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.

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..

"Kallai mattum kandaal kadavul theriyaadhu, Kadavul mattum kandaal kalladi theriyaadhu." With these words starts the movie Dasaavathaaram, which means "If you see stone, you cannot see God. If you see God, you cannot see the stone behind it." Kamal Haasan may have excelled in ten different roles in the movie, but his 11th role as a script writer, according to me dominates the film. His rationalist thinkings dominate the theme of the film. Does God exist? If He exists, then why such inequalities and turmoil in the world? God created Man, but Man created temples and idols, caste, creed, races, religion and differentiated within himself and this has resulted in the current agony facing mankind. So explains the scriptwriter in this film.

The movie starts excellently with the breathtaking story of Rangaraja Nambi, a devotee of Lord Vishnu who gives up his life for Lord Vishnu in the Shiviite - Vaishnaviite battle. Here Kamal asks questions as to why Rangaraja Nambi died? Was it due to the Lord or the man made differences between Shiviites and Vaishnaviites. The movie goes along these lines and explores all the differences - the caste differences portrayed by Dalit Kamal Vincent Poovaraghavan, the Muslim Hindu differences portrayed by Muslim Kamal Kalifulla Khan. The differences in the world leading to the emergence of the terrorists which gives rise to the 9/11 bombings and the quest by the US to develop biological weapons after that, which threatens mankind.

Here Kamal portrays himself as scientist as Govindaraj Ramaswamy. He playes as the US President Bush also, which looks a bit comical. Some evil men take advantage of these differences as portrayed by the character Christian Fletcher also acted brilliantly by Kamal and are out to destroy mankind. Scientist Govind takes it upon himself to destroy the biological weapon and is prevented by all the evil forces. A Sikh singer Avatar Singh, affected by cancer and is shown to get caught between Govind and Fletcher in which Fletcher shoots Avatar Singh accidentally and the same bullet helps Avatar Singh from cancer. The Sikh family of Avatar Singh thanks their God for the divine help. Here too the writer Kamal resurfaces to show how man made events playing a role in the life of man are attributed to God. The Muslims including Kamal Kalifulla Khan who are illegally detained in a mosque by an hilarious RAW officer Balarama Naidu are saved by the Tsunami in the climax of the film. So did Allah save them, Kamal questions. The upper castes drowned by the Tsunami are saved by the Dalits but the Dalit leader Vincent Poovaraghavan gets drowned himself. So did God not do justice to him? Kamal again asks.

The Tsunami finally saves the world from the biological weapons. Asin, the heroine of the film thanks the Lord for saving the world from this dalamity. At this point, the scientist Govindaraj Ramaswamy questions her "Did God really act as savior, when several thousands have also died by the very Tsunami." Though Kamal shows the Tsunami to be the savior in this film, he also symbolically questions the reason behind the Tsunami. The man made differences leading to quest for scientific inventions going against the forces of Nature gives rise to such global warming and Tsunamis. So man in a way is destroying mankind in the name of God, whether be it in the 12th century or the 21st century. This is the underlying message of the film conveyed beautifully through a fast paced plot where Govind Ramaswamy the scientist is chased down by the villain Fletcher right from US to India. Kamal Haasan also plays the role of Krishnaveni Patti, the grandmother and Shingen Narahashi, a martial expert.

The film moves at such a brisk pace that one forgets the many loopholes and enjoys the grandeur and spectacle of the movie. The cinematagrophy is world class and the background music brilliant. The Director of the movie Ravikumar has done a good job, but the success of the movie can be attributed to the script and screenplay of Kamal Haasan. It is difficult to encompass such a complex thought, the chaos theory into a movie to be enjoyed particularly by an Indian audience. Kamal Haasan's performance as Rangarajan Nambi,Christian Fletcher and Vincent Poovaraghan certainly deserves National and International Awards. His portrayal as Balarama Naidu and Kalifullah Khan are hilarious. I liked his portrayal as Dalit leader Vincent Poovaraghavan. Of course, the hero Govind the scientist, Kamal Haasan was first rate. Heroine Asin also displayed superb acting skills. Mallika Sherawat played her part. Music by Himesh Reshammiya was nothing had audio cassettes selling like hot cakes. As a Director, Kamal Haasan already proved with 'Hey Ram'. Dasavathaaram is another quality product from him as a script and screenplay writer, though it could have been a milestone. One can expect more from Kamal Haasan as a script writer and also as a Director in the future.

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.

This movie shows efforts of Kamal trying real hard to take Tamil cinema to the next level without losing its commercial value. Clearly, this is not a kind of movie that Kamal makes. But, yes apart for a few shortcomings (to give commercial value) the film lives up to its expectations.

There are few times when you actually think whether some of the characters are necessary. But when you already have a baseline of Eddie Murphy donning 7 and Sivaji Ganesan donning 9 roles, I think you do not have a choice than appearing in 10 roles.

The story is quite predictable, but that is compensated by the Kamals appearance in each and every frame. I would have to say that the letdown is in the music department. Himesh should not have been the composer, instead AR Rehman would have been good.

Kamal's hard work and perseverance is evident throughout the movie and that works good for the movie.

KS Ravikumar has been roped in just to add the commercial elements to keep the investments safe and he does it quite good.

Not a regular Kamal film as its commercial like a Rajini movie, though reiterates the fact why he is called the "Best in Indian Cinema".

This multi-faceted effort will be remembered in Indian cinema a long way. Kudos.