Dasavatharam - Not quite bang on target!

Being an ardent Kamal fan, i just couldn't wait any longer to watch his 'magnum opus' Dasavatharam. The hype surrounding the movie was incredible, I would say much more than Sivaji! i grabbed my opening weekend tickets and rushed off to witness the spectacle in NJ. The opening scenes of the movie set in the 12th century had me drooling for more. But what followed didn't have me spellbound! Well, I did enjoy the fast paced movie, but certainly didn't think it was a masterpiece worth the hype. The movie did not have a complex intriguing story line. A few characters of Kamal (tall muslim, grandma, Avtar singh, japanese) either reminded me of Avvai Shanmugi or looked like a facial plastic surgery gone terribly wrong. Totally unnecessary! The much talked about graphics component, touted as hollywood-esque, maybe be better than some Indian movies but just not top notch. More important than any of this, the movie lacked that powerful drive home point! Too many messages inundated with kamal's now tiring atheist tirades with none making an impact on the viewer. 'Anbe Sivam' was much subtler but just rammed it's message straight into your heart. It happens very few times that I return from a movie and just don't know what opinion to form of it. Kamal's body language especially as the menacing Fletcher and the hilarious Balram Naidu were exceptional. The stunt sequences were remarkably choreographed. The 12th century piece was visually captivating. It was thoroughly enjoyable as a commercial entertainer but failed as a landmark Kamal movie. You would expect his movies (except his comedy capers) to seize you into the moment , silence you, torment you, enlighten you & elate you! You expect them to shake your very elementary bearings! But sadly nothing of that sort happened. No doubt, Kamal has gone through strenuous efforts to make this movie, be it exorbitant make-up or encompassing extreme characters. But at the end of the movie, u feel that maybe a less superlative effort would have still yielded the same result. Believe me , i would prefer Anbe Sivam's injury deformed asymmetric face any day to khalif's molten face! The 'Chaos Theory'/'Butterfly effect' concept are trend setting in Indian Cinema. But they were better portrayed i thought in the Ashton Kutcher movie 'The Butterfly Effect' though in a lighter sense. The Ranganthan idol causing the Tsunami sounds pretty lame even though that is the intent of the theory, that insignificant actions may cause extreme reactions. ATleast that is what most people think loudly on their blogs. Infact lot of people have gone through great pains to delve into less known abstract concepts to explain the movie! I tried deducing the movie from a positive perspective and this is what i got:

I think it is safe to assume that parallels are drawn between the 12th century priest Rangaraja Nambi and the modern day scientist Govindaraja Naicker. They are the main protagonists. Similarly we can do the same to link the antagonists. We have king Kulothunga Chola from the past and the institution behind Fletcher or the US government headed by Bush. Both Rangaraja and Govind have strong beliefs of their own. While Rangaraja believes that Lord Vishnu is the divine power who guides everything on earth, Govind believes science is something which should be used to serve humanity rather than creating weapons of destruction. Both antagonists differed with these beliefs. While Kulothunga believed there is no other divine power other than Shiva and his forms, Bush believed science could be used to destroy human life if it is considered a threat. Now Rangaraja perishes in his quest to preserve his belief while Govind succeeds in proving his. Rangaraja is a man who believes in a supreme form (God) while Govind believes in a supreme power (nature)! The essence of the film might be what is evident in the climax. Nature , symbolized by the Tsunami, suppressed the human actions and declared it's supremacy over us mortals! While it dumped tons of NaCl to negate the bio weapon, it also returned the 12th century idol to the land where it belongs! Thus it culminated both good protagonists' efforts to counter the antagonists' evil designs. The 'Chaos theory' concept not only existed within the modern times which involved the various characters and their effects on each other leading to a series of events. It is also signified by the correlation and hence implicit interaction between events separated by centuries of time. The cycle of life is also emphasized!

Phew! That was the best i could do! At the end of the movie, the dumb felicitaion function, KS Ravikumar's dance, Bullets taking cancer cells with them, Govind's stale rants against superstitions/castes, too many messages relating to religious, humane and environmental spheres, partially awful make-up/ cheap graphics and a blatantly immodest song singing Kamal's praises spoiled the entire experience! What could have been a landmark effort by the legendary thespian, fell short and just managed to be a decent commercial entertainer! Hope 'Marmayogi' really quenches our creative thirsts! BTW , i still remain a die hard Kamalian, despite Aazhavanthan, Mumbai Express & Dasavataram!;)!