In defense of Dasavatharam
Finally, the over hyped and so called magnum opus of Kamalhasan, Dasavatharam, was released recently. Most of us would have watched it by now or atleast read / heard reviews about it. Quite a few reviews that I read / heard were supremely critical of the movie and rated it between bad and ok. That is nonsense. Yes, there are quite a few flaws (some fancy dress competition like makeup, holes in screenplay etc...) and the movie is not even remotely a competitor for Kamal's best movie award. Despite all that, the movie is is quite good. It has a lot of positives on its side and the balance is significantly positive.
Read this (randomly stumbled on to this) review and it contains most of the positives I wanted to write about. I dont agree with a few points (some over stretching of imagination and some non existent connections). Still, a good review.
There are a few other points (+ve and -ve) that I wanted to mention (which were generally missing in reviews I read / heard):
1.) Lot of people criticize the music. But, not everything is bad with the music. I frankly dont know why everyone is so ticked off. 'Kallai mattum kandal' and 'Mukunda mukunda' are quite good. The BGM during some of Balraam Naidu's scenes were pretty good. We cannot expect Alaipayuthey quality songs in every movie :).
2.) Lyrics of the song 'Kallai mattum kandaal' is amazing. The first line is a rip off from a famous quadruplet from thirumandiram - 'marathai maraithathu maamatha yaanai, ...'. 'Oona kannil paarthaal yaavum kutram thaan, gnana kannil paarthaal yaavum sutram thaan'. This could apply to this movie also :D... (hehe, that was a bit hyperbolic).
3.) Most people have tried to connect different roles of kamal to the different avatars of lord vishnu. I think, a bijective mapping is not necessary. Most of the roles have multiple interpretations.
For e.g. Boovarahan - From the name and his role in the movie, an obvious connection is varaha avatar. But, there is more. Like Krishna saved Draupadi, he saved the heroine from being molested. Also, Krishna is supposed to have dies when an arrow hits his leg and a similar fate befell Boovarahan. So, the point is that most of the roles have connections to multiple avatars of Vishnu.
4.) The first 10-15 minutes were unbelievably amazing. Inside sources (wow!! use of this word makes me feel like I am reporting on an investigative journalistic piece :D) say that that section was much longer (closer to 30 mts) but were edited out in the final cut. How I wish they had not chopped off lots of details.
5.) Definitely increases awareness on bio terrorism and some other environmental aspects. Though, I feel a golden chance to explain the inside workings of bio weapons departments was squandered (like moral dilemmas faced, abuse of other species, pressures from higher ups etc...).
6.) Kamal takes additional efforts everywhere. The movie has the 'butterfly effect' as part of its theme. But, Kamal wants to ensure that this does not lead to the interpretation of fate and other superstitious beliefs. In the dialogue between Kamal and Asin in the last scene, Asin says the Tsunami was helpful as otherwise the virus would have killed so many other people and she says that it was an act of god. This statement when viewed in the light of 'butterfly effect' points strongly towards the Hindu concept of fate. Kamal immediately kills all such thinking when he says, 'Why did not god act to prevent scientists from getting such destructive ideas?'. Brilliant.
7.) One important problem was Kamal dedicated this movie to his own narcissism. Almost every frame had him. Yes, with 10 roles, things tend to be like that but it need not necessarily have been that way. For e.g., Asin's role could have been much more meatier. She was quite annoying many times. Portraying her as this agraharam girl who is so dumb and does not know anything else but saving 'perumal's' idol is quite dumb. It is not even the sterotype. If her role had been more meatier, it would have made things so much better.
8.) The last song that sings Kamal's praise was quite unnecessary. A separate video showing the making of Dasavatharam would have been so much better.
9.) Napoleon looks like a chola king for sure. But, his classic tamil was horrible. Kulothunga cholan will be twitching in his graves if he heard it. Asin's classsic tamil was quite crappy too.
10.) The different avatars (that have connections to Vishnus avatars) include white christians, an indian christian, a muslim, hindus and atheists. I can smell a message here.
11.) The graphics in the movie was criticized widespread and I think it was quite undue. Comparing it with graphics in hollywood movies is quite atrocious. There is a small factor called budget. Comparing it with graphics in other Indian movies is more appropriate.
Finally, the over hyped and so called magnum opus of Kamalhasan, Dasavatharam, was released recently. Most of us would have watched it by now or atleast read / heard reviews about it. Quite a few reviews that I read / heard were supremely critical of the movie and rated it between bad and ok. That is nonsense. Yes, there are quite a few flaws (some fancy dress competition like makeup, holes in screenplay etc...) and the movie is not even remotely a competitor for Kamal's best movie award. Despite all that, the movie is is quite good. It has a lot of positives on its side and the balance is significantly positive.
Read this (randomly stumbled on to this) review and it contains most of the positives I wanted to write about. I dont agree with a few points (some over stretching of imagination and some non existent connections). Still, a good review.
There are a few other points (+ve and -ve) that I wanted to mention (which were generally missing in reviews I read / heard):
1.) Lot of people criticize the music. But, not everything is bad with the music. I frankly dont know why everyone is so ticked off. 'Kallai mattum kandal' and 'Mukunda mukunda' are quite good. The BGM during some of Balraam Naidu's scenes were pretty good. We cannot expect Alaipayuthey quality songs in every movie :).
2.) Lyrics of the song 'Kallai mattum kandaal' is amazing. The first line is a rip off from a famous quadruplet from thirumandiram - 'marathai maraithathu maamatha yaanai, ...'. 'Oona kannil paarthaal yaavum kutram thaan, gnana kannil paarthaal yaavum sutram thaan'. This could apply to this movie also :D... (hehe, that was a bit hyperbolic).
3.) Most people have tried to connect different roles of kamal to the different avatars of lord vishnu. I think, a bijective mapping is not necessary. Most of the roles have multiple interpretations.
For e.g. Boovarahan - From the name and his role in the movie, an obvious connection is varaha avatar. But, there is more. Like Krishna saved Draupadi, he saved the heroine from being molested. Also, Krishna is supposed to have dies when an arrow hits his leg and a similar fate befell Boovarahan. So, the point is that most of the roles have connections to multiple avatars of Vishnu.
4.) The first 10-15 minutes were unbelievably amazing. Inside sources (wow!! use of this word makes me feel like I am reporting on an investigative journalistic piece :D) say that that section was much longer (closer to 30 mts) but were edited out in the final cut. How I wish they had not chopped off lots of details.
5.) Definitely increases awareness on bio terrorism and some other environmental aspects. Though, I feel a golden chance to explain the inside workings of bio weapons departments was squandered (like moral dilemmas faced, abuse of other species, pressures from higher ups etc...).
6.) Kamal takes additional efforts everywhere. The movie has the 'butterfly effect' as part of its theme. But, Kamal wants to ensure that this does not lead to the interpretation of fate and other superstitious beliefs. In the dialogue between Kamal and Asin in the last scene, Asin says the Tsunami was helpful as otherwise the virus would have killed so many other people and she says that it was an act of god. This statement when viewed in the light of 'butterfly effect' points strongly towards the Hindu concept of fate. Kamal immediately kills all such thinking when he says, 'Why did not god act to prevent scientists from getting such destructive ideas?'. Brilliant.
7.) One important problem was Kamal dedicated this movie to his own narcissism. Almost every frame had him. Yes, with 10 roles, things tend to be like that but it need not necessarily have been that way. For e.g., Asin's role could have been much more meatier. She was quite annoying many times. Portraying her as this agraharam girl who is so dumb and does not know anything else but saving 'perumal's' idol is quite dumb. It is not even the sterotype. If her role had been more meatier, it would have made things so much better.
8.) The last song that sings Kamal's praise was quite unnecessary. A separate video showing the making of Dasavatharam would have been so much better.
9.) Napoleon looks like a chola king for sure. But, his classic tamil was horrible. Kulothunga cholan will be twitching in his graves if he heard it. Asin's classsic tamil was quite crappy too.
10.) The different avatars (that have connections to Vishnus avatars) include white christians, an indian christian, a muslim, hindus and atheists. I can smell a message here.
11.) The graphics in the movie was criticized widespread and I think it was quite undue. Comparing it with graphics in hollywood movies is quite atrocious. There is a small factor called budget. Comparing it with graphics in other Indian movies is more appropriate.
