June 16, 2008 11:05 IST
There are two actors in India whose films I find very difficult to judge objectively; they are Kamal Haasan [Images] and Mohanlal. Despite my very conscious efforts to find loopholes in their films, I end up enjoying the fine nuances of their superior performances laying aside my critical microscope.
Like Mohanlal has been letting me down of late with his inane films and indifferent and bored acting, Kamal Haasan has also been disappointing me with his predictable and repetitive expressions and actions. But no film of his has disappointed me as much as Dasavathaaramdid. Not even Mumbai Express.
padathinu -ve response aanenkilum tvm'il rush'inu oru kuravum illa.. innu evening show reserve cheyan vendi afternoon theatre'il chennu.. today all show balcony sold out at Sreepad. Tomo's evening show & nite show also sold out. Today matnie show-HF status
Went straight to ajanta. avidem ithe case thanne. today's all shows balcony sold out & matnie show HF.
naale eniku vere paripaadi ondu.. ini wednesday kaanan try cheyanam
The legend is back and this time there are 10 of them. One of the most significant landmarks in Indian cinema has arrived and it has been worth the wait and the effort. Kamal stamps his class all over.
Trade Talk:
Huge expectations and a humungous release have culminated in an unprecedented opening. House Full boards are up for the next one week.
Public Talk:
Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan is in every way a legend, the Universal Star.
No. Days Completed: 3 Days No. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 393 Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 90 % Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs.97,55,397
Verdict: Good opening
__________________ "Vaazhga oru vattam da,inga jayikkiravan thoppa,thokkiravan jayippa"
Jack of all trades and master of many, may be all.’ If this is true of any one person it has to be the one and only - Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan. Greatness is not just about how good you are, it is about how good you continue to be over years and decades, that separates the good from the great. Greatness is about being in the right place, doing the right things and living a life that puts the pursuit of perfection at the top of all priorities. If this is greatness then Kamal Haasan is surely one of the greatest that cinema Kamal Haasan has seen and will ever see. As his glowing 50 year celluloid life is poised to hit a crescendo, ready to shine at its brightest, we thought about taking all Kamal fans back in time- from the days of the toddler in Kalathur Kannamma, through the young lad learning the nuances of bharathanatyam, the assistant dance director, the beginner, the star, the master, the director, the producer, the visionary- all the way to Universal Star. Retracing the steps that took the boy from Paramakudi to the pinnacles of celluloid perfection; Kamal-the making of a legend.
Some say, ‘legends are born’. Others beg to differ, they say ‘legends are made’. When each person is born they are nothing but a mound of earth waiting to be molded, a stone waiting to be cut to diamond, a sapling waiting to be tended. Destiny chooses few among us to mold, cut and tend to greatness. Kamal Haasan was one such chosen by the hands of time to be shaped to hold greatness, not as an ornament or an attainment but as a way of life. What sets Kamal apart from other greats is that his greatness neither precedes him nor follows him, it is a part of him. Each time he performs it is not his reputation that speaks, it is that performance which is perfection personified. He does not rest on laurels nor lives in the past, he strives to construct monuments through each frame, each shot and each movie. Everyone has but one masterpiece but Kamal is one whose career is strewn with masterpieces. ‘Masterpiece-ing’ is just another day in the office for him and now he awaits us with another masterpiece which we believe will outdo, outclass and outshine all masterpieces that have been put before us in the past.
Dasavatharam, just for the sheer effort that has gone into its making will be not just a masterpiece but a masterpiece among the great masterpieces of all times and that is saying something. All people who have known Kamal’s work ethic will believe in the above statement and there is no greater testimony to a man’s greatness than the faith of the people in him.
All of us have a calling, a belief that there is purpose for our existence. Most of us keep looking for it almost all our lives, some of us are lucky enough to find it at all. Kamal identified his calling very early in life. Not many would give up regular schooling to learn dance, and more importantly, art was something he loved. Dance and music were his first passions and film was just a natural progression as the biggest stage to exhibit one’s art, as an assistant dance director. But talent as precious as Kamal’s cannot be confined for long behind the scenes, up front is where he belonged and that is where destiny took him. Of course, we are not giving destiny all the credit for creating Dr. Kamal Haasan. The hero of this tremendous success story is Kamal himself who so gloriously lived the dream that began with Kalathur Kannamma.
Someone said, ‘destiny is a matter of choice, not of chance’. In a Harry Potter movie, Albus Dumbledore says- ‘Its not who we are or what we are that sets us apart from others, it’s the choices that we make.’ Yes, Kamal’s amazing legacy that is still a work in progress is all about the right choices being made at the right times that set him apart from all others. Not everyone (not anyone) would have dared to play a lame and unkempt villager trying to woo a girl who so obviously is not interested in him- Chappani of Pathinaaru Vayadhinile, nor the obsessed killer of Sigappu Rojakkal or the terminally ill alcoholic in Vaazhve Mayam. He made choices that were risky but set him apart. Yes, there have been setbacks but there is never a high tide unless there is a low tide and in the case of Kamal, the high tides outnumber the low ten to one. But for those who have truly appreciated what the genius of Kamal Haasan means to Indian cinema these numbers hardly matter. In cricket, commentators often use the phrase ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’. Kamal is class and class cannot be measured, it only can be felt and experienced each time it makes its presence felt.
We have talked about his genius, his seemingly vast and immense talent, but what made Kamal Haasan the Living Legend is not his genius or talent. Yes, they played significant roles but the hero of the Kamal Haasan story is commitment and hard work, just as it is with all legends that are and have come to pass. What makes a man who has 150 movies, 3 national and a bag full of Filmfare awards, a honorary doctorate, the nations fourth highest civilian award and the title of Living Legend, sit still for six hours just to get that perfect look for a character that will appear for just minutes on the screen? What drives him to push the frontiers every time he faces the camera? We might call it the ‘pursuit of perfection’ and on principle man is not perfectible, only improvable and Kamal believes in this. That is why he is like a flowing river that never rests to enjoy the beautiful scenery that it creates by being there. The scene is for us to behold, the rivers just flows along quietly, to its next bank. Kamal creates pieces of cinematic elegance and beauty for us to marvel, he moves along to his next and the Kamal Haasan next, rising higher, pushing harder and getting better. That is why even before we have seen Dasavatharam we hear about Marmayogi and that is also why we know that Marudhanayagam will not forever remain an unaccomplished dream. That is why seven of his movies have represented India at the Oscars. Not that we care for an Oscar to recognize the genius of our Universal Star. Just that there are some people out there who are not convinced without the numbers. This is proof that Kamal Haasan is one of Indian cinema’s most valuable assets.
Dasavatharam is here and it might be the most appropriate time to revel in the genius of Kamal. But this is not just about Dasavatharam or any one movie. Dasavatharam or not, all that has been said above about Dr. Kamal Haasan holds true. It is not about 10 roles or one big movie, it is about the dedication of one man to what he does, the pursuit of excellence that made him the legend.
__________________ "Vaazhga oru vattam da,inga jayikkiravan thoppa,thokkiravan jayippa"
Phew! The wait is finally over! I watched Dasavatharam by paying 285 bucks for a ticket! I thought I will have one complimentary vellakari and one complimentary karuppi on either side for this price. But they just gave me one cushioned seat to park my ass. Bleddy inflason!
The hype was phenomenal. Especially after I heard that Kalaignar kissed Kamal after watching the movie! Kamalukkae muththam-a?! First of its kind, truly!
Now most importantly.. was I entertained?? Yup, surely. And would I like to be entertained again? Hmmm...May be not, unless I am given those compliments I expected! :D
Dasavatharam had an interesting concept which appealed to me - the chaos theory. No, wait, it's not the usual "chaos" aka "confusion" you associate with a Kamal movie! :D This one's about how one small event can get related to a series of other events; like in the movie "Crash". I see it as a smart ploy by Kamal to use this since there is probably no better way to make the characters converge. A film with an actor in ten roles is no joke. It is meant to celebrate the actor more than the tale and this did not come as a surprise to me. I have nothing to complain about a wafer-thin story line which puts off critics of 'pure cinema', the one's who've always held Kamal in high regard for his movies. But come on, the guy needs to make money too..he's not around to serve humanity :)
The film has overcome many hurdles. The most atrocious - "Kamal stole the story from me" is what some arbit fellow claimed and they went to court. When the judge took a look at both the stories (empty A4 sheets) he dimissed the case and used the A4 sheets to write Sriramajayam and tie it in Alwarpet Anjaneyar kovil tree. Story thirudittan, story thirudittan-nu koovina andha dog-a if me see, tongue plucking question ask: what story? where story? Bleddy fellow.
The 'story' revolves around a bio-weapon which scientist Govindarajan (PS: All characters unless and until mentioned are Kamal!) invents and some evil fellows try to put it to wrong use for money. Govindarajan tries to stop them and this results in a fast-paced turn of events within which many of the ten characters are woven nicely, and a few seem to be just there, staring at you. That's Dasavatharam for you. A good entertainer.
I may sound cliched if I say that Kamal has done a brilliant job portraying the ten characters. I think there can be no second opinion about it. The effort he has taken to showcase their body languages and accents is simply stunning. The body language of Krishnaveni Paatti and the Kung-fu master were top-notch. Dialogue delivery of Poovaragan, Nambi and my favourite Balram Naidu were clinical. If you are keen on celebrating Kamal Hassan, there is and if I may say, there will never be a better film for you. Just go watch it as many times as you want!
Two things which disappointed me about the ten avatars. One, their characterization lacked depth. The roles just had spell-binding acting, but not a single one in my opinion made me 'feel with the character'. Nambi and Poovaragan came close but that's about it. I also expected that the characters would be based on some theme, like the navarasas were portrayed in Navarathri, but that was not there. Two, the make-up. It was brilliant to see that all the ten characters looked different. But is a poochandi mask on the face compulsory? Maybe if it's a fancy dress competition, yes. But we want the guy to be able to emote well. Though Kamal still does a good job with emotions, that's his brilliance, we might have got a better result if they had not been obsessed with make-up!
The screenplay was decent. There were bright spots as well as duds. The film moves at a good speed which is its biggest plus but there were far too many disgressions - evils of dealing with too many characters! The main plot is a typical hero villain-chase with Fletcher chasing Govindarajan for the weapon. And there are subplots for the other characters who happen to get involved in the chase and Kamal does a good job connecting these subplots in simple, nice ways. It is not classy treatment, but something appreciable for sure considering this is commercial cinema! At the same time, in certain cases, like Dr. Sethu's (he's not Kamal!) death, there was no reason. The overall scheme of things look chaotic to me. The racy narration will appeal to the audience, but the disgressions and their connection may not appeal as much to the mass.
The first half hour of the movie had just too much English and infact had Tamil subtitles! Now, you are making a commercial cinema targeting the mass. You board a train when it is racing past a checkpost. When you jump from a bridge you always land on a nice cosy vehicle below. When Manmohan Singh (he's not Kamal!) and George Bush are listening to your speech (no translators), you speak in "sanga tamizh". Do we care? No, we don't! So please dub the first portion in Tamil and re-release, we won't mind :)
The 12th century scenes were the most interesting part of the movie. Nambi was really majestic and portrayed a lot of different emotions during his brief appearance. Napolean (not Kamal) tried his best to speak Tamil, aana paavam he can at best say "Chozha Saamrajyam" as "Sola Seraton". Fletcher was too Terminatorish for my liking, but he had style. Naidu, the cop, was top class especially when he says "Aathankavaathi", ultimate! The screen was so full of Kamal that I had intelligent questions like "Andha kutti koranga nadichathu Kamal-a?" and "Oru velai climax twist-la indha perumal bommai will reveal itself and say Naanum Kamal dhaan. Ivalo naal Perumal veshathula irundhaen a la Thillu Mullu climax?" Avtar Singh was a joke, really. He gets shot and the bullet shot cures his cancer?? This is a too much. Cancer research stop panni, Gabtun-a vittu all cancer-ku 'soot at site' order kodukka sollalam inimae!
Asin's (not Kamal) dialogue delivery was brilliant. Her hard work to memorize the dialogues are evident. The only dialogue she had - "Perumaale" (Rhyming bad word I am getting in my mouth-u, but for old time sake, I am no speak) was as likeable as Udit Narayan's Tamil. For the number of times she uttered the word, avalukku VIP seat Vaikuntam-la confirmed - innum oru vaati solli irundha naaney amchu vechiruppaen. Kamal tried to fill in the comedy track with Asin, but it has backfired badly. Neither the dialogue, nor the acting is impressive. And ya!! Mallika Sherawat (not Kamal) plays the role of a Tamil translator. Spashtama pesina. Suththi podanum. Avalukku illa, avalaye suththi kadal-la podanum.
The music department was a clear let down. Himesh has to start from Sa Pa Sa and Saralivarisai. I love "Kallai Mattum Kandaal" for the lyrics. BGM was thankfully nice and suited the movie. The special music for Balram Naidu was the best :D The songs did not intrude the movie at any point and that was a really nice thing considering the fact that they had a tough screenplay to handle. It nicely adds on to the commercial aspect. Good job! Climax-la KS Ravikumar (not Kamal) does an item number for Karunanidhi, Manmohan Singh and George Bush :D
Art direction and camera work were very impressive and were very apt for the film. There was not grandeur for the sake of it! Sensible. But the much hyped computer graphics - tsunami scene, under water shots look straight out of Finding Nemo kind. For a film of this budget and magnitude, special effects were far from impressive in the sense that you could realize what was graphics and what was not. Just because it is called special effects, it need not specially stand out! I am really surprised that this has happened in a 'tech-savvy' Kamal film.
The climax was dramatic. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was handled in a amateur fashion. When you see a tsunami, would you run? Or would you look at it like Vijay Sarathi in Sun TV Neengal Ketta Paadal and say "Idhu dhaan tsunami"? That's what our Kung Fu master did :) The Krishnaveni Paatti - Poovaragan connection, me likey! Nice touch! Kamal debates with Asin the existence of god who has caused such a tragedy and Asin explains why it has happened for the good. Wokie. Then they show dead bodies all around. Next minute Kamal-Asin romance. Venaam. Valikkuthu. Message sollala-nu ippo yaar azhutha? "Meendum Meendum Sirippu"-la message solliyae aavaen-nu adam pidippangale, like that this comedy!
The last dialogue was nice though - "Naan kadavul illa-nu sollaliye, kadavul irundha nalla irukkumnu dhaan sollaraen" :) Kandippa will become popular! I already see this in various places - "Dasavatharathula kadhai illa-nu naan sollala. Kadhai irundha nalla irukkum-nu dhaan sonnaen". Namma pasanga kusumbukku oru alave illa :)
Lets not be finicky about logic and thin story-line. The film is meant to be a commercial entertainer and it is a good one. I refuse to accept though that this is the closest Kamal has come to bringing an 'intelligent' script to the masses. The film could have easily been much better and it's not. First, the script is by no means 'intelligent'. Second, he had done a better job with sreenplay in a Virumandi or a Devar Magan.
I did not mention Ravikumar anywhere since it was just Kamal's touch I could see throughout the movie. I am guessing Ravikumar was meant to tell Kamal what would be commercial and what wouldn't. In that case he was good, the commercial elements were mixed well. I still feel the treatment should have been more simple than what has come out. That's needed to get repeat audience from B & C and my guess is it will hit the collections. Time will tell the true story.
Overall, the film is worth watching once in theater if you are neutral. Leave your brains out and go looking for an entertainer. You will not be disappointed. Dasavatharam is meant to be an exhibition of Kamal's talents and it truly is a grand exhibition. Ensoi thangamani!
FAQs on Dasavatharam
Some guys have claimed they haven't understood chaos theory which plays such an important part in the film. As a physics student, I've decided to explain it a bit so that people can appreciate the brilliance of the film.
What is Chaos?
Basically a chaotic system is one wherein long term predictions are impossible. Like for example, if I push a car, I know that it is going to move and it will continue to do so if I go on pushing it on and on. However, in a chaotic system, this situation cannot be predicted over a long period of time. Weather, for example, is a chaotic system. No matter how good your instruments are, you simply cannot predict the weather with 100 per cent accuracy over a long term basis and forecast it.
What is the Butterfly Effect?
It is the most important component of a chaotic system. Basically, small perturbations results in amplifications which completely destroys the original nature of the system and makes prediction impossible. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, it could result in a cyclone in USA.(Mark the word COULD.) A highly dumbed down explanation of the butterfly effect is in the film Anniyan, where Vikram's sister dies because a liquor shop owner sells liquor on a dry day.
OK, how does Dasa incorporate it?
In essence, Dasa talks about eight characters who are inconsequential as such, but are integrated in a larger picture. Without Bush, the plane would have been called back. Without Shinghen, Govind would be dead. Without the tsunami, the world would have been destroyed. Even Krishnaveni (the old woman) plays a very important role. If she had not put the vial in the idol, maybe Govind would have recovered it then and there and a powerful weapon would have been unleashed. The very fact that it went into the idol meant that it was being accelerated to its destiny. Without Kaifulllah Khan, Govind would have never escaped... the list simply goes on.
OK, so does the film talk about theism or atheism?
Neither. It talks about how humans drive the destiny of the world.
The idol that is drowned in the sea along with Rangarajan in 12th century by Chozha king results in a fault being developed at the bottom of the ocean and creates tremors more than 800 years later. These tremors result in the Tsunami. This again is a classic case of Butterfly Effect wherein a seemingly inconsequential event (the drowning of the idol) saves Tamil Nadu from being wiped off the face of the earth. Now tell me, does THIS movie lack a story? This movie has the most beautiful story ever attempted in Indian cinema. Unfortunately, Indian viewers and critics are obsessed with the "boy meets girl" and "revenge" themes, so they fail to see the story in this master piece. -- Chaos Theory
do check out the lead singer's killer moves !! LOL
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