The long awaited ‘masterpiece’ of legendary Indian actor Kamal Hassan, the movie ‘Dasavatharam’ has finally been released in cinemas around the world. The highly publicized film, which was made on a very high budget, had been delayed for release due to a series of pesky petitions against its release.
The script and dialogue for the film have been written by Kamal Hassan himself, with KSRavikumar as the “director” of the film. Kamal Hassan plays ten different roles in the film, including the role of US President George Bush. The weft of the film is very thin and the entire film is based on high technical and production values. Big-name makeup artists, special effects experts, and others out of Hollywood have contributed to the film’s technical excellence and hugely inflated the budget.
The film begins in the 12th century and shows grandiose scenes of massive fights between Vaishnavites and Siva’s devotees. The scene quickly shifts to a state-of-the-art biotech lab in the US, where George Bush (played by Kamal) allocates huge funds for biotech research to wage a biological war on international terrorism). The Indian scientist attached to the lab develops a new strain of virus that is lethal if released. It can only be destroyed with large amounts of sodium chloride. The virus is about to be traded to an international cartel, before our hero steps in and inadvertently sends the vial to India. The storyboard is moved to India, which gives Kamal the opportunity to introduce the remaining roles (Balram Naidu the CBI officer, Khaifullah Khan, the tall Muslim, Avtar Singh the famous singer, Krishnaveni the old woman, Vincent Poovaragan the Dalit leader, Japanese warrior and, of course, 12th century Visnavite Rangarajan Nambi). The villain of the piece, Fletcher, the American mercenary, chased the jar to Chidambaram India. The film ends after car chases, stunt fights, a reenactment of the December 2004 Tsunami.
The movie leaves the viewer totally impressed. It looks like a third-rate category B movie without finesse or a touch of expert. The technical excellence, the enormous effort of Kamal Hassan and the excruciating makeup changes, all aside, the film has nothing to offer. The plot is a stark mix between Harrison Ford Indian Jones and Robin Cook’s medical thrillers. Kamal Hassan impresses most in the roles of the villain Fletcher and CBI supreme Naidu. Effortless performance. But that’s about the artistic values of the film.
Conclusion: A colossal waste!