VISITOR COLUMN

Director: Kamal Hassan

Casts: Kamal Hassan, Pooja Kumar, Andrea, Rahul Bose

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Language: Tamil

Genre: Action
 

Novel attempts always face challenges. In that ironic fact, Vishwaroopam became the king of controversies due to the sensitive issues it has covered. With political pressures and certain societal disruptions, Kamal Hassan fought hard for the film to reach the audiences. But after the film has been released now, one could wonder whether this film deserved so much of problems and controversies. Now, to my review.

Synopsis

Nirupama (Pooja Kumar) sends a detective behind her husband, Vishwanath (Kamal Hassan) to discover possible affairs, so that she could easily ask for a divorce to start a life with her boss. However, little did she know about the shocking discoveries, which awaits her.

Story – Screenplay

Vishwaroopam is made in the core aim to entertain by presenting a visually exciting film by touching upon significant communal concerns. And it will never be an overrated statement to say that Kamal has passed with distinction. By moving the film in a non-linear way, Vishwaroopam has great placements of twists and pace. But that also means that it warrants close attention from the audiences as some of the sequences are crafted in a drift and miss manner.

The sensitivebackdrop of ‘war against terrorism’ has been handled blatantly and some facts that have been explored implant surprising knowledge in us. Even though some scenes might be disturbing, it has to be taken note that it is very close to reality. Most importantly, Kamal never deviates from the main plot but just uses the content and package it effectively to entertain.

Taken note of the sensitivity of the audiences, some of the dialogues carry hidden explicit content, which are left for the audience to explore. The stamp of Kamal is evident in every dialogue spoken by each character.

However, this film gives a sense of set up for a big pay off in the sequel. The only risk is that if the sequel does not get materialised, this film will end up pointless.

In overall, Kamal has given a well-researched content with believable characters, backed up with immense entertainment.

Casting & Performance

It is almost countless times we might have praised this veteran but he leaves us no choice by overpowering his previous performances each time he appears. Be it the feminine, elegant Kathak teacher or the vengeful gritty ‘warrior’, Kamal does it so convincingly. Watch out for the daredevil stunt sequences which he has performed boldly, showing no sign of his age.

Rahul Bose as the antagonist, Omar, impresses with his wrecked look and menacing voice. With his distinctive performance, he scores whenever he can.

Pooja Kumar comes up as a surprise package with a seasoned performance, not forgetting actress Abirami’s voice dubbing which is a major plus for her. Andrea does her very limited role well but we hope Vishwaroopam 2 awaits a meatier role for her.

Vishwaroopam contains tones of newcomers and everyone has been directed very well. Kamal has given an equal screen time for everyone focusing on each every character to bring out the story effectively.

Technicality

Technically Vishwaroopam offers lots of fresh visuals to Indian cinema. As always, Kamal brings in plenty of innovation in packaging his story.

Cinematographer Sanu Varghese has filmed the scenes in a very rich manner. He refrains from using any gimmicky angles and stamps high proficiency in every shot. Be it in the borders of Afghanistan or USA, he uses two different styles of movements in each segment. 

Art Director Ilayaraja has brought the whole atmosphere of war and tension very realistically. He is definitely a main reason for us to get hooked from the first frame to the end.

Editor, Mahesh’s racy cuts have aided the non-linear storyline to unveil effectively. Watch out for the transition scenes at post interval which will makes us sit and notice the editor. Stunts and visual effects are very realistic which certainly raises the standards of Indian cinema technically.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music never fails to complement the rich events in the film; especially their BGM works wonders. Furthermore, sound editing of the film is really uplifting during the war scenes.

Kamal have brought in plenty of freshness in his treatment by working with uncommon names in Tamil cinema and have definitely worked big time.

Bottomline

With a focused screenplay and breath taking crafts of visual, Vishwaroopam is no doubt the most intelligent commercial entertainer of the decade.

Verdict:Intellectually rich, technically sound

Rating:  4/5