Comparison of SNS Sastry’s I am 20 (1967) and Kailash Surendranath’s Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

(1988)

The eve is Independence Day in 1988, and people are glued to their television screens or radios,
trying to catch a glimpse of the national celebrations in Delhi on Doordarshan. As soon as the Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi finishes the speech, a melodious tune and the iconic face of Pandit Bhimsen
Joshi comes on.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara is an uplifting, and soaring musical presentation knitting the nation together
with its melody. Undoubtedly one of the biggest spectacles of unity and togetherness at the time,
the ad film showcased famous personalities from the film industry, singers, dancers, authors,
sportsmen etc- including Hema Malini, Kamal Haasan, Lata ji, Prakash Padukone and so on. It boasts
of the country it belongs to and unquestionably inculcates the feeling of patriotism in the viewer.

Going back 22 years to 1967, India is newly 20 years old and so are the subjects of SNS Sastry’s I am
20. The occasion hasn’t changed, but the premise has. I am 20 doesn’t mean to force patriotism on
you, infact it means to do nothing but capture a shot. A shot of how India’s youth thought about
their nation and what their hopes and aspirations are from the future. Unlike Mile Sur, I am 20 is
hard hitting in an almost nonchalant way. Idealism, irony, sarcasm, hope, optimism and dismay all
put together in crisp, hard hitting clips of interviews with India’s youth. It is just simple and so damn
clever.

Both films travel throughout the nation, one filming famous personalities, landscapes and
commoners to evoke love for the nation with the power of music while the other sought out
intelligent and naïve minds to create an ever relevant story of the 20 year old India.

Being the most iconic works of both Sastry and Kailash Surendranath, the films have managed to
move every person it reached, even today. Especially today. Whether it is the rousing catchy tune of
Mile sur mera tumhara or the parting, goosebumps-worthy words “It’s a huge experiment and I
would like to be a part of it” of TN Subramanian, the films have managed to make an everlasting
impact and given us food for thought and reason for pride, which afterall is what good films must do
to everyone.