Dasavathaaram
August 2, 2008 § 11 Comments
Well doing one role is tough alright,but to roles ranging from an old granny to Bush ,from a medieval priest to a scientist,well it takes some doing.Before i start writing a review,i must say that even if you don’t understand tamil,get a CD with the sub-titles and watch it.It is a must watch.
I knew this movie would be good,first thing,it was Kamal movie and second a lot of people didn’t like it.The reason why most people didn’t like is obvious.The movie needs a lot of interpretation.The movie unites people from different cultures,different faith and beliefs all in one final stand off.It was amazing! to say the least.How does the Shivite and Vishnavite fight in the medieval time have to do with the tsunami? That is the profoundity of the movie.The whole movie is based on the chaos theory.
Kamal Hassan is acting is not just superb but more than that.To act in so many different roles and to relate them all is amazing.Except in a few places(very very little) the movie didn’t have any slag.While the makeup was not as convincing in a few roles as others,it was good.In fact i think it was better that way,it had more of a drama feel to it,than a movie.I wonder if it is based on some book,for it had so much intelligence in it .Moneys are sure clever than man!(it has something to do with the move:P )
Asin does a good job too.And Mallika does her cameo well too.The villian,the hero and all most of the important characters played by the same person,it is sure worth spending your three hours.As i said in the beginning ,it is worth watching this movie,so go and see it now 🙂
These two songs have become one of favorites(ya,the never ending list).All the songs were good,but these two (especially the first one stand out for the lyrics).
image from here.
the light shines the brightest 
Ahhh, nice.. so you finally managed to watch it!!! contrary to popular reviews, i also liked the movie.. saw it in Satyam, and man, their sound effects were just awesome…. 😀
Great review, Vishesh! A religious friend of mine who watched the movie chided me for not having seen it. I have no interest in Shaivism or Vaishnavism or the fight between the Shaivites and Vaishnavites but I definitely want to watch it because you have mentioned the chaos theory!
The entire team, especially Kamal, have done a fabulous job! Apart from the ten roles that he seems to have played to perfection, this movie seems to combine so many things that even the best Hollywood directors would find difficult to do. The special effects are simply superb. Three cheers to the entire team!
It’s great that the quality of Tamil movies keeps getting better and better by the day. The audiences have become so mature, sophisticated and demanding now. Star power does not matter anymore but the overall quality decides the fate of the movie.
The songs are cool. The lyrics of the first one are superb! (Though one needs to know Tamil to understand the deep meaning in them, I hope when the movie is dubbed into or remade in other languages, the meaning does not get lost in translation.)
Hmmm I m more interested in seeing the animation one. Has this movie been dubbed in Hindi?
I didn’t like the movie at all, the make up was just over, felt like some puppet faced people are acting and 10 roles are just way too over I think, I couldn’t even complete watching it.
Same is with Rajni’s chandramukhi, I don’t know how it became a hit, if you compare it’s malayalam version, manichitrathazhu, then you’ll know the difference
@AARTI: i agree with you the sounds were also good 🙂
@raj: yes people need to understand tamil,to understand the song,maybe thats why so many people didn’t like it 🙂 and watch it,it is worth it 🙂 The fight between the groups is dealt with for about 15 mins 🙂
@reema: no…animated?What? but you can watch with english sub titles….
@aneesh: yup,it did look like puppet faces,but it was not all that bad if you ask me 🙂 i liked chandramuki too 🙂 hmm…i don’t understand malayam that much 😦
The movie was par below the level of kamal’s stature..
only thing good was musci..
and the relation with that chaos theroy..
he has just said there’s a relation.. there ‘s nothing in the story that proves it..
fight shivite and vishnavite is just for 15 minutes ..just till that song..
after that the movie is senseless.///
whihc has been just designed to occupy the 10 different charecters.,
i guess the reddy’s character was good … there was no scope of acting in the movie..
Asin was annoying in every frame..
I guess i second ur every opinion on the movie 😛 graphics was bad ..real bad.. .
yeah ,u can see the movie for its camera work.. .
it has been beautiful taken.story is absurd..
Chaos theory is just a concept …he tries to tell..
he fails in it miserably..
Vishesh, I watched the movie yesterday after reading this review. It was simply mind-blowing!
First, the negatives. The make-up for some (not all) of Kamal’s characters is terrible. They should have spent more time and resources on make-up. Second, though Asin does a good job, she shouts too much and this can get really irritating.
Everything else about the movie is fabulous. Napoleon and Mallika shine in their respective cameo roles. Kamal plays so many different characters superbly with absolute ease!
The technical aspects like the camera work and special effects are wonderful! The movie proceeds at a great pace. Chaos theory is at work but it is shown in a subtle manner. I like the way the filthy, despicable concept of casteism is portrayed. “Free market capitalism” is also portrayed in the correct way. In Hollywood movies, we have the danger of Soviet secret weapons falling into the wrong hands and an American saving the world. This is ridiculous. As if the Americans did not develop these weapons – unlike the Soviets who did not use them, the Americans have actually used nuclear and chemical weapons to kill millions! Here, we have the danger of an American secret weapon falling into the hands of a notorious ex-American spy-cum-trigger happy thug-cum-“free market capitalist” and people of different faiths – Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism as well as different cultures from different continents are united to save the world against a brilliant backdrop of the tsunami! A movie that celebrates humanity!
Ofcourse, people with primitive mindsets may not like the progressive ideas portrayed in the movie. Some obscure groups opposed the movie because it would bring out the fanaticism of the followers of the two sects (Saivism and Vaishnavism) in Hinduism during the mediæval period. And though the beliefs of the followers of different faiths are given great respect, ultimately it is science that triumphs!
I believe in science and the chaos theory. Everything in life (even if they are seemingly strange and totally unconnected) is pre-determined. Yet, life is all about choice. Our choices are determined by our own actions. In other words, we have a choice as long as it is the one we make. In the end, the villain and the heroes make their own chioces as well!
The tsunami brings back personal memories of December 26, 2004 when I was on a beach somewhere along the Coromandel Coast a few hours before the aazhi peralai struck . . .
“it is sure worth spending your three hours”…
–The movie is sooo boring… Can’t even watch for half an hour. The story is baseless! Don’t know why there is such hype for this movie…
As you said, too many characters made it much worse and the makeup wasn’t up to mark as in Indian.
@arvind and manasa; opinions differ i guess 🙂
@raj: lol nice review and yes everything is pre-written by us 🙂 ,why don’t you post in your blog?
@ arvind
lol .. i think i have heard that lone somewhere .. 😛