we shall face it together'
'With courage, we will seek answers'
'As a roaring wildfire, we will reclaim justice'
May I sit, sir?
Sit the hell down!
As if you have manners!
I had flagged all post offices in Delhi.
After the protest...
...22 money orders were sent, all for the same amount!
So?
12.02 rupees.
Twelfth day, second month. February 12.
What?
All along, they've used a sum to represent the day of their operation.
The day of their operation.
Turn it around and take a look.
"We'll meet in Pollachi. Through Aaliyar forest from Valparai."
"Gandhi."
What language script is this?
Brahmi. 2,000 years old.
How do you know?
In the last six years, I learned every iteration of the Tamil script.
I let these money orders go through.
Shall I say why, Mr. Chief Minister?
It says 'Gandhi'.
It definitely must be the Gandhi Memorial in Madurai.
You know what happened there and who showed up.
The entire Puranaanooru gang who burned down a train are coming to Pollachi.
Just one of them brought Delhi to its knees!
Don't worry, sir.
Not a single signature will reach Delhi.
Because not a single one of them will reach Coimbatore.
I need your orders.
But...
Isn't the state police entirely at your command?
I don't need state police.
Why?
Look at their names!
Tamilkumaran, Tamilarasan, Tamilvendan... Tamil everywhere!
I can't do shit with them!
I want a special task force.
My requisition.
Non-Tamil speaking police and personnel from other states.
Immediately.
There won't be any media.
We'll wipe them out and bury them in Pollachi.
The public will never know.
Come! Park here!
No problems on the way, Vaigarai? -No.
Haven't seen you all in six years! -Brother!
I've had our boys stashed away all across Pollachi!
Don't worry. We'll take care of them.
Signatures arrive safely?
Where are the kids from the other states?
Michael, Chacko and the rest?
Just our state, huh?
We need them to get the majority, right?
We'll have to make do with those who are here by dawn.
Been years since you all tasted this soda! Open one up!
Park these vans in the grove, Palanisamy!
Let's go! Come on!
Not a single van should be seen here!
Come along, Poovai!
I'll go to my Grandma's tonight.
I'll bring the guys over before dawn!
Be safe. -Will do!
Hold this!
Sir!
No chance a single student has crossed this check post.
It's time, Chezhiya.
I don't think those guys are coming.
Chezhiya!
I have an idea!
There's something called pirate radio. We can talk on that!
We can tell the world what's happening here.
At Dhanushkodi last year...
Enough! Stick to just screwing around electric wires!
Like you're Sarojini Naidu who can sing like a bird on the mic!
And she claims she can save Tamil!
She fancies she can save it all with radio parts she stole!
Listen!
I was born and raised here!
I'm just as much Tamil as you are!
Understand this!
If Telugu is named the national language, I will be the first to protest against it!
"How can I talk in the radio?"
"You already know the answer, Ratna."
"This government has every radio station and newspaper in its pocket!"
"They decide what news the public gets to hear and read!"
"We need to shatter that."
"Are radio waves their birthright?"
"They can hear it even if we talk, right?"
"Speak, Ratna!"
"We'll see what they do!"
From a certain height and a certain angle...
...we can broadcast across long distances.
We can even hack into the frequency of National Radio!
Signal intrusion.
I learned it from the enemy, Mister.
Highly risky.
But it's doable!
We should use it to tell the world what's happening here!
(Telugu) Who the hell are you to question me?
(Telugu) You can't speak two languages even to save your life!
(Telugu) I'll rip your tongue out, jackass!
(Telugu) Brainless oaf!
(Telugu) Who the hell are you to question me?
Hey... She's saying something in Telugu.
I don't follow!
She can cuss in all languages!
Michael Reddy!
Shariffa!
Welcome!
Chezhiya!
Welcome!
Chezhiya! -How are you, Singh?
I'm good. How about you?
When I saw the codeword 'Gandhi'...
...I knew I had to come here even if it costs me my life!
The first money order in six years! How could I not come?
How'd you get past the cops?
We parked at Udumalaipettai and took the freight train!
That's how we get the goods for our mill!
Chacko couldn't make it, Che.
He was summoned for a government operation.
Only Kerala signatures aren't here yet?
Come, let's go eat! -Brother!
It's okay. We'll handle it.
You guys have come from all over the nation to save a mother tongue!
What kind of man would I be if I didn't feed our kin?
Come along, everyone!
Eat as much as you want!
(Telugu) Eat well!
Serve some to the Bengali girl! -(Kannada) Chow down!
(Bengali) Eating on banana leaves seems to be a staple of Tamil culture.
(Bengali) Great food, right?
(Telugu) Damn! So spicy!
Come to Madurai and we'll gorge down spiny loach soup!
No food like Madurai food!
(Kannada) Come over to my place! You won't see food like ours anywhere!
This is our India right here!
Banana leaves loaded with stew, vegetables, lentil curry, tamarind stew...
Like a feast!
But what does this damn government say?
They're trying to turn India into a land without diversity!
The dumbos!
(Telugu) Hit the nail in the head! -Spot on!
Eat well!
Relax. We'll mop the floor with them!
(Kannada) Well said!
Leave in half an hour.
Attention, citizens!
Turn in the students who are hiding in your town immediately!
I have shooting orders!
Why must you die for those miscreants?
How did this mongrel pick up our scent?
He read my tattoo.
He saw the money orders.
He understands Brahmi!
How did this slip past me?
But...
But why did he let money orders through and get us here?
Brother Thambi?
Is there another way in to Coimbatore?
No, there isn't.
There is a way. But...
Sir!
Forces are here, sir.
(Malayalam) It's all quiet. There's no issue here!
Hey!
We already told you there's nobody here!
Leave!
Get going!
Please leave!
(Malayalam) There seems to be no issue.
Then create one!
This is how the factory's sewage reaches the Aliyar river.
You can use it to get to the outskirts of town!
Easy to reach the main road from there!
Sir... -(Malayalam) Search that side!
What's going on, sir?
(Malayalam) We got one! -Let go of me.
(Malayalam) Come! -Let go of him!
Let go!
Please spare my grandson! -(Malayalam) Don't let him escape!
Let go!
Why are you arresting me?
Let go of my hand!
Let go! -(Malayalam) I'll whack you!
Please let him go, sir. He's innocent!
This is the reason for the trouble, right? Watch!
Careful! -Come quickly!
One at a time! -Hurry!
Watch your step, dear!
(Hindi) Careful, Ratna! -Be safe!
He smeared dung on the post office board.
Is it still quiet, Commander?
They killed him! Is there no one to question this injustice?
My dear boy!
Forces! Lathi charge!
Come on! Charge!
I'm not leaving you behind.
If our last stand is deemed to be in Pollachi, so be it!
What's the point if we all perish here?
Our army and these signatures need to reach Coimbatore!
Gather everyone and leave! I'll come with the van!
Leave them alone!
You killed my grandson!
The mob is attacking us, sir!
We're suffering casualties! We need backup!
You may leave.
I'll have the vans drop off the goods.
Travel safe!
Victory and courage to us all!
Won't answer me, huh?
Just turn in the students and the signatures.
Rifle Company! Open fire!
These mongrels have decided to turn Pollachi into a cemetery?
Hey! Come on!
Come along, Ratna!
I have an important errand to run. Be right back.
Go on. -Are you insane?
They're shooting us down without any restraint!
Come along, I say!
Go on.
Be safe.
Let's go! Come on!
I have a child, sir!
Please tell them not to fire, sir!
We caught the students, sir.
Answer my question only with the truth.
Where is Chezhiyan?
Sir!
Found the signed papers? -No, sir.
One by one, all of you will die!
Tell me! Where is Chezhiyan?
I don't know, sir.
If you couldn't find the papers, it doesn't mean they're not here!
Go search! -Yes, sir!
Every single one of you are suspects!
You! You! You! All of you are suspects!
If I toss you in jail, you'll be there for life!
Please, sir... No... -Where is Chezhiyan?
Where the hell is he?
I swear I don't know!
Sir!
Why are you doing this to us?
You found your target.
Let these people go.
Sir!
All the signatures are in there!
Burn them.
Burn them all.
Where the hell are the papers?
Tricking me with empty sheets?
You took your own sweet time, Major! You're late!
Shoot all of them and burn them all!
There must be no evidence of this entire incident!
History should have no record of this!
Major!
Don't shoot him! I need him!
Brother Thambi!
Do you know to drive this thing or not?
My first time, buddy!
The drivers usually handle this!
Don't be scared!
Just watch how we reach our destination!
Where? -Where, brother?
Where are we going? -"Where are we going"?
Where else? Coimbatore! -Seems unlikely!
Police!
Come what may, that lady doesn't leave without seeing the signatures!
I'll handle the cops.
(Telugu) Be careful, Shariffa.
(Telugu) Take care. -(Kannada) I will.
Careful, Michael!
(Kannada) Be alert, Michael Reddy!
(Malayalam) One of them is getting away! Get him!
(Kannada) Don't stop, brother! Keep going!
Michael!
Come in, Gauri!
The minister's life is in danger!
Get her out of the Coimbatore station immediately!
I can't hear you, sir.
Come in, Gauri!
The minister's life is in jeopardy! Get her out of the station!
Hoist it that side! Can't get a signal!
Got it! -Got it?
Yes!
For a human to think...
...the most impor...
...important tool...
...is... is...
...language!
Destroying a language is akin to destroying one's identity.
An individual without an identity can easily be enslaved.
Language politics in a nutshell!
Destroying my mother tongue is akin to destroying my ability to think.
If we are unable to think, how can we ever make progress?
That's what they want.
To show your support for Tamil, assemble at the Coimbatore Junction!
Go for field radio officer, 13th Company, over!
Special Officer Thiru here! Over!
Reading loud and clear! I await your order!
They've planted bombs on a freight train heading from Podanur to Coimbatore!
Target is the I&B minister! It'll explode on arrival!
Contact the station master now and have him stop the train!
Roger that, sir!
Where are the students?
They just talk tough, ma'am.
Give them a mic, and they'll ramble for hours!
You can get going. Why needlessly waste your time?
Sir? -Have an escort ready for Ma'am.
Chief... -Yes, sir.
My resignation.
What the hell, man?
No sense of timing!
Not the time for all this!
What is the problem, Mr. Rao?
Ma'am...
There's still two hours left.
You've given your word. Please uphold it.
Why didn't the train stop?
Come in, RTO!
What the hell!
Soldiers!
'Fire up your intellect and make your foes tremble'
(Malayalam) Hurry!
'Sharpen your core and erupt like a volcano'
'Ours is a great army'
'Bear witness, for ours is a great army'
You are late, Major!
(Malayalam) You told me to be late!
(Malayalam) Didn't I tell you?
That you'd salute me one day?
You'll salute this Major one day!
Go ahead!
Arms down!
Operation over!
From this moment, we commence a rescue operation!
Dismissed!
Two hours are up, Mr. Rao.
I must leave.
Namaste. -Namaste, ma'am.
Long Live Hindi!
I'll give the red signal. Okay, sir.
No matter what, Ma'am does not leave this station without hearing our voice.
Yes, Shariffa!
Take care, Brother Thambi.
I got this. Go on!
You can sit here, ma'am.
The train will be here soon, ma'am.
Why isn't the train here yet?
What is the problem?
It'll be here any moment.
What the hell, man?
Know what happens when you try to restrain combustive material?
Blowback!
Very well.
Let's die together!
Let those signatures go up in smoke with us!
No matter what you do or however long you take...
...we'll just keep coming!
Bring it on!
Our grandchildren will be ready for you!
Charge!
Come on!
What are you doing? Restrain them!
-Come on!
Come on! -Hurry!
Get it all out! -Hurry!
This way! -Ma'am!
Please, ma'am!
Ma'am!
(Kannada) Signatures from the land of Basavanna!
Signatures from the land of Basavanna!
The Father of Democracy!
Bangalore, Gulbarga, Hubli, Davangere, Tumkur, Chikmanglur, Mangalore, Mysore!
(Karnataka) The entire Mysore State! -The whole of Mysore!
Get it? All of Mysore, it seems!
Pull it up!
Does this script look the same?
Yes.
It looks all the same to me.
This is a very different language.
These are from my neighboring state. Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu, ma'am! Telugu! -Yes, ma'am!
Yes, ma'am. They look alike, but they're different languages!
(Bengali) This is Bengali, ma'am!
(Bengali) 'Even if no one rallies behind you, walk on alone'
(Bengali) 'Walk on alone'
But we are not alone here, ma'am!
All the languages are here!
All the languages! All the languages!
(Malayalam) I'm Malayali, ma'am.
(Malayalam) These are from Kerala.
Malayalam! Malayalam! Malayalam!
This letter came from Madras, ma'am.
First daughter's mark sheet.
Younger daughter's name?
Named after you!
Yes, ma'am.
Two daughters futures in your hands, ma'am.
Sir!
Let's get you to the hospital!
Let's go to the hospital!
Why?
You expect to get an award for Best Nurse?
No mongrel will dare question my loyalty.
Is this Hindi? Can you please read and tell?
This is Marathi.
Marathi! Marathi! Marathi!
Tamil!
Chezhiya!
Tamil, ma'am...
Help him up! -Chezhiya!
Get him up!
Ma'am!
It was wrong of us to even ask them for signatures!
What can illiterate citizens do?
To show their support...
...they sent their ration cards.
(Hindi) Their means of sustenance.
That's what they sent over.
What more evidence do you need for public support?
Do we have to bring over the people who sent these?
Your people blocked every path on their journey.
The ones who surpassed it?
They were shot to death.
"As hard as it'd be for North Indians, if Tamil is legally forced on them..."
"...that's how it's like for us to learn Hindi."
Lullabies of our mothers, stories of our grandmothers...
'Wisdom of our grandfathers..."
"Our education, literature, music..."
"All of it is etched in our blood!"
As you can't take the language out of our blood, you intend to make us bleed?
"To show your support for Tamil, assemble at the Coimbatore Junction!"
"The futures of the students are in your hands!"
"Your future is in your hands!"
As of now, we'll stop this protest.
We've done everything we could.
What do you intend to do, ma'am?
He says he's done what he could do. It's up to you now.
"Our bodies may fall."
"But our linguistic pride never will!"
"Our voices will not abate!"
Until the last Tamilian is left, it will echo far and wide!
"Our bodies, for this soil. Our lives, for Tamil!"
Long Live Tamil!
Victory to Tamilians!
"Victory to Tamilians!"
"I give my word to the students of this nation!"
The promises of our late great Prime Minister...
...will continue to be upheld wholeheartedly!
"Every state is free to choose their own official language."
"Be it through their regional language or English..."
"...they have complete freedom to conduct their official business!"
"If even one non-Hindi speaking state..."
"...voices its displeasure against making Hindi the sole official language..."
"...the bill will not be passed."
"I firmly state that English will continue to be recognized as an official language!"
Should the legislative assembly be convened hastily because the students ask so?
Who are students?
The blood of our blood.
The flesh of our flesh.
The soul of our future!
What about the train they burned down?
A few burnt train coaches can be rebuilt.
But if the lives of students are destroyed...
...can it be reclaimed?
"We disregard the Official Languages Act in all schools of Tamil Nadu."
"This assembly decrees Tamil and English to be the official mediums of instruction."
Long Live Tamil!
"A statue immortalizing comrade Rajendran, who succumbed to police gunfire..."
"...has been erected at the entrance of his alma mater."
'O army of comrades'
'Let's go to war'
'Be it life or death...'
'...we shall face it together'
'With courage, we will seek answers'
'As a roaring wildfire, we will reclaim justice'
'Without seeing the light of change, these eyes shall sleep not'
'Even if bullets pierce our chests, our quest for truth will cease not'
'No change comes about on its own'
'We will guard our motherland now and forever'
'We took to arms that day'
'Even a calf will pounce in an attack'
'A needless, needless law...'
'Won't the arrogance of those in power fall?'
'Our blood boils to stir us on'
'A war of blazing passion'
'How is it right to relinquish what belongs to us?'
'Vanquishing oppressors does not count as sins'
'Set off like a storm'
'When your wings are torn apart, stand not with patience'
'If you rise with fury, the oppression cannot go on'
'Be the action'
'If there's evil afoot...'
'...mustn't it be quelled?'
'Cowards, we shall never be'
'A day has a dawn and a dusk'
'Waging war is the way to victory'
'Let's get this done, one way or the other'