Dasavatharam: The Review

Here it is, at last, like the movie itself, its review. Dasavatharam sees Kamal Hassan in one of his well-known avatars, that of a multi-role performer. Performer I say as in addition to the record ten persons he portrays on screen, he is also in-charge of the story, screenplay and dialogues. Ten beats nine by the legendary Sivaji Ganesan in Navaratri, and eight by that master of disguise Sir Alec Guinness, Kamal’s sort of mental mentor, in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Dasavatharam works—despite shortcomings in the screenplay—as an entertainer. A movie like this can hope to succeed only by using the power of cinema and its capacity for make-believe and awe. Kamal is an actor who is willing to experiment on different images on screen not minding the effect on his image off it. Though some of his characters are just making the numbers, the main ones have the kind of magical intent that it is easy to forget and be fooled that it is the same man playing them. The opening character and the Dalit environmentalist one are the best among the lot. If in the former, Kamal is on home ground given his Vaishnavite upbringing, in the latter it sort of reflects his views on his home land. As you would expect, the movie does not afford the space or time to elaborate on the emotions of its characters. The main man is similar to the Madan in the classic Michael Madana Kama Rajan in his open-mindedness. He is as he confesses later in the movie, an agnostic not an atheist. The Telugu intelligence officer, Balram Naidu, is played with a comic-in-manner-yet-serious-in-purpose fashion. Verdict: Success. Kamal makes the grandma, though an obvious interference, believable given the idiosyncrasies of those wrinkled tonsured old women (Needless to stress again the caste of his birth). The American villain gets most of its accent right and looks like Jay Leno in close up and like Al Pacino in long shots. The Pacino resemblance is largely inadvertent given the two actors’ (Kamal not Leno) similar stature and features. In the Sikh role, Kamal reunites with Jayaprada after the masterpiece Salangai Oli which in my opinion ranks among his three best acting parts as he rendered the dance master in a natural and unaffected grace that has not been surpassed by either him or others since.

The other members of the cast, I mean the un-Kamal ones come off clichéd and tiring. If Asin is insufferable, Mallika is abominable what with her garish Tamil and general retardation. Others like P. Vasu, Santhana Barathy and Nagesh are passable. The movie definitely lacks the lucidity and hilarious stupidity of Crazy Mohan’s pen—Kamal’s efforts are at best okay—and Delhi Ganesh. And whoever thought Himesh Reshamaiyya would do justice needs to give his mind a paradigm shift. The songs are incongruous and outlandish. Rahman or his nephew G.V. Prakash, the new kid on the block, could have well pulled it off. The screenplay appears to be continuous but is forced and there are times when a sudden light moment in an otherwise somber scene makes you sigh. What about the rest of the Kamals? The Japanese martial arts master is well made up and the Muslim only serves to stand out on account of his height (and a curious voice). The George Bush character, again unwarranted, gets his mannerisms right and makes him look like a comedian. This is perhaps Kamal’s intention as we also come to know of the displeasure with Bush as expressed by one of the ten.

Dasavatharam triumphs within its limitations largely due to the one man whose name I won’t type again given the repeated reference all through this review. He amuses and woos us chiefly due to the thought and effort he has put into the movie’s conception. He mentions chaos theory, quotes Dale Carnegie (I think), enacts Robert de Niro and even jabs at Shaivism among others. K.S. Ravikumar is the director and appears to have done not much barring appearing, as is turning out to be his custom, in a song. I suspect if you would really appreciate the film if you are a serious Kamal fan, but then you can rent Salangai Oli or Mahanadhi any time. The audience is the best judge and going by the box-office the huge budget seems to have paid off.