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| Were
all the ten characters needed? |
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| June
25, 2008 |
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Before I went and watched this movie,
I read most of the review online and decided
to bring in my own deductions of the movie.
Whenever I used to watch movies with intelligent
scripts, I used to wonder if I will ever
see a movie in India (and in Tamil since
it's my mother tongue) and will analyze
it. Most of the times, I know what will
happen in the first scene and what the
whole deal is about. |
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Dasavathaaram
is the first Tamil movie that has made me think about the
concept explained in the movie and say "Wow!" It's
not easy to explain a scientific theory to an audience whose
average intelligence is used to six songs, four fights and
a re-tried storyline of one man saving the day.
So, for those who want to appreciate this movie, please read
about chaos theory or Butterfly Effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect)
before you go and watch it. Chaos theory or "Butterfly
Effect" has been shown in movies like "It's a Wonderful
Life," "The Jurassic Park" etc. Kamal does
the same with Dasavathaaram. Butterfly effect is the technical
notion of chaos theory that talks about how small variations
of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce
large variations in the long-term behaviour of the system.
In Dasavathaaram, Kamal links what happened in 12th century
to what happens in the climax of the movie. |
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The
movie starts with Kamal explaining chaos theory and
taking the viewers to one such beginning in the 12th
century. In the first scene, a priest is separated from
his family and thrown into the sea for chanting "Narayana."
The story then take us to December 20th, 2004 (present)
where in a bio research lab, a deadly virus is invented
by a scientist, which could destroy millions (investment
made by the U.S. for war against terror). Kamal, the
scientist, is trying to prevent the virus (stored in
a vial) from falling into the wrong hands. What follows
is a roller-coaster ride from the USA to Chennai where
the vial has set its course.
Along the way to finding the vial, we get to see the
different avatars of Kamal interlinked with one another.
Asin's character supports the scientist Kamal along
the course of the happenings to save the idol that has
the vial. The climax is set in the shores of Marina
where the movie closes the loop that started in the
12th century *(the end is so subtle, you need to watch
closely to understand the link in the first scene)* |
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The movie hinges on the ongoing debate between science and
God and the climax is open ended (I think it was a pretty
definite view point from Kamal) on whether God exists. It's
not an atheistic viewpoint, but rather agnostic one. One needs
to understand both science and religion to understand what
Kamal is trying to convey. I will leave it to the viewers
to reach their own conclusion.
Kamal, in ten different characters, has proved once again
that he can do anything with style and perfection by making
each of them distinctive. My favourites were Fletcher, the
Japanese and George W. Bush. People can argue that not all
ten characters were needed in the script, but when did Tamil
movie give importance to scripts :-)? Even though all the
ten characters weren't needed, Kamal's spontaneity in bringing
uniqueness to each one of them is admirable. Also, the USP
for Dasavathaaram is Kamal doing ten roles. So, I think, we
should take it as part of the entertainment package and leave
it at that.
Asin was good and played her role sufficiently (she was really
good in the first scene). The rest of the cast complements
the script. The technical portion of the movie is above par
(in terms of Indian movie) even though there are a few glitches.
Having said that, this is the closest we can come to for an
Indian movie and it is a commendable effort. Re-recording
and background score of the movie is mediocre (that's maybe,
the theatre I watched the movie didn't have DTS) and songs
barely reaching "average" ratings.
One flaw I would say is the length of the movie. At least
30 minutes of the movie could have been trimmed. By the time,
we near the climax, most of the viewers would have forgotten
about what Kamal explains in the first scene. Overall, a good
entertainer for everyone (if people understand the crux of
the story), and an excellent effort by Kamal Haasan. Kudos
to the Legend for giving us an intelligent script and a very
good movie.
dhanyah@gmail.com
Dan Krish |
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