I’ll review the film after a second watch because I missed the first few minutes tonight. But here are a few thoughts:
Dasavatharam is the most entertaining B-movie made in recent times with a classy, intelligent subtext for those who care. I couldn’t help wonder if such an intelligent script needed to be made with a spelling-it-out-for-the-mass sort of sensibility. But then, budgets dictate sensibility, I guess. He hasn’t made this for the Oscars. He made it for Aascar Ravichandran who needs lakhs of people to watch the film to recover the crores he spent.
With not a single dull moment, Kamal Hassan’s screenplay moves at breakneck speed, with some of the best action scenes we’ve seen in Indian cinema. It is extra-ordinary effort as Kamal Haasan brings alive every single of the ten characters from under all that prosthetic make-up.
The accents may be a little unsettling and difficult to follow if you’re watching it in Rohini complex and it is tough to keep up with the Tamil subtitles… but the man’s face speaks volumes.
The film plays out through a series of adventures and like any good chase movie, the story is told and the conflicts unfold while the characters are on the run… with each character representing a type. There’s Govind Ramasamy who is a man of science while Andal (Asin) is the face of faith. Then, there’s the peace-loving Afghani, a daft American President, an old school Jap who could’ve been a Samurai, an ex-CIA agent who’s a meticulous killing machine, a contrastingly tame RAW agent, an entertaining Sardar, a senile Paati, a dark-skinned son of the soil and the Vaishnavite priest. Through these types, science meets religion, biological warfare meets martial arts, action meets comedy, conspiracy meets destiny and good meets evil… all seamlessly and at a scale that will make Indian cinema proud.
Most of the parallel-running narratives are tied up quite neatly towards the end while some are just tied up conveniently for the sake of the statement – that everything happens for a reason.
Yes, it’s a little cheesy but that’s the way we like it, don’t we?
Watch it with a bag of NaCl, minus all that hype and you are sure to have one hell of a ride. Get yourself a darshan of the demi-god’s dashavatar, at the price of a movie ticket.
MADRAS INK. 
A rare, very rare positive review from you! 🙂
Dear Mr.Kamath
I m glad to see your review of dasavatharam, one of the most antiscipated films of the year. I must say I was a little disappointed at your not giving away much of the story line and just praise in awe, the genius of this great phenomenon. I would sincerely like you to write another review for this, like the one you did for Swades, describing every nuance of the movie. Please it is a request from a great fan of your writing.
Thanks
Raghav
SK,
1.)Was the 12th century flashback required?Take it out and put the Bombay Riot scene from ‘Bombay’ and it would still fit. If the point was to say beleivers and non-believers get screwed then it coulve been made in a better way? Why pull out some 12th century BS?
2.)Was the Samurai and the Sardarji really required? I mean atleast I can understand the Paati and the RAW agent…but why the paavam japaneese annan-thangachi angle? Chumma they seem to have added charecters to make it 10…
cool dude. Thanx for the update. Dunno know when this iwll be released in Pune. Can’t wait to see it.
Positive review from Sudish, Can’t believe :).
Glad to see a positive review. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly . As u said,if u go with minimal expectations , the movie becomes enjoyable.
as someone has already mentioned, a rare +ve review from you – the movie was really at breakneck spreed for the entire first half. Kamal the genius proves yet again and this time its gonna be with a BO backup also in my opinion
I was so disappointed with the movie. Everyone knows Kamal is a great actor. So lets not get carried away with this. The key to any good movie is the storyline and/or the story telling. I think the movie completely goes haywire in the story or the lack of it.
Went in with great expectations. Thought it was a ‘7-shot’ type of cracker that would light up the night sky. Turned about to be a bussvaanam. I don’t know about the others but thats not what I went to see even if it was colorful!!!
Awesome movie, just saw it – less expectations and it does wonders. Was a good masala movie and I did enjoy it!
Yeah, may be some characters were not needed, but they all fit in together nicely I think . There werent any songs that were put for the sake of it.
And the concept- of belief was a bit overdone , but nicely done
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Thalaivar as showed super commitment!
Yea good review and i agree with you. There were some goof ups and unnecessary stuff in the movie and with better music and shorted second half it wud have been even better . A thorough entertainer and a treat for people who like smart dialogue comedy.
Sudhish, waiting to read your review…
From my point of view, the best Tamil movie I have ever seen; but not enough for an ‘Oscar’ award. Checkout my review abt it…
Hi Sudhish,
Nice write-up, waiting for the full review. I was just wondering, what was the necessity for Kamal to do 10 different roles. I guess he just wanted to create a record. The guy is one hell of a egomaniac, he wants to be in each and every frame of his movie. Contrast this attitude with the Hollywood stars or even with our very own Bollywood actors who are quite willing to share screen space with other actors. Can you imagine Kamal (or for that matter any other Tamil actor) doing something like SRK in Darr or Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz, Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee or Saif Ali in Omkara or Ajay Devgan in Khakee i.e. villain’s role. They will insist on playing the hero too. These ‘heroes’ are responsible for Tamil cinema being light years behind the Hindi film industry.
Hi Raj,
Well…I guess you havent seen Kuruthi punal and the likes of it yet !
“With not a single dull moment…” – you surely must be kidding.The Asin part was horrible and the dialogue that takes place between Govind, Muslim Kamal and Asin in the hospital was such a pain that the audience started shouting. The movie did start well and moved briskly till intermission. After that it went awry and I felt bored.
Seriously do u think Dasavatharam is better than Virumandi. Dasavatharam needed a max of 3 to 4 kamals not 10 ..
ah, not a review exactly. but i would really jump to the conclusion that sudhish has liked the movie. really looking forward to reviewing it, aren’t u? i watched the movie and liked it inspite of all the reviews i have been reading. lets ee wat u have to say
One of the best screeplay till now in tamil cinema. I loved the movie
Very well reviewed sudhish. I am new to your blog but just wanted to confirm if you are the same sudhish kamath who writes for The Hindu. Then i simply feel it is one of those rare reviews which was given rave reviews by you. You are doing a splendid job so is Kamal’s Dasavataram.Thanks for the review.
Sudhish,
Reading this review of your’s left me wondering if you watched a different movie altogether… or if you missed more than a few minutes (j/k)…
OK, seriously… Kamal really didn’t have to do ten roles in this movie… it seemed like he had included many roles simply to make up the number ’10’. If you ask me, a number of roles (Japanese guy, Boovaragan, Paati, Kalifullah) had no significance to the flow of the story whats-o-ever. I understand that Kamal had put in a lot of hard work (4 hrs on an avg for each make-up, which stays on for not more than 6 hrs)! But that is no excuse to come up with a movie like this which has evidently been made just to satiate his mountain-sized ego! OK, no doubt, the movie had great potential… a storyline with a scope to create a never-before-seen magnum opus in Indian cinema. But then, the basics (dialogues, screenplay and casting) is where Kamal falters… big time!
The movie would have had more credibility if they had had an actual actor from Hollywood play the CIA agent, a Japanese actor play the Japanese guy, so on and so forth! The CG work was plain ridiculous for all the hype generated! ‘Andal’ could turn out to be the most irritating character ever on silver-screen… imagine this – 1) there is this bio-weapon which could endanger lives of millions, but she is least bothered about it and yells ‘En Perumal…’ some hundred times during the movie (I would have strangled her to death and moved on had I been Govind); 2) there has just been a tsunami that caused so much destruction (which I thought was a joke) but she wants to know Govind’s answer to her proposal then and there… seriously, WTF was wrong with Kamal when he conceived her character?!!
I am looking forward to a full-blown review from you…
Regards,
Chiranjeevi
Saw Dasavatharam today. The movie is an unintentional comedy. Unbelievably tacky. The makeup in my school plays were better. Bullet removing the sardarji’s cancer cells was the ultimate howler. Kamal has taken cheap shots at Hinduism and Hindus. He has tried to potray himself as a great rationalist. Also tried to play cheap minority politics. Rajnikanth never tries to hide the fact that he ia a devout Hindu. That’s why he is a superstar and is successful. While Kamal remains a loser.
Suderman,
The film was quite different for a Kamalhassan movie. Since Kamal decided upon the ten characters first and then worked on the storyline, some of the characters seemed superfluous.
The make-up for some of the characters, esp Christian Fletcher and Avtar Singh were not any great.
But Kamal deserves praise for maintaining continuity whilst playing around with the various avatars. For the first time, there weren’t any conspicuous goof-up’s that could be noticed.
Nice to see a positive review from you. I’m happy that Kamal lived upto your expectation.
For those who feel that Kamal’s 10 characters are a few too many, I want to ask what difference does it make to you if those miniscule characters were played by some God-knows-who actors? On the contrary, I think Kamal did full justice to those characters like nobody could. I know that he would started off with making the movie knowing the fact that he needs to play 10 avtaars no matter what (as 9 is the max thats done till now), but why the heck he shouldn’t even if some of them are insignificant compared to the 4 main ones?
To borrow from an interesting comment by another fan…
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.
Maverick,
Nice explanation. But does not wipe the fact that it is a bad movie and Kamal has this movie as a vehicle to propogate his rotten ideology. Kamal is venting his frustration and anger (by ridiculing Hinduism) because he is a loser when compared with Rajnikanth. He can never catch up with Rajnikanth; Kamal will always remain a loser.
kamal the scriptwriter just shines through in this film.the chaos theory and butterfly effect apart(which many ppl still dont understand)..the superb characterisation and use of symbolism in the movie is just gr8…unlike what many people say the 10 roles are not just for kamal the actor it is for kamal the storywriter…each role is symbolic representation of the lord vishnu s dasavathar from hindu mythology…those with prior knowledge about the myth will be in a better position to appreciate the story…for those who came in late here s a gist..the poovaraghavan character is krishna cos he comes in during the rape of asin aka draupadi and he dies cos of a pierce in the ankle…the giant is vamanar cos of the height…fletcher is parasuram cos of the killing spree…avtaar singh is rama cos of his devotion to his wife…govind is kalki the modern day saviour..nambi is matsya cos the sea throws him out in the end…the japanese character s name is SHINGEN NARAHASHI a la narashima avatharaam..the old lady is likened to varaha avatar cos she puts the germs in the idol for protection plus watch the intro song puppet show to get a better idea…balaram naidu is balram…and bush is toroise or kurma avatar it can be because of nacl ,the sea, slow thinking,and aiding in wars….only a genius like kamal could weave in all this and much more into an entertaining package….suderman just think about all this before writing your review…agreed that execution could have been better but then again appreciate the nuances of the film and you ll gladly overlook the minor faults
kamal the scriptwriter just shines through in this film.the chaos theory and butterfly effect apart(which many ppl still dont understand)..the superb characterisation and use of symbolism in the movie is just gr8…unlike what many people say the 10 roles are not just for kamal the actor it is for kamal the storywriter…each role is symbolic representation of the lord vishnu s dasavathar from hindu mythology…those with prior knowledge about the myth will be in a better position to appreciate the story…for those who came in late here s a gist..the poovaraghavan character is krishna cos he comes in during the rape of asin aka draupadi and he dies cos of a pierce in the ankle…the giant is vamanar cos of the height…fletcher is parasuram cos of the killing spree…avtaar singh is rama cos of his devotion to his wife…govind is kalki the modern day saviour..nambi is matsya cos the sea throws him out in the end…the japanese character s name is SHINGEN NARAHASHI a la narashima avatharaam..the old lady is likened to varaha avatar cos she puts the germs in the idol for protection plus watch the intro song puppet show to get a better idea…balaram naidu is balram…and bush is toroise or kurma avatar it can be because of nacl ,the sea, slow thinking,and aiding in wars….only a genius like kamal could weave in all this and much more into an entertaining package….suderman just think about all this before writing your review…agreed that execution could have been better but then again appreciate the nuances of the film and why it is good before trashing the movie…it would have been way better as suderman pointed out if it had been made for oscar and not for aascar
the different layers to the story simply cannot be appreciated by those who have strictly been brought up on satple diet of tamil n hindi masala movies where the hero has to be a psycho or a vigilante to earn the praise as a “different” character or story..those who don t like the story of dasavatharam simply just dont get it…watch it until you fully understand the genius of kamal in writing a story that incorporates chaos theory,the butterfly effect,talks about atheism and different beliefs,symbolism used throughout the movie espescially the characters and lord vishnu s original dasavatharam and much more..i just don t get it as to why people choose to ignore all these aspects and just go on about bullet taking out the cancer and i have nt even started about kamal s varied acting in each of the 10 roles..this is without a doubt one of the very best scripts ever in tamil cinema
Raj,
Great arguments !! Right on target !!!! Your wisdom, knowledge and insights are so very apparent from your comments. Carry on with such good work.
sudhish,let the less evil people deal with positive reviews.
Earlier Anbe Sivam and now Dasavatharam. These movies confirm Kamal’s anti-Hindu leanings. In Anbe Sivam, Nasser, the villain, is portrayed as a devout Hindu. In one particular scene, he is shown as praying for Kamal’s death. Kamal is rescued by a nun, who is shown as a compassionate person. Subtext being devout Hindus are cruel, selfish and do not care for the poor, weak etc.
Similarly, in Dasavatharam, the good guys are the Christians and the muslims, Vincent puvaragan, Nagesh, the Afghan and the Sikh too. The hero is an atheist. The bad guys, Santhana Bharathi, P. Vasu, and the self-centered people, Asin, her father, are Hindus.
It is high time that Hindus boycotted not only this film but all of Kamal’s works. After this disaster, I hope that this loser fades into retirement
Raj,
“Kamal is venting his frustration and anger (by ridiculing Hinduism) because he is a loser when compared with Rajnikanth. He can never catch up with Rajnikanth; Kamal will always remain a loser.”
What does his frustration ( if there’s any ) got to do with his rivalry with Rajinikanth ?
Also in what terms he’s a loser ?
Good movie except the scenes where Asin was there. She was a torture, shouting all thro the movie. Her character was not necessary at all!
Santya,
Simple. This loser wants to be as popular as Rajnikanth, which he is not and will never be. Hence the frustration.
He is a loser in both his personal and professional lives.
Awesome man!
Came to chennai recently and heard about this phenomenon called Sudhish Kamath and I must admit I am in love with you!
Great going….
Raj Balakrishnan,
which rajini u r talking about,the one who goes urine in his pant when he hear names such as ramadoss,sathyaraj,guru(kaduvetti). he gave voice not to vote for ramadoss,ramadoss won all 6 seats remember,rajini is the biggest loser,even vadivelu makes fun of rajini during neyveli episode(he asked him to run to karnataka),think
Saw the movie… loved it. Chaos theory attempted in Indian Cinema for the 1st time, and none but Kamal cud hav handled it better.
@Raj:
dude, why do you waste time watching Kamal’s movies if you hate him for being an egomaniac? You’re the guy who said Tamil cinema is light-years behind Bollywood rite? Go watch something worthwhile like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom… and spare us your half-baked insights.
Just watched the movie strday…
Wonderful plot…Great work by Kamal Hassan…But, screenplay is not good enough…He fails miserably when he tries to write dialogues like Crazy Mohan…Same thing happened in Mumbai Express too…May be, he should ve got Crazy Mohan to write dialogues for a part of the movie…
First 15 to 20 mins…Kamal’s dialogue delivery as that Nambi was too good…Hearing him talk in pure Tamil is a pleasure…
Fletcher…Wonderful body language and accent…But somewhere in the middle of the movie, he stopped looking ominous…
Naidu & Paati are too good…Cant get any funnier…
Poovaragan’s performance is totally out of the world…
BGM is not good enough…I loved 2 songs in the movie…Kallai Mattum & Mukunta…
Not sure why anyone would want to compare him to Thalaivar…Thalaivar has achieved things that Kamal will never (want to) achieve…And it is true the other way around too…
Lots of people praised about DiCaprio’s South African accent in Blood Diamond…We are talking about 10 different characters here…
I hope this one turns out to be a hit…Atleast for the sake of the producer…For daring to do something very different and very expensive…
@ Raj Balakrishnan
Your points about anti-Hinduism jabs in Dasa and Anbe Sivam are taken, but that does NOT mean Kamal is a loser. He has given us too many gems to denounce him as a loser.
Dasa is a mass entertainer, which Kamal has used to air his philosophy. It may not be his best effort, but it will damn run well and recover its costs, as its primary intention was. It is to his credit that though he manages to convey his point of view, the film by itself does not take sides as you would have observed in the end.
And I cant fathom where Rajni comes into play. Kamal has too big an ego to compare himself with Rajni or wanting to be “popular”. He is driven by an intense desire to be appreciated for creating good cinema and taking Tamil cinema to the next level, which he has consistently been doing. Like Sudhish pointed out, with 60 Crores dangling, Kamal has made a movie not for the Oscars, but for Aaskar Ravichandran. (Nice one Sudhish, I must add). That is why he has been stressing in interviews that the film is for the masses, and not for awards.
“But does not wipe the fact that it is a bad movie and Kamal has this movie as a vehicle to propogate his rotten ideology”
The last time Rajni tried to do that, the result was BABA.
Rajni in his films has also promoted his spiritual and conservative ideologies.
In fact in Baba he says “A man is spoilt when he is jobless and a women is spoilt when she goes out (to work)”
And that was not the first time he has made such statements which are sure to raise eyebrows among the feminist lot.
“It is high time that Hindus boycotted not only this film but all of Kamal’s works.”
So should Atheists, modernists and womenfolk boycott Rajni films?
People have their own views on things, and it is their right to air it through mediums like films.
If this is not as pronounced in Rajni’s films as in Kamal’s it is because of the choice of subjects and stories for his movies.
@Raj Balakrishan (Contd…)
“He is a loser in both his personal and professional lives.”
Kamal is not the only one to have screwed up personal life, and as long as he is happy with his present relationship with Gowthami, and with his daughter going to make her debut soon, it is a not screwed up personal life at all.
“After this disaster, I hope that this loser fades into retirement”
Going by trade reports, Dasa surely ain’t a disaster. And even if Kamal stops making films now, he would leave behind a rich legacy for Tamil Cinema, more than anyone else.
And as a last word, going by newspaper and website reports
Rajni liked Dasa very much and told Kamal it was “Fantastic”. In fact, he has also requested a second special screening of the movie for him.
If Kamal is still the loser making loser-movies, then…(Fill in the blanks, am leaving it open-ended like Dasa) 🙂
Dasa Rocks,
The fact of the matter is Rajnikanth is a much bigger star than Kaml. This would definitely hurt Kamal’s king-sized ego. Just read/see any of his interviews; he tries to put himself in the same pedestal as Rajnikanth unsuccessfully.
As regards Kamal taking Tamil cinema to the next level:
Name one internationally acclaimed movie of his.
Does any one know him outside of India (I am not sure even outside South India) – do you know how popular Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan are in large parts of Middle East, North Africa, South-East Asia (I’ve been to places like Indonesia, Egypt; the only Indian they know there is Amitabh Bachchan)
Fact is Kamal’s movies (not all) are appreciated only by certain sections of the audience in Tamil Nadu. Kamal does not know the meaning of the word ‘underplay’, he hams and screws up every performance (one notable exception ‘Vettaiyadu Vilayaadu’). Kamal is extremely overrated and does not deserve the praise he gets in the Tamil media.
CK,
Have you seen Lagaan, Jhonny Gaddar, Chak De India, Swades, Manorama, Rang De Basanti, Munnabhai? Has anything even remotely different like these been ever tried in Tamil?
@ Raj Balakrishnan
“The fact of the matter is Rajnikanth is a much bigger star than Kamal. This would definitely hurt Kamal’s king-sized ego.”
More people would know Arnie than Tom Hanks. But guessing who the better actor is easy.
“Does any one know him outside of India (I am not sure even outside South India)”
If you meet North Indian people, they know both Rajni and Kamal. They know Kamal as the Actor who experiments and gives good movies. Rajni unforntunaltely looks like a buffoon to them, with his gimmicry and style. They all have a huge laugh at it and in fact tease us Tamilians for hero-worshiping such a star.
“Just read/see any of his interviews; he tries to put himself in the same pedestal as Rajnikanth unsuccessfully.”
If at all Kamal tries to put himself in the same “pedestal” as Rajni, it could be because he is hurt that a man can make films run by simply flicking cigarettes stylishly while his own hard efforts are sometimes not rewarded. Remember, Kamal CHOSE his path. Kamal in the early and mid eighties was already an established star who could have continued to act in the typical South Indian Hero movies, without bothering to experiment and would have earned more money and fans. Sakalakalavallavan was the biggest hit ever in Tamil Cinema when it released. But he didn’t want that. At least, he DARES to be different and that spirit deserves to be commended.
“Name one internationally acclaimed movie of his.”
Can you name ANY internationally acclaimed Tamil movie for the matter? The fact is among the films available, Kamal’s films would rank easily among the best. As for International recognition, recently TIME Magazine released a list of Top 100 Movies of All Time. In that only 5 Indian movies found mention. And the only Tamil movie represented in the list was Nayagan starring UlagaNayagan. If you want to rubbish it still by claiming the credit goes to Mani Ratnam only, he got a National Award for Best Actor for the same Movie.
“Fact is Kamal’s movies (not all) are appreciated only by certain sections of the audience in Tamil Nadu.”
Kamal’s films being appreciated only by a section of society does not mean they are NOT good, nor does a film running to silver jubilee indicative that it is a good movie. Do u mean to say that Thirupachi or Sivaji is better than Mahanadhi and Anbe Sivam? If you feel so, well there is no point talking then.
“Kamal does not know the meaning of the word ‘underplay”
Please watch the scene from Mahanadhi where he goes to Kolkata and finds that his daughter has become a prostitute. If that is not underplay, what is?
“he hams and screws up every performance”
Yeah, like he screwed up in Moondram Pirai, Nayagan, Indian and still managed to get National Awards for the same. Yup, he hammed up his performance and got more Filmare Awards than anyone else.
“Kamal is extremely overrated and does not deserve the praise he gets in the Tamil media.”
No one doubts Rajni’s pull amongst the masses. It would be foolish to do that. But doubting Kamal’s acting abilities is akin to committing Hara-Kiri in Tamil Cinema.
“Have you seen Lagaan, Jhonny Gaddar, Chak De India, Swades, Manorama, Rang De Basanti, Munnabhai? Has anything even remotely different like these been ever tried in Tamil?”
Can you imagine the audience for Hindi movies and compare it with Tamil Nadu’s population? It will be around 1%. When audiences here can’t appreciate Anbe Sivam, but root for Kuruvi, what is the incentive for making a Lagaan.
There are gems in Tamil Cinema also. Am sure Bollywood can’t boast of a Paruthiveeran or a Mozhi or a Chennai 600028. And all this is just from releases of 2007. The cinematic excellence achieved in Hey Ram remains unparalleled.
All said and done, Kamal strives to be different in each venture. He bites the dust sometimes, but he raises again like a Phoenix and carries on. He’s not bogged down by the verdict of masses. He just moves on. The man breathes and lives cinema. He does not approach it like a profession like Rajni does.( Not that it is wrong) So please understand that and support a man who wants to give good Tamil Cinema.
“More people would know Arnie than Tom Hanks. But guessing who the better actor is easy. “
I am not denying that Kamal is more talented. Just stating the fact that Kamal cannot stand Rajnikanth’s popularity and appeal. My take on Rajnikanth’s popularity is that he is humble, simple, knows his limitations – reason for his unbelievable appeal. Kamal is arrogant, jealous and petty (very obvious from his interviews), will always remain an also ran.
“If you meet North Indian people, they know both Rajni and Kamal. They know Kamal as the Actor who experiments and gives good movies. Rajni unforntunaltely looks like a buffoon to them, with his gimmicry and style. They all have a huge laugh at it and in fact tease us Tamilians for hero-worshiping such a star.”
Still does not alter the fact that he is not internationally renowned. Mani Ratnam, to name one, is (atleast until recently) also a regional filmmaker but that did not prevent him from becoming an internationally acclaimed director. Kamal, for all his talent, has hardly done anything significant – hence not known outside India.
“If at all Kamal tries to put himself in the same “pedestal” as Rajni, it could be because he is hurt that a man can make films run by simply flicking cigarettes stylishly while his own hard efforts are sometimes not rewarded. Remember, Kamal CHOSE his path. Kamal in the early and mid eighties was already an established star who could have continued to act in the typical South Indian Hero movies, without bothering to experiment and would have earned more money and fans. Sakalakalavallavan was the biggest hit ever in Tamil Cinema when it released. But he didn’t want that. At least, he DARES to be different and that spirit deserves to be commended.”
He dares to be different – but what’s the point, they are simply not good enough. Dasvatharam would have been a half-decent film had he cast other actors in the American, Japanese and Afghan roles. But the problem is he wants to be there in each and every frame. Ego.
“Can you name ANY internationally acclaimed Tamil movie for the matter? The fact is among the films available, Kamal’s films would rank easily among the best. As for International recognition, recently TIME Magazine released a list of Top 100 Movies of All Time. In that only 5 Indian movies found mention. And the only Tamil movie represented in the list was Nayagan starring UlagaNayagan. If you want to rubbish it still by claiming the credit goes to Mani Ratnam only, he got a National Award for Best Actor for the same Movie. “
That’s the point. Why do you call yourself a Universal Hero if you cannot make a universally acceptable movie. Nayakan is a Mani Ratnam film. Imagine Nayakan scripted by Kamal and directed by K.S. Ravikumar (Kamal would have done, apart from his, Nizhalgal Ravi’s, Nasser’s and Tinnu anand’s roles too)
“Kamal’s films being appreciated only by a section of society does not mean they are NOT good, nor does a film running to silver jubilee indicative that it is a good movie. Do u mean to say that Thirupachi or Sivaji is better than Mahanadhi and Anbe Sivam? If you feel so, well there is no point talking then.”
What I am trying to say here is that Kamal’s movies are appreciated only in Tamil Nadu.
“Please watch the scene from Mahanadhi where he goes to Kolkata and finds that his daughter has become a prostitute. If that is not underplay, what is? “
He screwed up quite a few other scenes.
“Yeah, like he screwed up in Moondram Pirai, Nayagan, Indian and still managed to get National Awards for the same. Yup, he hammed up his performance and got more Filmare Awards than anyone else.”
Overacting/hamming is appreciated in some circles.
“No one doubts Rajni’s pull amongst the masses. It would be foolish to do that. But doubting Kamal’s acting abilities is akin to committing Hara-Kiri in Tamil Cinema. “
Kamal is talented, but his ego has prevented him from doing full justice to his talent.
“Can you imagine the audience for Hindi movies and compare it with Tamil Nadu’s population? It will be around 1%. When audiences here can’t appreciate Anbe Sivam, but root for Kuruvi, what is the incentive for making a Lagaan.”
Satyajit Ray and Mani Ratnam, to name just two, are regional filmmakers. They have made lovely fimls.
“There are gems in Tamil Cinema also. Am sure Bollywood can’t boast of a Paruthiveeran or a Mozhi or a Chennai 600028. And all this is just from releases of 2007. The cinematic excellence achieved in Hey Ram remains unparalleled.”
I remember reading Hey Ram’s review by the senior film writer Maithili Rao in The Hindu (try and google it). One thing that she had mentioned as a negative point was Kamal’s propensity to appear in each and every frame thereby reducing other actors’ roles.
My last post was addressed to Dasa Rocks
“My take on Rajnikanth’s popularity is that he is humble, simple, knows his limitations – reason for his unbelievable appeal. Kamal is arrogant, jealous and petty (very obvious from his interviews), will always remain an also ran.”
Kamal surely won’t remain as an also ran. I cannot stand to watch MGR films today, but am sure my father would have enjoyed them. But I can watch many Sivaji films even today, even with his theatrical overacting thrown in.
People have different attitudes towards life, stemming from their life experiences, and how they take it. The picture that celebrities paint of themselves may not be true to their inner selves. It is high time we start judging actors by the merit of their films, not what they proclaim to be. This misjudgment on our part has been a bane with us Tamilians. We need to understand that good actors dont necessarily make good politicians, and people being humble and spiritual does not translate into them being good actors.
Rajni will have to stop acting soon. Kamal can continue to direct movies for atleast 10 more years, with not necessarily himself as the hero.
“Mani Ratnam, to name one, is (atleast until recently) also a regional filmmaker but that did not prevent him from becoming an internationally acclaimed director. Kamal, for all his talent, has hardly done anything significant – hence not known outside India.”
Mani Ratnam is NOT such an internationally renowned director. If you go to Middle East, North Africa, South-East Asia or Indonesia or one of the many places that you have visited, am sure not many would recognize him. Even if they do, it would be because of his connection with Bollywood. Mani Ratnam is a director, not tied down by language. The reason he has migrated to Bollywood in recent years, is the money and recognition his work gets that is sometimes not given here. Why should’nt he after we showed thumbs down to classics like “Iruvar” and “Kannathil Muthamittal”?
“He dares to be different – but what’s the point, they are simply not good enough. Dasvatharam would have been a half-decent film had he cast other actors in the American, Japanese and Afghan roles. But the problem is he wants to be there in each and every frame. Ego.”
The point about him wanting to be there in every scene is taken. It may be ego also. But the point is, So What? If his films are good, it doesnlt matter beyond a point. They may not be perfect. But they may be by far better than those of his colleagues. You must understand that Kamal is also a big star, with huge fan bases, many of who go back to the days when he was giving Masala Films after Masala Films. He needs to satisfy them also. It’s funny you are able to accept Rajni appearing in almost all the scenes in his movie, but can’t digest Kamal appearing in them.
The Mallu version of Chandramukhi, Manichitrathaazhu (a classic – I highly recommend it) had Mohanlal coming only just before interval. But Rajni can’t do it right? Otherwise his fans would be mightily disappointed. If it applies to Rajni, it does to Kamal also.
About Dasa, I am not saying it’s a great film, but it surely is a great entertainer. That is what it is supposed top be. The story came after it was decided that there would be 10 Kamals. The movie should be viewed in that light, as an intelligent screenplay which links the 10 characters and at the same time touching upon issues like Faith, Bio War, Chaos Theory, Providence and the Tsunami criss-crossing themselves like the characters themselves do.
Kamal’s films sometimes may not match your expectiations but you can’t take away the fact that it is better to Try and Not Succeed, than not to try and yet succeeding.
“He screwed up quite a few other scenes.”
“Overacting/hamming is appreciated in some circles”
I don’t think Kamal needs a certificate in acting.
If simply coming on screening, doing crazy gimmicks like flicking cigarettes, pathetically dancing and spawning even more inferior clones can be appreciated by many circles, then Overacting/hamming can very much be appreciated in some circles.
“Satyajit Ray and Mani Ratnam, to name just two, are regional filmmakers. They have made lovely films.”
That’s the point. Kamal is an ACTOR. He acts in movies made by directors like Mani Ratnam. Kamal wanted to be a director, but by turn of events, he became a big star. After which he has tried over years to be involved with scripting and has also started directing in recent years.
“I remember reading Hey Ram’s review by the senior film writer Maithili Rao in The Hindu (try and google it). One thing that she had mentioned as a negative point was Kamal’s propensity to appear in each and every frame thereby reducing other actors’ roles.”
Hey Ram on the whole, was given a thumbs up by the same reviewer who lauded it as one of Tamil Cinema’s finest.
You seem to be adept at magnifying Kamal’s minuses. What can’t you take a good thing or two from him?
Kamal’s a man supremely confident about himself and his abilities, he is a hard worker and is totally dedicated to his profession which he pursues with passion. He is undeterred by failure, and rises stronger after each failure. After Hey Ram’s debacle at the Box Office, he bounced back with Tenali instead of shrinking to a shell.
So let’s leave it at that. Btw, just curious what do u think of the new crop of heroes like Vijay?
Dasa Rocks,
Just one point, Rajnikanth is atleast not pretentious. He does not have any pretensions, he is humble and rubbishes his own films. Kamal is a talented actor, but like SRK plays himself in most of his films. Behind all that make-up you can actually see the arrogant ‘Universal Hero’ mocking at the audience.
Kamal should get under the skin of the characters that he is playing, like he did in Nayakan, Vettaiyaadu…, Hey Ram and not resort to gimmicks.
Among the new heroes, Surya is the best, streets ahead of everybody else. Vijay is another Rajnikanth. I would like to see a tamil hero (major star) do something like Saif Ali Khan did in ‘Omkara’ (without playing the hero role too!).
will someone please send Raj Balakrishnan back to the rediff messageboards where he belongs?! guess he doesnt know about the international awards won by kamal and the kamal retrospectives held in film festivals around the world…
I did see the movie and yes I do notice certain trade amrks of Kamal, like naming the dravidian christian with the name “Varahar” atypical Kamal style. I wish Asin was not there, I would love to watch the movie again, but she is there…so a BIG “No”
I am not looking at ther requirement of having some extra 5 charecters, but the make-up for the roles I guess were more dependent on how important they were.
I was looking at a critical review from you…but this one looks like one from Kamal’s fan.
Kamal Hassan’s “Hey Ram” is included in the syllabus of Indian Cinema at University of Iowa.
Dasavatharam has raked in 14 Million dollars till its third week from foreign box office, nearly four times as much as Sivaji.
Dasa is ranked 11th in Worldwide Top Films this week in terms of collections, competing with Hollywood and Hong Kong offerings and also with Bollywood movies.
All this proves one thing: Kamal has lived up to his name of “Ulaga Nayagan”!
U people say rajin flicks cigrette and do style and he doesnt have any acting talent.
There are heros like satyaraj,arjun,parthiban,karthik,murali,sarathkumar,ramki,rajeshaker etc…. why these actors are not able to reach rajini`s fame ????
Thalivar vijay himself beat kamal the nwhy compare with rajini
Hahahaha…Ya Kuruvi Smacked Dasa, Love Story 2050 is India’s offical entry to Oscars wat else??? First of all, saying Vijay and Kamal in the same breath would make Vijay feel shaky, as he himself admits he makes films only for his fans and that he cannot even try to emulate Kamal.
As for Kamal, I don’t think he would even want to compete with Vijay, their films are as apart as their ages.
As to why Satyaraj and others can’t be Rajni, remember Rajni came before them and was an established star by the time these people came. He won people over by his style and surely has some charisma to have survived till now.
And actors (?) like Vijay are successful because they came at a time when Rajni was acting in a movie once in two years, so some guy had to give them their dose of Superstarism.