Dasavatharam - One Legend Ten Characters!

When P Vasu asks Kamal Hassan, "Nee Enna UlagaNaygana? (Are You a Universal Hero)", to which Kamal in his Dalit Christian Avatar Vincent Boovarahan replies in his Tirunelveli slang "Amaanle, Naan UlaganNayagan Then (Yes, I am the Universal Hero), you get reminded not for the first time and definitely not for the last time, what kind of film Kamal has attempted with his latest magnum opus "Dasavatharam".

Dasa is , read my lips, a MASS film. MASS not because the story carries weight (sorry for the bad pun), but because it assumes it has to first and foremost cater to MASSES who usually don't flock to Kamal films as fervently as they would to a Rajni Fare. So it has some of the most "In-Your-Face-Dumbing-Down" sequences, like the one where Balram Naidu looks down at Fletcher from a chopper and watches with some Binoculars, the deadly Virus multiplying, and a scene later, the Tsunami brings with it an Indian National Flag which pierces through Fletcher!

But then how does Kamal appease the "Classes" who form his hardcore audiences? Kamal takes them to a tour of movies that have still not been transliterated from Hollywood to its rhyming K version. Each Avatar caters to a particular set of people. For the Sci-Fi oriented youth and people who have grown up seeing STAR Movies and HBO, there is plenty of action with Bio-weapons, Govind-a Scientist who has to continually run to save himself and the world (somewhat like Will Simith in Enemy of the State),Fletcher- a mercenary with steely nerves whose only aim to retrieve the "vial" containing the deadly virus that I was talking about, no matter what it takes (reminding one of characters with a Singular Mission that Hollywood churns out regularly, like the Terminator series), Car chases shot in the night, etc. For those enamoured by Jackie Chan flicks, there is a Jap out for revenge.

Then for the people who come to Kamal movies for his comedy and timing, there's Balram Naidu, the bungling Gult RAW officer and Krishnaveni Paati, the lunatic nonagenarian lady.

For the devout there's Rangaraja Nambi, A Vaishnavite facing persecution from Veera Shavitie King Kulothunga Cholan (Napolean) in the 12th Century. For the atheists there is Govind, the scientist who also doubles up as the rationalist of the story.

For those in love with Vijayakanth style son-of-the-soil sermonizing protagonist, there is a classier version in Vincent Boovarahan, the Dalit Christian activist out to battle against Manal (Sand) Mafia.

Then there is Bush, who like his real life counterpart doesn't do much except fill space and footage, and occasionally startles you with the close semblance with the real Bush.

And last, if you are one who is neck deep into mega-serials filled with unbelievably binary shades of characters, there are 2 Avatars just for you. One who calls himself Avatar Singh is a pop-singer, wife-lover, and Cancer patient rolled into one.His high in the film is the "Oh Oh Sanam" song, delivered by the mesmerizing voice of Kamal himself, and the low is the way his Cancer is cured by stray bullets.

The other chap is the over 7 Feet tall Muslim Kalifulla Khan, who would probably rank as the most boring thing Kamal has attempted since Maharasan (1993).

So with such a recipe, which caters to all sections of the audience, you are bound to have a surefire hit in your hands. And yes, Dasa has been declared by Kamal himself to be the biggest hit of his career.

But all is not well, that ends well. The film has exposed Kamal the Writer's failings once again. The main problem with Kamal the Writer over the years has been an indulgence to show Kamal the Actor in as many scenes as possible, lest his fans go disappointed. This has resulted in great many wonderful stories going un-attempted as it might have resulted in Kamal the Actor getting lesser screen time.

Kamal the writer has other visible indulgences too, like ranting home his brand of philosophy and every now and then reminding viewers that atheists who are good at heart are better than people blinded by religion into helping others. So much so that one can't help wondering if Kamal wants to be known like that - an Atheist Do-gooder.
Maybe his films are a means for him to glorify his ideals and strengthen his own resolve in them.

This indulgence already cost him dearly with Anbe Sivam. What could have been a subtle but enjoyable Road Movie, dealing with the Culture Shock experienced by Maddy, representing today's go-getter as he meets an ideologically poles apart Kamal and is forced to undertake a journey with him through the "Real India"( with hazardous weather conditions for company), got transformed into a new dimension. One in which the story started dwelling more on Kamal's flashback, his love, his conflict with Padayachi Nambi (Naazar), the devout but merciless Industrialist. We got to see a notorious Umbrella Fight, and a well shot duet song (Poovasam) and a Bus accident. All this looked great, but it drove us away from the point of the story. Or was it the point of story at all in the first place? For such a great movie, the Nazeer character appeared nothing but a well drawn caricature. Just imagine what the story could have become if we removed the flashback portion of the movie and if Kamal and Maddy remained as unconnected in the end as they were in the beginning. The movie could have dwelt more on the bonding that develops between Maddy and him. It would have marked a new maturity for Tamil Cinema. But unfortunately it wasn't to be.

Getting back to Dasa, it's the same story here again. This time it suits the theme better, as the undercurrent here is the tension between various opposing forces, like Religion and Science. But the compulsions of getting back the Crores of money spent, meant that the film could only give a nod to many issues but couldn't go deeper into anything.

A point that was disturbing in the movie was the manner in which Kamal roughed up Religion and believers. When I was watching the movie with my friends, all of them believers, I could see many of them getting disturbed mildly by the dialogues and content in some of the scenes. Making Asin look dumb and having her shout "Perumale Perumale" while making her turning blind to sufferings of others does not qualify her for Moksha. Religion doesn't say we have to be like her. Using her weak character and juxtaposing it with the failings of Religion is akin to hiding its strength and magnifying its failings. If the aim was again to glorify good people who happen to be atheists, again it doesn't work. For the character of Govind turns out inadvertently into an irritating smart ass who gets away with the best lines in repartees and ends up winning any argument that arises. An example is his final statement "I am not saying God doesn't exist, I am only saying it would've been better if he had existed!" . Let me take back to Anbe Sivam where Kamal tells Maddy "Who said I dont believe in God, I believe in God, for me now YOU are God, as you've given blood to a fellow you've never met. That feeling in you is God"

Make no mistake, both the statements are awesome, but the characters saying them make it appear Smart-Ass.

And the Brahmin-Bashing in the film! Oh God! or Oh whatever-Kamal-believes-in! May better sense prevail upon the Dream Merchants of Kollywood into showing a community in a more responsible manner! I wonder how it's only the Brahmins who get charred and made fun of for their ways. Agreed, they were horrendous in the treatment they accorded to the so-called lower castes, but that was like 50 years ago.

Today, people have become more Class Conscious as Marx predicted, and they won't stand any such nonsense. So there is no point in harping around themes that have been overexploited over the ages.

Lastly, the promised Computer Graphics Revolution somehow doesn't seem to live upto its hype. The CG work, though the best in Tamil cinema so far, leaves a lot to be desired, whether in the 12th Century segment or the final Tsunami. But again, it could be because of the scale of the project involved and other budgetary constaints, though with 60 Crores I wouldn't be complaining of lack of funds.

Having said all that, I come to an important part of the discussion here. How to Enjoy Dasa?

Key to deriving happiness of the Rs. 120 spent on the movie, is to know what to expect. Dasa is a MASS film that should be viewed as a means of connecting the 10 Characters played by Kamal Hassan, weaving an interesting screenplay around these characters with a story that touches Chaos Theory, Butterfly Effect, Bio-Weapons, Tsunami etc. It also has an undercurrent of the clash between Science and Religion and to its credit is pretty open-ended in its Conclusion. The songs have been used to carry the story forward nicely. The screenplay is lightning fast, and I couldnt believe it was two hours into the movie already when the interval was announced. The pace slackens a bit post Interval, but that is to create a lull before the Tsunami of a climax. And don't forget the pains the man has taken up for two years to meet the challenges of portraying 10 characters. Seems he has spent more than 500 hours in Make-Up. Imagine the difficult situation for the technicians as they have to create layers and layers of the same shot, when there are multiple Kamals in the same scene. In one scene there are as many as 5 Kamal Hassan, all looking markedly different in their appearance and height!

So fasten your seat belts, have your popcorn by your side, switch off the devil in your mind expecting every Kamal movie to be a Mahanadhi, and get ready for 3 hrs of Entertainment, the way it's never been attempted before in Tamil Cinema!