Dasavatharam

This movie is probably a better chase sequence movie I have seen in a long time. This can be a lesson to all the Bollywood and other directors who are trying in vain to produce a quality chase movie. The movie simply put is this- the villain is trying to hold on to something that the hero is trying hard to protect and make sure the right authorities have it. To make an exciting movie out of such a simple premise requires some effort and a good storyline. This movie has both of it, added to that is a fine acting by Kamal and an ease with which he makes an transition from one character to the other. Even those who do not agree with me would accept that the movie despite the flaws is watchable at least once. Moreover only Kamal would try such a brave movie (some might put it as foolishness), he did it at his peak when he tried a silent movie and he has done it now. Characters such as the CBI officer and the villain are amazing, Kamal has perfectly gelled himself in to the walk and the accent of those characters. For that matter he has gelled in to all the avatars though few of them are unnecessary, right from the dressing style to the dialog delivery. It is not possible by everyone to deliver such a performance. The first half is totally action packed and you will not realize how the hour and half fly away. If we do not consider this as another Rajni vs Kamal movie or for that matter compare it with other movies, just watch it as yet another movie it turns out to be a roller coaster ride that is enjoyable and turns out to be a very good family outing. It would be wrong to miss this movie for all its wrong reasons, because this is not a bad movie at all.

Now lets get to some movie bashing. As said previously, this movie is more enjoyable if we watch it as yet another movie, but it was never projected that way. It was supposed to be something else, something amazing which the movie is not. The vital part of the movie were the make up artists, who are a great let down and are never up to the mark. If we look at the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, one thing that stands out is that no two avatars are similar, they look different, not subtly but completely different. It makes no sense if two characters look similar. Here more than two look similar, the same long face and the same tan. Secondly, the motive of any filmmaker should be to make a good movie and not aim at a ridiculous record. If three or four characters make a good movie, its better to keep it that way. Here few characters are senseless, they make the movie boring, and get this- add nothing to movie. There are few characters which deserve more time, which would have been possible if those senseless characters had been removed. The next flaw is that the music is awful, a director like K.S.Ravikumar knows pretty well that if you are trying to make an Indian movie the music must be right on the dot. Why get someone like Himesh to do the music, who is losing his hold in Hindi industry itself? Is Tamil industry suffering from a music director drought, or are they on vacation or maybe they refused to be part of the extravaganza? Whatever the reason, the music is simply awful. The next big problem is the computer graphics, a case of overcooking the meal. The graphics are way too fuzzy and a pain to watch. Maybe they are futuristic, but that is not going to push the audience up or increase the ticket sales. In a age where movies are trying to out beat Matrix, this movie decides to be immature in this aspect.

Finally, I would recommend this movie to almost everyone as this is not a bad movie. The commitment and effort definitely deserves credit. If Kamal is more modest, ready to listen to his fans and make a movie for them instead of having 'My way or the highway' attitude, we can expect better movies. Instead of that all we can say is that this movie has all the ingredients for a 10/10 perfect score, but simply does not deliver it.

Finding fault with the graphics, makeup and other finer details of this film, is like Kamal Haasan (KH) trying to show us the beauty of the bright full moon by pointing at it with his finger and we, the ignorant ones, instead of soaking in the beauty of the moon, telling him:"Look! your finger has a big, ugly wart on it".

This movie does not deserve a 9/10 or a 10/10 overall (though for its innovativeness it does),but whoever has rated this movie anything less than 8, have merely found faults with its finer details only and not with the intention. Yes, this movie is faulty on the technical side. On the brighter side: at least this Indian movie dares to enter the unchartered waters of technicality. Movies are meant to be serious, some are comic, some happen to be entertaining and some turn to be eye-opening. This movie can be classified in the last three types that I mentioned just now.

I am a Maharastrian and unfortunately, don't understand a single word of any of the South Indian languages. But Humans don't need Languages to communicate intelligence and wisdom. And KH is both Intelligent and Wise. I am yet to watch the movies of KH, they call 'masterpieces' in the South, but I have watched a lot of his Hindi movies,commercial as well as off-the-track ones. Without exaggerating a bit , The Best Movie of India ever made till date is 'Hey Ram (2000)' followed by Swades(2004). You have to watch these to believe these. As for this movie: I, myself, don't believe in God, - for me, it's the usual 'Science versus Religion' conflict - but I do believe in the good intentions, good nature and common sense of any human being, even if he/she is a high priest of any temple. I loved every bit of word of what this guy, 'sivausa' has said about this movie. Everyone should read what he has to say about this movie. That's the whole summary of the movie. KH's all 10 performances varied from good to great, most of them great.The most entertaining of them being undoubtedly the characters of the Intelligence officer, Balaram Naidu and THE George Bush.

As a Science Professional (I'm a software engineer), I know and understand the Chaos Theory, though not every bit of it (it's deep) and love every little deed done towards understanding any phenomenon of Science. KH has done his bit in an entertaining, hilarious and a comic way and may be hopefully more movies of the revolutionary type will come from him. The Best Scientific Movie ever made till date is the Steven Spielberg's no-nonsense 'Artificial Intelligence (2001)'. And so some ignorant people will definitely laugh at KH for his efforts on movies like this one or the great movie 'Hey Ram (2000)'. But for me, what matters is the intention behind any efforts irrespective of the output at the box-office. And in this movie, even the output was great and hilarious. The direction-overall and the 'Butterfly effect'-in specific, definitely HAS to be KH's genius idea, even though director named in the credits is somebody else. That's what usually happens with great actors like a KH, Amir Khan or a Denzel Washington. They dominate the captain of the ship, the Director. And yes,... they also make for good Directors themselves. KH has tried to highlight through this movie, some major issues that haunt the world and India in particular: Caste, creed, religion, environment, politics and the biggest of them - GOD. This movie is both informative as well as entertaining. So I suggest, don't take it seriously where it is not supposed to be. Here, I am talking of the comic storyline or rather how many times KH's character loses the Vial throughout the journey. If somebody does want to attack the plot/storyline here, I would rather recommend him/her to go and watch more serious movies like 'Hey Ram(2000)', 'Schindler's List(1993)', 'The Godfather(1972-90)' or 'Artificial Intelligence(2001)' instead and dare challenge their plots there if possible.

Asin's performance was over the top and torturous sometimes but OK overall.

Reshamiya's tunes in some songs like the opening song of the Vishnu worshiper-priest/ 'Mukunda-Mukunda'/ the Pop singer's stage song, I did find to be catchy, even though I am not a fan of Himesh.

I have seen better storyline(Hey Ram(2000),'Artificial Intelligence (2001)',...long list). I have experienced better special effects('AI(2001)' again or Jurassic Park(1993), The Matrix(1999), Death Becomes Her (1992),...long list). I have observed better stunts (Any Jackie Chan / Bruce Lee movie). I watched better makeup(Star Wars(1977),Lord of the Rings(2001),Monster(2003),...many more).But still I would rate this movie no less than a full 8/10, only because of a talented KH's truly pure and great intention in making this movie.

KH is truly up there with the world's best actors, script-writers and directors.

...And yes, Kamal Haasan truly came very near to enacting a role every hot-blooded guy dreams of playing - a ruthless Schwarzenegger-style bad Terminator (as in Part One).

I also recommend viewers to watch 'The Da Vinci Code(2006)' and Swades(2004).

I have read many user comments here and i don't know why they were disappointed by the film. This movie holds you up throughout the film. Wow awesome! Kamal excels donning ten roles with gr8 efforts differentiating each one through a different slang and body language. The movie is a racy thriller which has very right mixture of action and comedy and is splendid because of kamal's acting, makeups(one or two makeups are not very pleasing though),crazy's sensible and witty dialogues,special effects and all.I want to remind people that like any other film Dasavatharam is also a 'film' which is intend to satisfy all type of movie lovers. The plot may appear simple but the way it is portrayed in a thrilling way throughout without any flaws, introducing each role at appropriate time with most of them strongly connected to the main story(though i feel one or two characters not very needed to the film,we can give it up as they don't deviate you from the plot)is really superb.

Hello movie goers, don't even think to miss this movie. Go for the movie mainly for KamalHaasan who has taken really painful efforts and excelled in all ten lovable characters and i promise the movie will hold you up providing a 3 hour non stop entertainment in terms of action,special effects,comedy and a thrilling adventure no matter any genre lover you are..

an instance for chaos theory....the statuette hits ocean beds....beneath the bed develop faults....faults run for kilometers say upto indonesia ....and pressure builds up....for almost 800 years.....at last it unleashes....triggers tsunami....to save lives???? the above 3 lines is my opinion of the plot of dasaavatharam....yours may be different....if this is not art then what is???? the creative genius of kamal haasan has been unleashed to an audience who have witnessed thousand odd duets,thousand odd cheap fights and few good movies as well.music was good and the make up was not upto the standard that kamals earlier films had set.perhaps he felt the pressure of the time this project took.ravi varman deserves mention.asin was irritating at times and of the ten three to four roles was not enjoyed.and like this the film may contain many flaws if not less but kamal stands as tall as kalifulla khan does before these flaws.dasaavatharam may or may not be a commercial success but it is time for the world to stand up and congratulate this artist.

This is an outstanding film, one of the rare few films in the media based on Chaos theory linking it with the science behind Karma. The hard work and intelligence behind this movie is visible in every frame. The lead actor Kamalhaasan has surpassed himself and excelled in every character he has portrayed often turning up at apt moments in the film to guide the story forward. If one was not aware of the fact that Kamal has appeared in 10 characters in this film, one can find it very hard to guess that the three actors interacting in the screen are one and the same. This is a novel experience for the viewers and is one of the few movies that keeps everybody guessing in every frame.