Andha Naal
One of my favourite all-time film noir is Andha Naal, a Tamil film made in 1954.
Ground-breaking at the time for Indian cinema, it is actually a historical film as it is cleverly set in the mid-1940s when southern India was still under the British Raj and in threat of being invaded by the Japanese - a fact that many of the locals actually had mixed feelings about.
The story is this: On 11 October 1943, the Japanese bomb Madras, causing commotion all over the city. The next morning, Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan), a radio engineer is found murdered. His neighbour Chinnaiah Pillai hears the gunshot and complains to the police. A local police inspector named Naidu and a C.I.D. officer Sivanandam (Javar Seetharaman) investigate the case by questioning five characters: Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai), Chinnaiah Pillai, Rajan's brother Pattabi, Rajan's sister-in-law Hema, and the beautiful dancer Ambujam (also Rajan's Mistress). Each one recounts an incident which points to a new suspect. These shifts in perspective keep the film alive, surprising the audience at every turn, building the intrigue until the final denouement.
Marvellously shot and brilliantly performed, the close Citizen-Kane style editing and the hints of Kurosawa's Rashomon make this a film to be enjoyed by noir enthusiasts all over the world.
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