When I first came upon this film I was unsure if it would be any good, but I was astonished just how good this movie was. The two lead actors in the movie,Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons were incredible together. Apparently the movie took some fictional license to other parts of Ramanujan life, but essentially the important aspect of this movie, is his work with Hardy and time at trinity. The powerful aspect of this movie lies behind the facts that the theories are still being proven a century after they were first foretold

The movie is about a Cambridge Mathematics Scholar G.H. Hardy's experience with the genius of S. Ramanujan, a self taught Indian Mathematician, who without any formal training went on to unravel complex theories of mathematics. The viewers get a glimpse of Ramanujan's background in colonial India where living in abject poverty, he is absolved in deriving answers to complex mathematical questions. In his town, he finds no one to understand his work and to earn a living starts working as an accounting clerk. As a stoke of luck, he gets guided to write a letter to a Cambridge scholar G.H. Hardy with his discoveries and G.H. Hardy gets responded back. Thus starts the story of a partnership between Hardy and Ramanujan, where Hardy puts trust in Ramanujan and arranges for his travel and stay in Cambridge. It is a story of Hardy's partnership with Ramanujan and the opposition that he faces for his decision. Hardy's attempt to understand Ramanujan's genius and trying to help him project himself better to be accepted by the academic world forms the crux of the story. The movie is an adaptation of a 1991 book of the same name and serves less as a biopic on Ramanujan, rather focusing on Hardy's tryst with the genius. The movie beautifully develops the character of Hardy as a reserved man with very few friends and no family, with mathematics as the only driving factor in his life. Hardy's care and concern for Ramanujan, makes him experience the human side within himself where many a times he is at a loss of words or gestures to convey his emotions, but is understood and appreciated by Ramanujan none the less. It is the story of his tryst with a genius that made him experience life from a different perspective.

in my childhood, Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of my heroes. and, after decades, this status is not just memory. it is the motif for who, after serious hesitations, only for the presence of Jeremy Irons as part of cast, I saw the film. sure, at the high expectations, the critics are not rare. but... . "The Man Who Knew Infinity" is the right introduction for discover a pure genius of mathematics. not only as a illustrious name but as member of a period, social relations, political context, clash between two profound different perspectives about everything. maybe, it is a masterpiece. the flaws are present and the story remains a sketch. but it is the perfect kick to read and search and discover a magnificent personality. and an inspired manner to show him. sure, the story is more complex, more dramatic and more seductive. but the film gives the essence of a real miracle. and, for me, has the virtue to be the perfect vehicle to the age of the first information about this admirable and fascinating personality.

Pure mathematics might seem too abstract a subject to translate easily to the cinema screen, but recent years have seen three major Hollywood films about mathematicians, "Good Will Hunting", "A Beautiful Mind" and "Proof". "The Man Who Knew Infinity" is a British film on a similar subject. Like "A Beautiful Mind" it is a filmed biography of a real-life mathematician, in this case the Indian Srinivasa Ramanujan.The action takes place in the early twentieth century. Ramanujan, originally from a humble background, is able to obtain a job as an accountant in the city of Madras because of his mathematical skills. It soon becomes apparent, however, that his skills are of a far higher order than those normally required for accountancy and that he is capable of understanding complex mathematical problems. Ramanujan writes to Harold Hardy, a mathematics don at Trinity College Cambridge, who realises that the young man is something exceptional and who invites him to study at Cambridge.Ramanujan takes up that invitation, but he does not find life in Cambridge easy. He is forced to leave his young wife Janaki in Madras, and the prospect of her joining him becomes even more remote when World War breaks out shortly after his arrival in England. He is the subject of racial bigotry, not only from local people- he is beaten up by a group of soldiers- but even from within the academic community. One mathematics don verbally abuses him, calling him a "wog" to his face, and although the other members of the faculty are more careful not to give vent to their prejudices so openly, it is clear that race is the main reason which prevents Ramanujan from being elected a Fellow of the College. He also suffers from health problems brought on by the cold climate. (Cambridge can be notoriously cold in winter; the flat East Anglian landscape means that it is exposed to every icy wind coming off the North Sea).Although Ramanujan and Hardy become friends, their relationship is not always an easy one, largely because their attitudes to mathematics are very different. Ramanujan is able to develop brilliant mathematical theories by intuition, but struggles with developing the rigorous proofs which are needed to test those theories and which Hardy insists upon. Their differing attitudes to mathematics are grounded in very different attitudes to life. Hardy is an atheist who will not accept the truth of any proposition, whether it relates to mathematics or anything else, which cannot be proved by logic or experiment. Ramanujan is a devout Hindu who believes that his mathematical insights come to him via divine inspiration and that any equation is meaningless unless it expresses a thought in the mind of God.Period dramas are ten-a-penny in the modern British cinema, but this is a good one. The London Mathematical Society said that it outshines "Good Will Hunting" in almost every way. Actually, that is probably not difficult, as I found "Good Will Hunting" a horribly overrated film, deeply disappointing in almost every way except for a fine performance from the late Robin Williams. I would also, however, rate "The Man Who Knew Infinity" higher than either "A Beautiful Mind" or "Proof", largely because of two excellent performances in the leading roles, from Dev Patel as Ramanujan and Jeremy Irons as Hardy. In reality Hardy was only ten years older than Ramanujan, but here the age difference is much greater, and at times their relationship is almost that of father and son rather than teacher and pupil. Or perhaps one could say that their relationship is not only that of teacher and pupil but also that of pupil and teacher, because Hardy comes to realise that he has as much to learn from the younger man- about life as well as about mathematics- as vice versa.I said at the beginning of this review that pure mathematics is an abstract subject, but you don't need to be a mathematical expert- and I am far from being one- to appreciate this film. The reason is that here it is not an abstract subject at all. It becomes a metaphor for life. We may not all know much about maths. We all know something about life. 8/10