Finally, after being in production for nearly 2 yrs Dasavatharam hit the silver screen on 13th June. Waiting for nearly 4 hrs, I was able to grab a ticket for de evening show at Satyam cinemas. I knew the film will surely be worth my wait. Splendid, fantabulous, mindblowing, effulgent, exquisite will be few words dat I would describe any Kamal Hassan's film, may it be de blockbuster Vittaiyadu vilaiyadu or the box office flop Mumbai Express so Dasavatharam is no exceptional. Moreover the cast includes my very favorite actress, the uncrowned beauty queen of kollywood-ASIN. So, wat else would I expect from a movie. But I am sure, this is a film dat will be successful at both the box office nd among the fans.
The film begins with the present day situation with Kamal thanking the crowd gathering nd quickly moves to the 12th century. One who misses the first few mins of the movie wont b able to understand the presence of the 12th century situations in the movie. It describes the clashes between the saivism nd vaishnavism. nd how a vaishnava priest, Nambi was thrown in sea along with the idol of Lord Vishnu, for uttering Om Namo Narayanaya when he was asked to chant Om Nama Sivaya.Then the film is again cut to the de present time where Kamal(Govind) is a Phd who is involved in researching the components of biological warfare which has the potent of destroying the whole human race. When Govind instinct's about the wrong don by his higher officials with that virus component for the sake to ramsum amount of money, Govind decides to save the human race. The chase for the viral vial begins in the US of A nd ends in chennai. The movie correlates the sep 11 twin tower blast nd the dec 26th tsunami incidents. How Govind tries to destroy the vial amidst a number of chaos situations is pictured in not less than 3 hrs. The film requires a mind of ingenuity to understand it to de fullest, Dasavatharam reaching the B nd C class is tedious nd it is quite understandable.
Among the 10 roles exhibited by Kamal only a few were really commendable. Chris Fletcher, the ex-CIA agent nd the bad man of Dasavatharam was stylish in his stunt sequence. Balaram Naidu's dialog delivery provides timing comedy nd it very obviously reminds you of the yesteryear comic actor balliah(1960s kadhalika neramillai fame) nd the role done by SPB in guna(mixed telugu slang). Anyone is sure to laugh out coz of his fun filled acting nd dialog delivery. Nambi, the 12th century vaishnava priest's role was totally justified by Kamal. Poovaraghan, the dalit hero's nelai slang is sure to reach stupendous heights and his death in the end makes one's heart melt. The 95 yrs old krishnaveni paatti's role shuld not miss the consideration aswell. The role of the singing singh avathar was too gud nd de cameo by jayapradha was supportive. The roles of George Bush, the tall muslim(Kalifulla Khan), Japanese kung fu figher may gather appreciations for the opus work involved in makeup.
Asin was on par with Kamal Hassan in acting. This most gud looking female plays the role of a agraharam girl nd was along with kamal for the whole lot of chase in the movie. The other artist
like Nagesh, M S Basker, Jayapradha have don their roles considerably. Mallika sherawat has not performed her part for wat she was included in the script, she has actually disappointed her huge fan follow. Music was been meticulously handled by Himesh Reshmiya nd the picturization of the same has been justified. The song "ulaganayagane" features the behind screen work of all the makeup done by Kamal Hassan, the song even features the director K.S.Ravi Kumar. Ravi Varman's cinematography is creditable nd the way in which the scenes featuring more than 1 Kamal has been picturized receives appreciation. Each nd every scene was not just filmed but it was constructed with a high technical care. The graphics seems quite artificial only durin de 12th century part."Oscar unaku thooram illai" line nd the adage "Ulaga nayagan" seem to be matchable for this masterly actor, Mr. Hassan. The atheist Kamal affirms the existence of God wen he tells "kadavul ille nu na sollale, iruntha nalla irukkum nu solren". The tsunami scene seems to be inevitable in the film nd the actual Dec 26th tsunami incident was partly justified in the name of God's minor destruction to avoid a very huge loss. In short, Dasavatharam is a colossal performance by Dr Kamal Hassan with a huge technical opulence. It is worth a watch more than once especially if u r a Kamal fan.
(Pictures courtesy: Behindwoods.com)
