Dasavatharam – Review

Yesterday midnight at 12 I was cursing myself for staying late in the office with hell lot of work. But good that I was able to use that as the reason for reaching office late today after watching this movie. Here goes my review.

Spoiler Alert:
If you don’t want to know the story or interesting sequences of the movie, please avoid reading. I cannot write reviews like some websites which keep praising the movie without writing anything about the story.

Heard of the proverb ‘All’s well that ends well’? Well, here’s something which was not going well with mutitude of problems but managed to strike the bull’s eye at the end. Yes, I am talking about Dasavatharam – the latest Kamal Hasan movie which faced myriad of controversies and issues and finally released today with a bang.

The story unfolds in Chennai, 21st Century with Govinda Rajan (Scientist Kamal-1) addressing thousands of people about why he was there then. Immediately we are taken to 12th century when 2nd Glothunga Chozhan an ardent Saivite decides to knock off the Vishnu idol from the Temple at Chidambaram. As expected Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal-2) makes his entry and thrashes the soldiers of the king. He tries to argue but fails and finally asked to chant ‘Ohm Namashivaya’ at least once and he will be emancipated then. He utters ‘Ohm Namo Narayanaya’ and thrown into the sea with the idol. That’s it. The flashback so emotional and touching but has nothing to do with the movie except that the name of the deity thrown into the sea is also Govinda Rajan.

We come back to 21st century and Govind works in Seagle which researches on bio weapons. He finds the most dangerous bio-weapon is planned to be sold to a terrorist group by his chief. He snatches it and runs out of the place. He is chased by the villain Christian Fletcher (Kamal -3) and George Bush’s (Kamal -4) men. The box travels to India along with that Kamal and the story also shifts to India. The whole movie is a chase for Govind and the box by the villain and the local RAW Police headed by Balram Naidu (Kamal-5). Needless to say that it ends in a positive note.

This movie is one of the milestones in Tamil cinema in terms of technology and screenplay (with minor flips). Climax Tsunami scene has been shot excellently which makes you drop your jaws with awe. The movie’s pace is equivalent to that of a Hollywood thriller in the first half with comedy interspersed in between which makes you not to look at your wrist watch. Second half is slower than first half with social and agnostic messages interspersed and you can feel the reduction in pace. Some how KS Ravikumar has failed to keep the momentum in the second half or may be it is intentional.

It’s a total feast for Kamal fans and they deserve it after a long wait. I can bet – no one in this world can match Kamal’s abilities in dialog delivery. Be it the Telugu-Tamil accent by Balram Naidu (my choice of best character in the movie), pukka brahmin old lady accent by Krishnaveni, Nagacoil tamil accent by Vicent Poovaragan or the American English accent by George Bush and Christian Fletcher, Kamal scores 200/100. But out of 10 (Rangaraja Nambi, Govinda Rajan, Christian Fletcher, George Bush, Avtar Singh, Krishnaveni Patti, Japanese Martial Artist, 7 foot Kaliafullah, Vincent Poovaragan and Balram Naidu) characters, only 3 or 4 (Balram Naidu, Krishnaveni Paatti, Vincent Poovaragan and Christian Fletcher) make an impression. Other characters have been added just for the sake of it. Kamal’s manerism as all these characters is impeccable. Especially Christian Fletcher who imitates contemporary Hollywood Villains. It is just awesome.

Though there are no duets, Asin has an important role to play and she has done it neatly. If she moves to Bollywood, Kollywood will surely miss a talented actress. I felt she still has scope for improvement in her dialog delivery. Or may be since she acts with Kamal, it looked obvious. Mallika Sheravat is aware of what audience expect from her and she is generous enough in giving it.

-ves:
* Reduced pace in second half
* Scenes where the graphics could have been better (in the flash back and during chases)
* Kamal’s dance in Oh Oh Sanam (his age is felt only there)
* Strong characterization for 5 of the characters and very weak for others

But, as a whole, its a racy and novel entertainer. It’s undoubtedly worth the money that you are spending. After all, its K.S.Ravikumar who has wielded the megaphones and he knows the pulse of audience.

Verdict: Are you still reading my review? Damn…go and book your tickets…