vaisakhkolathara Normally the director of this movie used to make comedy oriented movie. In fact this was his first movie in a non-comic fashion. This movie depicts the lives of fellow Indian prisoners in a jail situated in Andaman Islands in the time where Britishers were ruling India.The tortures and humiliations they faced during their imprisonment. This also shows how patriotic they were. There are lot of such movies(which sells patriotism) released in India till now . But this movie is somewhat differently made from all the other makes. The main reason can be that this movie is mostly made using the real facts that happened during that time in Andaman.This movie used all new technologies of that time to build sch a gem kind of visual experience. This was in fact the most expensive movie of Malayalam Industry at that time. But as it lacked the commercial elements which were essential for a movie to be hit , this registered as a flop movie in Malayalam movie industry. But till date, I can easily say that this is the first movie which is deserved to be in the list of top rated patriotic movies made in India . This even dubbed into several other regional languages of India. Coming to technology side , this movie was perfect in this case too .Priyadarshan was too keen on skills as a director. The cinematography by Santhosh Sivan was applauded by several Indian movie legends. Ilayaraja proved once more that he is a maestro in his area as the songs were simply superb. Then there comes the actors. One of the finest actor that India has ever produced , the great Mohanlal . He led the main character with his impeccable acting skills which supported by esteemed presence of Prabhu Ganeshan . This movie features other acting gems of India as Amrish Puri,Tabu,Nedumudi Venu,Kochin Haneefa,Shankaradi,Delhi Ganesan,Sreenivasan,Annu Kapoor,etc.Overall, my fellow movie lovers, You're not going to regret about the movie if you spend 3 hours for it. Its my word,believe it!

Suman Shakya "Saza E Kala Pani" is a period film on early 19th century when the British rulers sent the prisoners to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a punishment. The film effectively portrays the sufferings the prisoners had to endure in the Islands. The film was made in Malayalam; so the narration of the film at times is very obscure. Forget it if you are going for entertainment. The film is highly remarkable for the hard hitting account of the gruesome sufferings perpetuated from the film which is rarely accounted in the movies. The film succeeds in recreating a part of the history with highly realized and terrifying accounts of atrocities done to the prisoners which makes it an Indian equivalent of "Schindler's List." The film deserves the acclaim for its hardly realized historical accounts, photography, and performances.Rating: 3 stars out of 4

venkatb83 I have heard about KalaPaani punishment and read about Andaman cellular jail,and its jailers brutal punishments and also as a Indian of this after independence age i was curious about making a film on such an issue and how well they might make(made) it?after watching movie(i have heard about it when am just 12 yr old n watched now 28..)i felt sad not about film but the punishment given to inmates...film is made very well with blasting cast mainly MohanlaL ,praBU ,AMARI SH PURI, TEENU -ANanD ANnu kapoor..in every department film excels well.. i have watched many hilarious comedy movies by pr i y an, but never thought he'll make such an film (kancheevaram too)..but he's genius on far with Mani rathnam and ram gopal varma...its a cinema which will showcase Indian directors capability to handle such an issue well and make films on far with west film makers.>>>splendid performance by MOHAN LAL,AMARISH PURI,PRABHU(SHIVAJI),MOHAN LAL Excels ONCE AGAIN AFTER IRUVAR(ANOTHER FANTASTIC MOVIE BY MANI RATHNAM N MOHAN LAL'S PERFORMANCE)all Indians should watch it too know the freedom fighters plight their sacrifice for our country's independence ...i give whole 10/10 for it... it deserves it..go watch it...

Dave Abbott I wish that I could agree with the viewers below about the cinematography, sound, and overall quality of the film but the Eros DVD completely failed to capture any of that. The picture quality was somewhat grainy like an old 70s film and, halfway through the film, I had to reduce the sound substantially because of all the static and distortion. Finally, I had to spend close to 45 minutes to finish the last chapter since it kept stopping and, at times, had to see it frame by frame.Aside from the technical aspects, I felt that the acting by the British actors was either stilted, poorly acted or over acted. I also wish that the two main actors did not look so much alike -- same moustache and body type. In one scene, when they were fighting, it was frequently difficult to tell them apart. Had the same problem with some of the leads in LA Confidential. Teen Deewarein was much better at giving three very distinct characters in every way. I also wished that the director would not have borrowed a scene from Schindler's List -- where all the prisoner's are registering on the island. For anyone who has seen Schindler's List, this scene lessens the impact of the film from then on since, in the back of your mind, you start to wonder what else has been taken from what movies and how much of the overall film can really be believed.Despite all my misgivings above, I felt the story was well-written and all the Indian actors performed exceptionally well. I only wish that I had seen the same film that everyone else saw.