You cannot be everything to everyone, as the rule in marketing for selecting your niche and target market would testify. In movies, the best fall under one genre, and targets the audience well. Manmathan Ambu blows hot and cold in the genre game, and ends up a slapstick masala at the end. However the better part of the movie is the when it was riddled with sentiments, witty and punch lines that we are accustomed to seeing from Kamal.
Kamal the actor, Kamal the writer, and Kamal the Singer, all par excellence! His rendering of the song “Neela vaanam” is exemplary and it is only befitting that song is delivered as a stunning visual and “reverse”. Perfecting a reverse lip syncing to synchronise with the video is no mean task and probably would have taken days to shoot. This piece of song would go down in history as a wonderful piece of art.
A reasonably good script with interesting characters, is made more impressive by how well roles were enacted by the right people, uplifting the overall viewing experience. The brilliant casting, camera and music are what keeps the movie watchable, and it is not often that we take notice of others in a Kamal’s movie where the rest are under his shadow. Mathavan, Trisha, Sangeetha and Urvasi, all seemed to have played their roles to the best as they can.
The movie is genre blind and is neither a classy romantic comedy nor a melodrama. But it does pack the punch to be a light-hearted entertainer.
Effortless, Nonchalant and classy.. Its hard to describe the manner in which Kamal has portrayed a common man with a mission. Arguably the best film of the year, with the most intriguing star cast combination in the recent times. Seeing Kamal and Mohanlal faceoff could not have come in a better movie. It is debatable whether the Tamil version is better than the hindi original, A Wednesday. However it is less controversial to say that no one else could have done it better than Kamal.
The film is a real time narration of events as they unfold on a day in the life of Mohanlal,the police commisioner , where he meets his match, Kamal the common man. At the end of the day Mohanlal is a transformed man and lessons learned, while Kamal earns our respect. This is in sharp contrast what initially seemed a terror mastermind toying with the lives of people and the pride of the police commisioner. Thus the script needs to be appreciated for its originality (A Wednesday) and the remake applauded for the manner it matches the quality of the original.
The script and the star cast keep us on the edge of the seats, and us heavily involved with the events as they unfold. There are no songs nor romance, but we are left with is a lasting impression of a well made movie, that made best use of an acting genius. What more, the daughter (shruti) delivers a stunning background score that belies her age. All in a all a movie that we needed badly, to show the direction for future of Tamil cinema.
Dasavatharam (Variations in spelling! Dasavathaaram, Thasavatharam, Thasavathaaram)
Director -- K. S. Ravikumar
Producer - Venu Ravichandran
Writers - Kamal Haasan,K. S. Ravikumar, Sujatha, Crazy Mohan
Cast - Kamal Haasan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat, Jayaprada, Napolean
Music -- Himesh Reshammiya, Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography - Ravi Varman
Editor -- Ashmith Kunder
Running time 166 mins
This is some movie! One that some critics will call crap whereas others may claim it as an epic of smaller proportions. Believe me or not, this is not the movie where you expect to see jaw dropping action, special effects nor makeups. The movie is a far cry from what I was made to believe from the media hype that preceded the screening. Special effects,sets and make ups, are all above par as far as Kollywood cinema is concerned, but they pale in comparison against Hollywood blockbusters. What Kamal has achieved though is that he has single handedly carried the movie on his shoulders. In the process he has has yet again, for the umpteenth time, proved his abilities to portray different characters and his unmatched and gifted acting reportoire. But is there a need for Kamal to prove the point in a manner that goes beyond the threshold of a movie being made for public and one made for him! It is time that Kamal realises that movies are made for audience and what they want, not what may fullfil hios personal quests. This is a typical ignorance of the common mass by Kamal, and I believe that most geniuses do this!. When some is as gifted as Kamal it is no surprise that all his efforts are directed at achieving excellence not seen before in contemporary Cinema. But Dasavatharam will be known as a movie that made waves and one that borders on being an extravaganza where Kamal with the help of Ravikumar, got carried away to the extent of not making a movie that the public wants. Despite this, the movie had good following and reasonable success is a testimony to Kamal’s dedication and versality, and he can at least take pride from the fact that as an actor he has given not just his best, but his heart and soul too.
Many who saw this movie may have missed the plot thanks to Kamal! When someone as intellectual as Kamal is involved, it is left to the common mass to interpret the hidden core around which the story revolves. The Butterfly effect and Chaos theory has been an exciting theme for some of the creative movie makers, especially those in hollywood. The notion that a flap of a butterfly in one part of the world can cause a tornadoe at another, is a typical example used when discussing the Butterfly effect and chaos theory. For starters, chaos theory has three basic features - the propensity to be extremely sensitive to the initial conditions, non linearity and non-proportional cause and effect. I am sure I have confused you here.. This is what the film Dasavatharam may have done to some, especially those who cannot comprehend the Chaos theory and butterfly effect.
What makes the movie intriguing is the fact that random incidents weave together to form a clever story. The end justifies the beginning and it can be seen that the the intial event triggered a series of subtle movements that culminated in the tsunami, an act of god seen to save the world from a man made disater. This looks like a fairy tale, but when you have chaos theory in hand, you are only limited by the imagination.
There is not much to add to the acting nor rest of the cast, as Kamal steals the show. Asin is not used in a role that fits her, and her sterotyping causes irritaton at times Rest of the cast just become mere pedestrians.
The song “Mukuntha, Mukuntha” makes pleasant listening and is well pictured. “Kallai Mattum” comes as second best. “Ulaga Nayagan” song carries a good beat but is lost as a song sung in praise of a living person .
Rating
My rating is 2.5 out of 5 stars which is a good score because I consider anything above 2 out 5 as worth watching! All the stars should go to Kamal as he has been the single big difference in making this movie watchable.
