Dasavatharam

A vaishnava priest in the 12th century, an Indian scientist working in US, an English killer, a Japanese kungfu master, a CBI officer, a Punjabi pop singer, an old lady, a dalit leader, 7 feet tall muslim and last but not the least Mr. George Bush, the US President..........these are all characters featuring in the new tamil film ‘Dasavatharam’ directed by KS Ravikumar (‘Avai Shanmughi’, ‘Thenali’, Padayappa’, ‘Muthu’ fame ) & produced by Aascar Films’ Ravichandran (‘Anniyan’, ‘Ramana’ fame )


Have you ever seen such 10 roles done by the same hero in a film..no...may be, around 40 years before you have seen 9 roles in one film, ‘Navarathri’ , by late Sivaji Ganesan..... but now ‘sakalakalavallabhan’ Kamalhassan has beaten that record, he has done all these 10 roles specified above, in his new film titled ‘Dasavatharam’. Other than those, he has carried an extra burden on his head, he is also the script writer of ‘Dasavatharam’.


The first few minutes of the film is extraordinary, showing incidents happening in the 12th century. In the battle between the King and the Priest, the latter has to pay the price. Then there is an U-turn, takeoff to the 2004 period in US, where the hero scientist was part of some bio chemical inventions, his boss tries to cheat them by selling it for some bad purposes. So our hero escapes to India with the product, chased by an ex CIA agent. On the way they are targeted by many harsh circumstances and how they face all those things for a happy ending is what ‘Dasavatharam’ tells us.


It is good to say the story of a film in two-three sentences..., but to make a 180+ minute film.... happening in entirely different 2 periods....covering locations in US and India......scenes showing the effects of Tsunami.....and the important thing is the 10 roles being done by the same actor....it is not a simple job.....”its a herculean painful process at a high risk”.....the only Indian actor who is ready to fight such a battle is none other than Kamalhassan, the ‘ulaga nayakan’ -as the climax song words in the film indicates.


Kamalhassan has done well in most of the roles, among them the performance of the CBI officer and the English man stands on top. The characters of George Bush and the Japanese Kungfu master shows the excellence in makeup by Westmoore, from hollywood. Cinematographer Ravi Varman, who did big films like ’ Veetayadu Vilayadu’ & ‘Anniyan’ before, has given his best. No mistakes has been done by the editor,Thanigachalam. Himesh Reshammiya’s songs goes well with the scenes only. In the background score, Devisree Prasad has done a good job. The film has got good Computer Graphics in each and every frames, among them the opening scenes in the 12th century and Tsunami scenes in the climax needs special mention (pls dont compare with hollywood films !!!)
Two Ravis – Ravichandran & KS Ravikumar should also be remembered, former for producing such a big venture and the other one for co-ordinating all the roles and directing it into the celluloid.


Some of the characters like the George Bush, the old lady, 7 feet tall man, japanese kungfu master etc are unneccasary for the subject...Heavy make up has created problems in facial expressions for some of the characters like 7 feet tall man and old lady. Too many 'Kamalhassans' in the same scene can create boring & lagging sometimes in the second half. Also, the story containing big issues like bio chemical things is not easy to digest for an average viewer. Though Asin has performed well in the role of an innocent brahmin girl, some of the ‘tit for tat’ shots with the hero should have been avoided.


Films like ‘Dasavatharam’ can also happen rarely in this period...... Dont take it as a time pass......This brave attempt from the Universal hero should be appreciated.....Its upto you to decide whether you want to be a part of this mega venture with ups and downs...

Rating : 2.5 / 5