Editing The Terrorist (1998 film)

{{About|the 1998 Indian film|other films with similar titles|Terrorist (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Terrorist
| image          = The Terrorist.jpg
| caption        = Movie poster
| director       = [[Santosh Sivan]]
| writer         = [[Santosh Sivan]]
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Ayesha Dharker]]|K. Krishna|Sonu Sisupal|Vishwas|[[Anuradha (actress)|Anuradha]]}}
| cinematography = [[Santosh Sivan]]
| editing        = [[A. Sreekar Prasad]]
| music          = {{ubl|Rajamani|Sonu Sisupal}}
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1999|01|12}}
| runtime        = 95 minutes
| country        = India
| language       = Tamil
}}

'''''The Terrorist''''' ({{langx|ta|பயங்கரவாதி|translit=Bayangaravaathi|italic=yes}}) is an Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language film directed by [[Santosh Sivan]]. The film portrays a period in the life of a 19-year-old woman, Malli ([[Ayesha Dharker]]), sent to assassinate a leader in South Asia through a [[suicide bombing]]. It stars Dharker, K. Krishna and Sonu Sisupal. Released in 1998, the film was shot in 15 days, with natural lighting, on a shoestring budget of ₹25 lakh (worth ₹2.2 crore in 2021 prices).

The film won a number of awards at international [[film festival]]s. Actor [[John Malkovich]] first saw the film at the 1998 [[Cairo International Film Festival]] and subsequently adopted the film as a kind of post-facto executive producer (the reissued film's titles read "John Malkovich Presents"). Critic [[Roger Ebert]] has included the film in his series of "Great Movies" reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=17 July 2005 |title=To kill and be killed |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-terrorist-2000 |access-date=25 June 2020 |website=[[RogerEbert.com]] |archive-date=15 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715225201/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-terrorist-2000 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ebert concludes his review with the following line: "Every time I see the film, I feel a great sadness, that a human imagination could be so limited that it sees its own extinction as a victory." The film that proved his mastery over the visual language was ''The Terrorist'' which has become a textbook of sorts for visual communication students, with scenes from the movie being used by [[Michael Chapman (cinematographer)|Michael Chapman]], [[Martin Scorsese]]’s cinematographer, to explain the tenets of cinematography during workshops. According to film critic Roger Ebert, it was a film ‘scripted by the camera’. Says Sivan: "One day I got a call from [[Samuel Jackson|Samuel Lee Jackson]] who was interested to cast the heroine of ''The Terrorist'', Ayesha, in a Hollywood film."<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 2012 |title=Global nod for Malayalam director Santosh Sivan |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/global-nod-for-malayalam-director-santosh-sivan/264187-71-209.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323080737/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/global-nod-for-malayalam-director-santosh-sivan/264187-71-209.html |archive-date=23 March 2014 |access-date=23 March 2014 |website=[[IBNLive]]}}</ref>

== Plot ==
The movie focuses on a 19-year-old woman named Malli (based on [[Kalaivani Rajaratnam]]), who joined a [[terrorism|terrorist organisation]] at a very young age after her brother was killed in the cause. She volunteers herself to become a suicide bomber in an assassination mission.  As the plot moves forward, she discovers the importance of human life, after realising she is pregnant.  This causes Malli to question her determination to complete the mission.

== Cast ==
* [[Ayesha Dharker]] as Malli
* [[Vishnuvardhan (director)|Vishnu Vardhan]] as Thyagu
* Bhanu Prakash as Perumal
* [[Krishna Kulasekaran|K. Krishna]] as Lover
* Sonu Sisupal as Leader
* [[Anu Vardhan|Anuradha]]

== Inspiration ==
While campaigning in the [[1991 Indian general election]], former [[prime minister of India]] [[Rajiv Gandhi]] was [[Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi|assassinated]] by a female [[suicide bomber]], [[Kalaivani Rajaratnam]]. Rajaratnam was affiliated with the [[Black Tigers]], a  cadre of the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]].

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] noted that [[Santosh Sivan]] "was inspired by the assassination of the Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. But in the movie, no country is identified, no name is attached to her target, and no ideology or religion is attached to her movement."<ref>https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-terrorist-2000</ref>

== Awards ==
;Won
*1998 - [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil]] - ''The Terrorist''<ref name="asianfilmmarket2007">{{Cite web |date=28 May 2009 |title=2007 Project |url=http://apm.asianfilmmarket.org/eng/database/view_ppp_history.asp?order_year=2007&idx=256&no=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323091643/http://apm.asianfilmmarket.org/eng/database/view_ppp_history.asp?order_year=2007&idx=256&no=4 |archive-date=23 March 2014 |access-date=23 March 2014 |website=Asian Project Market}}</ref><ref name="NFA">{{Cite web |title=45th National Film Festival |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/45th_NFA.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193927/http://dff.nic.in/2011/45th_NFA.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 |access-date=13 March 2024 |website=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]]}}</ref>
*1998 - [[National Film Award for Best Editing]] - ''The Terrorist''<ref name="NFA" />
*1998 - [[Cairo International Film Festival]]- Best Director - Santosh Sivan<ref name="santoshsivan1">{{Cite web |title=John Malkovich |url=http://www.santoshsivan.com/html/eng_john.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602081425/http://www.santoshsivan.com/html/eng_john.htm |archive-date=2 June 2007 |access-date=23 March 2014 |website=Santosh Sivan}}</ref>
*1998 - [[Cairo International Film Festival]]- Golden Pyramid For Best film - ''The Terrorist''<ref name="santoshsivan1" />
*1998 - [[Cairo International Film Festival]]- Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress - Ayesha Dharker<ref name="santoshsivan1" />
*1998 - [[Sundance Film Festival]] - Best Film - ''The Terrorist''<ref name="asianfilmmarket2007" />
*1998 - [[Toronto International Film Festival]] - Emerging Master - Santosh Sivan<ref name="asianfilmmarket2007" />
*1999 - [[Cinemanila International Film Festival]] - Grand Jury Prize - Santosh Sivan
*1999 - [[Cinemanila International Film Festival]] - Lino Brocka Award for Best Film - Santosh Sivan
*2000 - [[Ale Kino! (television)|Ale Kino International Young Audience Film Festival]] - Poznan Goat for Best Director - Santosh Sivan
*2000 - [[Sarajevo Film Festival]] - Panorama Jury Prize for Honorable Mention - Santosh Sivan

;Nominated
*1998 - [[National Film Award for Best Actress]] - Best Actress - Ayesha Dharker
*2001 - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film

== Further reading ==
* ''Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism'' by [[Robert Pape]], Random House (24 May 2005), {{ISBN|1-4000-6317-5}}
* https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169302/plotsummary
* Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. ''Film History, An Introduction''. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2010. 624. Print. {{ISBN|978-0-07-338613-3}}

== See also ==
* [[Rajiv Gandhi assassination#Memorial and popular culture|Rajiv Gandhi assassination in popular culture]]

==Footnotes==
* http://apm.asianfilmmarket.org/eng/database/view_ppp_history.asp?order_year=2007&idx=256&no=4
* http://www.santoshsivan.com/html/eng_john.htm
* A.O., Scott. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A04EEDA153AF937A25752C0A9669C8B63 "The Terrorist (1998)"] ''New York Times''. (2011)
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169302/fullcredits ''The Terrorist'' full credits] at IMDb, 
* Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. ''Film History, An Introduction''. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2010. 624. Print. {{ISBN|978-0-07-338613-3}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.terrorist-thefilm.com/ Official Website]
* {{IMDb title|id=0169302|title=The Terrorist}}
*[http://www.santoshsivan.com/eng_mem1.htm Santosh Sivan on low budget filmmaking]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jan/13us2.htm How John Malkovich God-Fathered Sivan's The Terrorist]
*[http://www.india-today.com/jain/ Interim Report of the Jain Commission of Inquiry into the Assassination of Shri Rajiv Gandhi]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140323080737/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/global-nod-for-malayalam-director-santosh-sivan/264187-71-209.html]

{{Santosh Sivan}}
{{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilmTamil}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terrorist, The}}
[[Category:1990s Indian films]]
[[Category:1990s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:1998 films]]
[[Category:Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Rajiv Gandhi]]
[[Category:Films about assassinations]]
[[Category:Films about terrorism in India]]
[[Category:Films about the Sri Lankan civil war]]
[[Category:Films directed by Santosh Sivan]]
[[Category:Films set in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing National Award]]
[[Category:Indian Peace Keeping Force]]
[[Category:Tamil-language Indian films]]
[[Category:Works about the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi]]