On the film’s 30th anniversary, I rewatched the movie again. The print that is available on Amazon Prime Video sort of retains the sense of memory of the original print. The aesthetics of this film is so superior that it still feels fresh. The magical evening sky, the soothing yellow of the morning sun, the sprawling, eye-popping beauty of Kashmir and the snow-covered mountains, provide the background for romantic moments and brutal war at once. And who can forget Rahman’s compositions, starting from peppy Chinna Chinna Aasai (Choti si Asha), to Kadhal Rojave (Roja Janeman), the evergreen song for all the pinning lovers, to melody with a healing touch Thamizha Thamizha (Bharat Humko).

Besides the wonderful visual and musical features, one of the main reasons for Roja’s everlasting appeal and relevance is the way Mani Ratnam shapes the narrative around a very complex matter of grave importance that was never actually discussed at length in our mainstream movies till then. This is the film that brought the Kashmir crisis, happening beyond the grasp of our sight and mind, to our doorsteps.

Roja has clear-cut themes and it steers clear of an overwhelming amount of information. At the heart of this narrative, which brings the war of hate and the casualty of innocence to the fore, is the budding romance between a newlywed couple. Roja, played by a wonderful Madhubala, is a re-imagination of Savitri from our mythology. According to the legend, Savitri was such a devoted wife that she moved hell and earth to secure the life of her husband from the clutches of the load Yamaraj himself.

Similarly, Roja stops at nothing till she secures the freedom of her husband Rishi (Arvind Swamy) from the hands of the terrorists. And it helps us to connect with her journey. Like Roja, the audience also finds themselves clueless in a land, whose politics and problems are complex and beyond their complete grasp. She is stranded in a part of the country where she finds people who can’t talk to her in a language she knows. But, she doesn’t give up for she knows that core human emotions and values can cut through any kind of barrier, including caste, creed, religion and language. In a scene, she implores a high-ranking minister to do everything needed to secure her husband’s freedom. The minister who can’t understand her language can grasp her pain. Human emotions transcend the language barrier.

Roja’s strength is her ability to believe there is goodness in every human being and she is confident that she can appeal to it. She never loses hope or belief in humanity even during the darkest times of her life. So does Rishi. The lead couple both function on the core Gandhian principles. Like Rishi, who never gives into the fear despite enduring pain and risking gruesome death. To paraphrase Gandhi, “His captors can torture him, break his bones, even kill him. Then they will have his dead body, but not his obedience.” Rishi knows that him standing up to the terrorists may not bring him any good but he still does it because that’s what’s right and that’s what his integrity allows him to do. And his efforts to cut through the wall of hatred and appeal to the good senses of his captors never lose the touch of compassion. That’s some OG Gandhi move.