At last, the most awaited movie of the year is out. Does it live up to the expectations?
Fantastic 15 minutes
Movie kicks off with Kamal’s speech in a meeting. He narrates a story of Clash between Saivam (Siva) and Vainavam (Vishnu) which happened in 1200 AD. The Chola King (Napoleon), a devotee of Lord Shiva issues an order to remove the Lord Vishnu’s Idol from a temple and to put it under the sea. Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal) appears on the screen saying "Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan" and fights against the men but in vain. Chola King issues Nambi a warning that he’ll leave Nambi alive if says “Om Namachivaya” once else Nambi will also get under the sea along the Idol. Nambi’s wife Kothai (Asin) and other relatives ask him to say “Om Namachivaya” to save his life. Silence for few seconds. Kamal starts saying “Om……”, however he ends up saying “Namo Narayanaya”. Kallai Mattum song starts. Nambi is tied to the idol and thrown into the sea. This breathtaking first 15 Minutes is the best part of the movie. Kallai mattum song picturization song is really good.
Then comes the US based scientist Govind Ramasamy (Kamal) who is a part of the team that produces biological weapons. They develop a deadly virus (Vial hereafter) for anti-social elements. Govind later realizes that his boss Sethu is trying to sell this Vial to a terrorist group. Now Govind’s plans to recover the Vial from being sold to the terrorists start. By mistake, the Vial gets parceled to India. The villain group sends Fletcher (Kamal), an ex-CIA to recover the Vial from Govind. Now, the chasing episode starts and moves the screenplay. Aandal (Asin), Krishnaveni Patti (Kamal), Japanese Karathe Master (Kamal), Telugu CBI Officer (Kamal), Kalifulla (Kamal), Vincent Poovarahan (Kamal), Avthar Singh (Kamal) join the screenplay.
The chasing game looks interesting at first and gradually becomes boring especially in the second half. Kamal as Fletcher has done a wonderful job. He has concentrated very much in his accent, body language.
Fletcher follows Govind wherever goes. In train, in Lorry, in Jeep, in Car. Cinematic. Where is the Logic?
A bullet takes away the cancer from Avathar Singh. Hard to believe!
Fletcher and Govind are the two predominant characters that move the screenplay. Other characters of Kamal are nothing but “Idai sorugal”. Singer, Dalit man, Tall afghan, Japanese characters stay unconnected and fail to make an impact in audience.
Few directorial touches
Tsunami that nullifies the bio-weapon. The Idol under the sea creates Tsunami to save Crores of lives. This is where Kamal relates this 20th Century happenings with 12th Century. The argument between Aandal and Govind on Tsunami is noteworthy.
Krishnaveni patti, crying on looking at the corpse of Vincent thinking that he is her son Aaravamudhan,
The young age Asin-Kamal becoming life partners near the rock (This rock is the Idol to which Nambi was tied. The Nambi-Kothai Separation happened in 1200 AD). This one is really amazing!
Why and where Dasavatharam disappoints?
The traditional smuggling story is the main part of the movie. Hero tries to save the deadly virus from villain. Such a hyped up movie doesn’t have a strong storyline.
Instead of placing Pasupathy as Vincent, Raghuvaran (late) as Afghan, Janakaraj as CBI Officer and Mahanadhi Paatti as Krishnaveni, Kamal himself has acted in all the roles. You call it a difference? Huh!
As I mentioned earlier, many roles of Kamal stay unconnected and fails to catch a place in your heart.
BGM doesn’t really stand out except for the first 15 mins.
What did Telugu CBI Officer achieve? He was employed to investigate, but was he successful? He was mere a comedian in the movie.
Verdict of Vinith:
Dasavatharam certainly fails to live up to the expectation. But still, the movie can be watched once. (But, I have planned to watch it one more time, especially for the first 15 Mins). Kamal doesn’t have to take so much of pain to don 10 roles in which at least 6 roles go unnoticed.
Star Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Please feel free to drop in your valuable comments.
Regards,
5 comments:
Well whatever you have said applies here . but i dont think lot of characters go unnoticed . Meaning that Balram Naidu doesn't look him as a character but he is the one who does all the comedy.
Anyway your review was good.
I totally agree. The roles have been very versatile from a solemn one to a funny one.
I think if you gona view every character atmostically then the characters may not have a glow, but on a holistic view it was awesome!
Love you review thou.
The big thing to realise is, everything happens for a good.
ANd everything starts with God and ends with God.
I think instead of looking at how the bullet removed the cancer, the more important thing would be to see how the boxes got switched and the Idol went to the Singer and that itself prevented him from death .
Meaning God was with him and he survived.
And to end, God took a few thousands of people to avoid the many millions of lives that could be taken should te bio weapon be exposed.
Every action in the film has a very well planned answer behind it!
Bablu,
I felt, Afghan, Singer, Japanese, and few other do nothing but adding count to make the no of roles 10.
But Kamal, as an actor shines in every role. The innocence in Afghan, aggression in Vincent, a deep sorrow in Japanese's face are very unique which cannot be performed by any other actor. But they dont contribute anything big to the story.
Shahlocks,
Yes. I agree. Holistic view gives more meaning. But what we expected from Dasavatharam and Kamal is something very big. :) :)
True that many of the roles don't add much to the story, but I guess it was a decent attempt to depict 10 roles. The acting was brilliant, and most of them did have some sort of link in shaping the story. I mean, Kamal could have taken the easy way out and done a Navarathiri, in which the heroine ends up in different places for 9 consecutive nights and meets 9 different Sivajis; essentially a Vikramadityan-Vedhalam format of linking unrelated stories. Atleast there was some effort on Kamal's part to make sure each character impacts the main story, if only very little. That I appreciate. Other than that I do agree with you points.
And a disclaimer, I have nothing against Navarathiri. It was at the time a great achievement, and I mention it only to point out how Dasavatharam has improved upon this good movie.
Kannan,
I haven't watched Navarathiri :|
Kamal has showed his acting brilliancy in every frame. What i feel is, he could have shaped up the story/screenplay well in such a way that all the 10 characters get equal marks. As I have mentioned, Singer, Afghan characters were not given much weightage.
There is no second thought in saying that this movie is a milestone in indian cinema. Credits goes to Kamal, the Legend.
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