Dasavatharam (2008) User Reviews

A real good one

[aarunp · 8/10 · 14 June 2008]

This movie shows efforts of Kamal trying real hard to take Tamil cinema to the next level without losing its commercial value. Clearly, this is not a kind of movie that Kamal makes. But, yes apart for a few shortcomings (to give commercial value) the film lives up to its expectations.

There are few times when you actually think whether some of the characters are necessary. But when you already have a baseline of Eddie Murphy donning 7 and Sivaji Ganesan donning 9 roles, I think you do not have a choice than appearing in 10 roles.

The story is quite predictable, but that is compensated by the Kamals appearance in each and every frame. I would have to say that the letdown is in the music department. Himesh should not have been the composer, instead AR Rehman would have been good.

Kamal's hard work and perseverance is evident throughout the movie and that works good for the movie.

KS Ravikumar has been roped in just to add the commercial elements to keep the investments safe and he does it quite good.

Not a regular Kamal film as its commercial like a Rajini movie, though reiterates the fact why he is called the "Best in Indian Cinema".

This multi-faceted effort will be remembered in Indian cinema a long way. Kudos.

pure genius

[voveri-chandru · 7/10 · 15 June 2008]

an instance for chaos theory....the statuette hits ocean beds....beneath the bed develop faults....faults run for kilometers say upto indonesia ....and pressure builds up....for almost 800 years.....at last it unleashes....triggers tsunami....to save lives???? the above 3 lines is my opinion of the plot of dasaavatharam....yours may be different....if this is not art then what is???? the creative genius of kamal haasan has been unleashed to an audience who have witnessed thousand odd duets,thousand odd cheap fights and few good movies as well.music was good and the make up was not upto the standard that kamals earlier films had set.perhaps he felt the pressure of the time this project took.ravi varman deserves mention.asin was irritating at times and of the ten three to four roles was not enjoyed.and like this the film may contain many flaws if not less but kamal stands as tall as kalifulla khan does before these flaws.dasaavatharam may or may not be a commercial success but it is time for the world to stand up and congratulate this artist.

One of the Best innovative Indian Movies ever.

[amolghadi · 8/10 · 29 June 2008]

Finding fault with the graphics, makeup and other finer details of this film, is like Kamal Haasan (KH) trying to show us the beauty of the bright full moon by pointing at it with his finger and we, the ignorant ones, instead of soaking in the beauty of the moon, telling him:"Look! your finger has a big, ugly wart on it".

This movie does not deserve a 9/10 or a 10/10 overall (though for its innovativeness it does),but whoever has rated this movie anything less than 8, have merely found faults with its finer details only and not with the intention. Yes, this movie is faulty on the technical side. On the brighter side: at least this Indian movie dares to enter the unchartered waters of technicality. Movies are meant to be serious, some are comic, some happen to be entertaining and some turn to be eye-opening. This movie can be classified in the last three types that I mentioned just now.

I am a Maharastrian and unfortunately, don't understand a single word of any of the South Indian languages. But Humans don't need Languages to communicate intelligence and wisdom. And KH is both Intelligent and Wise. I am yet to watch the movies of KH, they call 'masterpieces' in the South, but I have watched a lot of his Hindi movies,commercial as well as off-the-track ones. Without exaggerating a bit , The Best Movie of India ever made till date is 'Hey Ram (2000)' followed by Swades(2004). You have to watch these to believe these. As for this movie: I, myself, don't believe in God, - for me, it's the usual 'Science versus Religion' conflict - but I do believe in the good intentions, good nature and common sense of any human being, even if he/she is a high priest of any temple. I loved every bit of word of what this guy, 'sivausa' has said about this movie. Everyone should read what he has to say about this movie. That's the whole summary of the movie. KH's all 10 performances varied from good to great, most of them great.The most entertaining of them being undoubtedly the characters of the Intelligence officer, Balaram Naidu and THE George Bush.

As a Science Professional (I'm a software engineer), I know and understand the Chaos Theory, though not every bit of it (it's deep) and love every little deed done towards understanding any phenomenon of Science. KH has done his bit in an entertaining, hilarious and a comic way and may be hopefully more movies of the revolutionary type will come from him. The Best Scientific Movie ever made till date is the Steven Spielberg's no-nonsense 'Artificial Intelligence (2001)'. And so some ignorant people will definitely laugh at KH for his efforts on movies like this one or the great movie 'Hey Ram (2000)'. But for me, what matters is the intention behind any efforts irrespective of the output at the box-office. And in this movie, even the output was great and hilarious. The direction-overall and the 'Butterfly effect'-in specific, definitely HAS to be KH's genius idea, even though director named in the credits is somebody else. That's what usually happens with great actors like a KH, Amir Khan or a Denzel Washington. They dominate the captain of the ship, the Director. And yes,... they also make for good Directors themselves. KH has tried to highlight through this movie, some major issues that haunt the world and India in particular: Caste, creed, religion, environment, politics and the biggest of them - GOD. This movie is both informative as well as entertaining. So I suggest, don't take it seriously where it is not supposed to be. Here, I am talking of the comic storyline or rather how many times KH's character loses the Vial throughout the journey. If somebody does want to attack the plot/storyline here, I would rather recommend him/her to go and watch more serious movies like 'Hey Ram(2000)', 'Schindler's List(1993)', 'The Godfather(1972-90)' or 'Artificial Intelligence(2001)' instead and dare challenge their plots there if possible.

Asin's performance was over the top and torturous sometimes but OK overall.

Reshamiya's tunes in some songs like the opening song of the Vishnu worshiper-priest/ 'Mukunda-Mukunda'/ the Pop singer's stage song, I did find to be catchy, even though I am not a fan of Himesh.

I have seen better storyline(Hey Ram(2000),'Artificial Intelligence (2001)',...long list). I have experienced better special effects('AI(2001)' again or Jurassic Park(1993), The Matrix(1999), Death Becomes Her (1992),...long list). I have observed better stunts (Any Jackie Chan / Bruce Lee movie). I watched better makeup(Star Wars(1977),Lord of the Rings(2001),Monster(2003),...many more).But still I would rate this movie no less than a full 8/10, only because of a talented KH's truly pure and great intention in making this movie.

KH is truly up there with the world's best actors, script-writers and directors.

...And yes, Kamal Haasan truly came very near to enacting a role every hot-blooded guy dreams of playing - a ruthless Schwarzenegger-style bad Terminator (as in Part One).

I also recommend viewers to watch 'The Da Vinci Code(2006)' and Swades(2004).

Outstanding Film - awesome character variances

[premkumar-rangarajan · 9/10 · 15 June 2008]

This is an outstanding film, one of the rare few films in the media based on Chaos theory linking it with the science behind Karma. The hard work and intelligence behind this movie is visible in every frame. The lead actor Kamalhaasan has surpassed himself and excelled in every character he has portrayed often turning up at apt moments in the film to guide the story forward. If one was not aware of the fact that Kamal has appeared in 10 characters in this film, one can find it very hard to guess that the three actors interacting in the screen are one and the same. This is a novel experience for the viewers and is one of the few movies that keeps everybody guessing in every frame.

Don't hesitate to hop on to this roller coaster ride

[amon-andros · 7/10 · 15 June 2008]

This movie is probably a better chase sequence movie I have seen in a long time. This can be a lesson to all the Bollywood and other directors who are trying in vain to produce a quality chase movie. The movie simply put is this- the villain is trying to hold on to something that the hero is trying hard to protect and make sure the right authorities have it. To make an exciting movie out of such a simple premise requires some effort and a good storyline. This movie has both of it, added to that is a fine acting by Kamal and an ease with which he makes an transition from one character to the other. Even those who do not agree with me would accept that the movie despite the flaws is watchable at least once. Moreover only Kamal would try such a brave movie (some might put it as foolishness), he did it at his peak when he tried a silent movie and he has done it now. Characters such as the CBI officer and the villain are amazing, Kamal has perfectly gelled himself in to the walk and the accent of those characters. For that matter he has gelled in to all the avatars though few of them are unnecessary, right from the dressing style to the dialog delivery. It is not possible by everyone to deliver such a performance. The first half is totally action packed and you will not realize how the hour and half fly away. If we do not consider this as another Rajni vs Kamal movie or for that matter compare it with other movies, just watch it as yet another movie it turns out to be a roller coaster ride that is enjoyable and turns out to be a very good family outing. It would be wrong to miss this movie for all its wrong reasons, because this is not a bad movie at all.

Now lets get to some movie bashing. As said previously, this movie is more enjoyable if we watch it as yet another movie, but it was never projected that way. It was supposed to be something else, something amazing which the movie is not. The vital part of the movie were the make up artists, who are a great let down and are never up to the mark. If we look at the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, one thing that stands out is that no two avatars are similar, they look different, not subtly but completely different. It makes no sense if two characters look similar. Here more than two look similar, the same long face and the same tan. Secondly, the motive of any filmmaker should be to make a good movie and not aim at a ridiculous record. If three or four characters make a good movie, its better to keep it that way. Here few characters are senseless, they make the movie boring, and get this- add nothing to movie. There are few characters which deserve more time, which would have been possible if those senseless characters had been removed. The next flaw is that the music is awful, a director like K.S.Ravikumar knows pretty well that if you are trying to make an Indian movie the music must be right on the dot. Why get someone like Himesh to do the music, who is losing his hold in Hindi industry itself? Is Tamil industry suffering from a music director drought, or are they on vacation or maybe they refused to be part of the extravaganza? Whatever the reason, the music is simply awful. The next big problem is the computer graphics, a case of overcooking the meal. The graphics are way too fuzzy and a pain to watch. Maybe they are futuristic, but that is not going to push the audience up or increase the ticket sales. In a age where movies are trying to out beat Matrix, this movie decides to be immature in this aspect.

Finally, I would recommend this movie to almost everyone as this is not a bad movie. The commitment and effort definitely deserves credit. If Kamal is more modest, ready to listen to his fans and make a movie for them instead of having 'My way or the highway' attitude, we can expect better movies. Instead of that all we can say is that this movie has all the ingredients for a 10/10 perfect score, but simply does not deliver it.

A splendid movie crafted with much efforts to please any movie goer and it proves to be a landmark in tamil film industry

[harshan87 · 10/10 · 14 June 2008]

I have read many user comments here and i don't know why they were disappointed by the film. This movie holds you up throughout the film. Wow awesome! Kamal excels donning ten roles with gr8 efforts differentiating each one through a different slang and body language. The movie is a racy thriller which has very right mixture of action and comedy and is splendid because of kamal's acting, makeups(one or two makeups are not very pleasing though),crazy's sensible and witty dialogues,special effects and all.I want to remind people that like any other film Dasavatharam is also a 'film' which is intend to satisfy all type of movie lovers. The plot may appear simple but the way it is portrayed in a thrilling way throughout without any flaws, introducing each role at appropriate time with most of them strongly connected to the main story(though i feel one or two characters not very needed to the film,we can give it up as they don't deviate you from the plot)is really superb.

Hello movie goers, don't even think to miss this movie. Go for the movie mainly for KamalHaasan who has taken really painful efforts and excelled in all ten lovable characters and i promise the movie will hold you up providing a 3 hour non stop entertainment in terms of action,special effects,comedy and a thrilling adventure no matter any genre lover you are..

This is the movie that would take Tamil cinema to the next generation

[psarjun · 7/10 · 3 July 2008]

As Kamal Hassan repeatedly informs "That He wanted to Take Tamil Movie to Hollywood Standard". He is doing step by step with Hey Ram, Abay (Aallavandan), Kurudipunal, Marudhanayagam. He has taken One Huge step forwarded with Dasavatharam. And he will ... with his Next Again with Marmayogi. Dasavatharam, I had seen Many movies where hero in Double or more role Unlike Other Movies here the Ten Roles have no Blood Relation. But there is a link between Ten Roles. For eg. Without Singer Kamal, The hero Kamal Couldn have been escaped from Villien. In Initial Scene where Kamal as Poojari and a Supportee of Lord Narayana (Rama, Vishnu). You can see the presence of the same through out the movie in the scene such as ... When Hero Kamal Jumps from a Bridge to escape from Fletcher.. He lands on a Lorry where you can a Note mentioned in the Head '' Sri Rama Jayam ''. Hands of to Kamal Hassan for his Great Attepmt. Each Kamal Characters Helps the Other Character. Watch the Movie Again and Listen to the Dialoge. Dialogs are good and in SOme CScenes its really Great. Yes Also thanks to KS Ravikumar, without KS Ravikumar the Commercial Value Would Have missed. And the MUSIC. the first Song 12th Century was Great and MOod of song will take you to the Mood of Kamal Hassan. Still I wish the Music Should have composed by A R RAhman. Which he done the mistake for Aalavandan (Abhay) Also. Bckground Score is Very Good.

Spectacular but not for everyone

[venkatesh-sridhar · 9/10 · 14 June 2008]

The true impact of the imagination, creativity, hard work, amazing attempt and last but definitely not the least - the sheer genius of the movie will only hit you at the end. This movie can only be understood once you are out of the theater plus if you prefer masala movies than this is a skip for you. Those who are willing and know that they will enjoy an intelligent movie can see it.

Having said, you get a sense of the grandeur and the history making that this movie not just portrays and achieves, at the start of the title credits when this line of text scrolls on the screen:

For the first time

in the history of world cinema

Dr. Kamal Haasan, Universal Actor

in Ten Roles The begins in 12th century Tamil Nadu where the Chola Dynasty King, Kulothunga Chola II,who is a big Lord Shiva devotee, decides to start a major redevelopment of the Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram, which also housed the Lord Vishnu idol in the form of Lord Govindarajan and decides to remove the idol forcibly against the wishes of Vaishnavites, followers of Lord Vishnu. This at the height of the (disputed) religious persecution of Vaishnavites by Shaivites led by Kulothunga Chola II. Enter, Rangaraj Nambi a Vaishnavite who grew up with the Chola King and was buddies with him, who resists the effort of the King to remove idol, the King does not pay heed and tells Rangaraj that if he praised Lord Shiva, then he would spare his life, Rangaraj refused and he is chained to the idol and immersed in the sea alongwith the idol.

The scene shifts to modern day America, where Govind the scientist is working on a lethal biological weapon and testing it on a monkey called Hanu. Govind prevents the biological weapon from being sold to rogue people by his boss. His quest to ensure that the terrorists do not end up with the biological weapon takes him to India where we get introduced to other 6 characters (apart from Rangaraj, Govind, Christian Fletcher - the ex CIA man one of the rogues, George W Bush Jr. - all played by Kamal Haasan) - a Japanese karate expert, an Indian intelligence official, a 95 year old lady, a environmentalist, a 6.5+ foot tall Afghani merchant, a Punjabi pop singer.

The story then revolves around whether Govind saves the world from a huge biological disaster or not and the true genius of the movie lies in how all these 6 characters are tied in and none of the characters appear forced and each have a role to play.

The movie scores highly in the manner in which these characters and their story are interwoven and are joined by a common thread. The movie can very well be termed India's first genuine attempt at sci-fi thriller. Kamal Haasan does an amazing job as a scriptwriter where the theme running through the film is questioning the existence of God but in a very balanced manner placing both sides of arguments in favor of theism and atheism, which clearly brings to fore his intelligent questioning mind. Also, the way he uses tsunami to show how the tsunami protects the world eventually, shows that he has an optimist tendency where even a catastrophe has something good that happens. It's a script where he presents strong arguments both in favor of and against the existence of God.

The challenge for the viewer though is that it is very difficult to pick which is Kamal's best role in the movie. Despite 10 characters to choose from, it becomes a problem of plenty and is very difficult to even do a top 10 countdown.

The amazing visual effects that are used in two scenes involving the ocean, the one where the idol gets immersed in sea in 12th century and the tsunami climax scene. The tsunami climax scene which alone cost Rs. 3.5-4 crores for that one scene was an amazing scene which showed how it came.

Kamal Haasan proves why he is India's best actor - no one would have the guts to take on a movie like this and pull it off as well as he did.

Asin in her role as the Brahmin girl who is overly possessive about the idol can sometimes be irritating because of over acting but she does play a role in adding to the comic effect in the movie. Mallika Sherawat provides glamour to the movie. Though her character as a deadly assassin's deadly assistant did not have much meat, she was bearable.

The biggest letdown in the movie for me was the music, not surprisingly as it was Himesh Reshammiya who was the music director and to expect good music from him is to expect intelligence from George W Bush. The background score is excellent and really adds spice to the proceedings thanks to Devi Prasad who provided the background score.

K S Ravikumar proves his mettle as a very capable director as he unveils an amazing array of directorial skills to direct this magnum opus.

Dasavathaaram - Legen…………….wait for it ….. darry (you need to be a How I Met Your Mother fan to understand it :)) Dasavathaaram is a must watch for those who can sit through and enjoy and think about an intelligent movie, not for the usual tamil film masala lovers.

Big Disappointment!!!!

[karthick-a · 6/10 · 13 June 2008]

Most films do not satisfy the audience after giving a Big Hype. Dasavatharam will join that group.I wonder why millions of rupees were invested for such a low profile story. Nothing seems to be appreciable in this movie except for Kamal's attempt for acting in 10 different characters. The Make Up Artists could have done a better job in portraying some characters.

Most of the audience couldn't understand the message in the Story.It is very important to satisfy the B and C Class audience to make money . Dasavatharam has failed to do so.

The major flaw in the movie is the Nambirajan Character which takes us back to 12th century. Can any one who saw the movie , explain the reason for bringing this character for almost 20 minutes.

The other unwanted characters among the 10 characters are Muslim Guy, Dalit Person Vincent,Japanese Guy.

Photographer should be appreciated for his Good Camera work in climax,The Psunami Scene.

Naidu Character makes us Laugh for Some time.

Finally we can give 6 out of 10. This is for the Cinematography and Kamal's Acting.

What a waste of Time and Money

[rajsenthil · 1/10 · 16 June 2008]

Kamal is a one of the good actor and few films like Salangai Oli, Mahanadhi, Nayagan can only be done by this actor. Having said that he totally wasted more than a year to create this crap. The crap became 10 times multiplied due to his 10 roles. If Kamal has to retain his legendary title, he should avoid his writing and only concentrate in his acting. This is my personal review and I sincerely beg everybody to write/read with the open mind. The plot(???) is that there is a relation for every incident that happens in this world. Does this movie unfold the knot of this plot? I doubt! Look at the movie like CRASH or BABEL which follows the same strategy in screenplay. Even Ayutha Ezhuthu by Maniratnam handled it pretty well. But not in this movie.

Best ever Bridge between Art & Commercial Cinema from God of Indian Movies

[hhhariram · 10/10 · 7 July 2008]

"Kallai mattum kandaal kadavul theriyaadhu, Kadavul mattum kandaal kalladi theriyaadhu." With these words starts the movie Dasaavathaaram, which means "If you see stone, you cannot see God. If you see God, you cannot see the stone behind it." Kamal Haasan may have excelled in ten different roles in the movie, but his 11th role as a script writer, according to me dominates the film. His rationalist thinkings dominate the theme of the film. Does God exist? If He exists, then why such inequalities and turmoil in the world? God created Man, but Man created temples and idols, caste, creed, races, religion and differentiated within himself and this has resulted in the current agony facing mankind. So explains the scriptwriter in this film.

The movie starts excellently with the breathtaking story of Rangaraja Nambi, a devotee of Lord Vishnu who gives up his life for Lord Vishnu in the Shiviite - Vaishnaviite battle. Here Kamal asks questions as to why Rangaraja Nambi died? Was it due to the Lord or the man made differences between Shiviites and Vaishnaviites. The movie goes along these lines and explores all the differences - the caste differences portrayed by Dalit Kamal Vincent Poovaraghavan, the Muslim Hindu differences portrayed by Muslim Kamal Kalifulla Khan. The differences in the world leading to the emergence of the terrorists which gives rise to the 9/11 bombings and the quest by the US to develop biological weapons after that, which threatens mankind.

Here Kamal portrays himself as scientist as Govindaraj Ramaswamy. He playes as the US President Bush also, which looks a bit comical. Some evil men take advantage of these differences as portrayed by the character Christian Fletcher also acted brilliantly by Kamal and are out to destroy mankind. Scientist Govind takes it upon himself to destroy the biological weapon and is prevented by all the evil forces. A Sikh singer Avatar Singh, affected by cancer and is shown to get caught between Govind and Fletcher in which Fletcher shoots Avatar Singh accidentally and the same bullet helps Avatar Singh from cancer. The Sikh family of Avatar Singh thanks their God for the divine help. Here too the writer Kamal resurfaces to show how man made events playing a role in the life of man are attributed to God. The Muslims including Kamal Kalifulla Khan who are illegally detained in a mosque by an hilarious RAW officer Balarama Naidu are saved by the Tsunami in the climax of the film. So did Allah save them, Kamal questions. The upper castes drowned by the Tsunami are saved by the Dalits but the Dalit leader Vincent Poovaraghavan gets drowned himself. So did God not do justice to him? Kamal again asks.

The Tsunami finally saves the world from the biological weapons. Asin, the heroine of the film thanks the Lord for saving the world from this dalamity. At this point, the scientist Govindaraj Ramaswamy questions her "Did God really act as savior, when several thousands have also died by the very Tsunami." Though Kamal shows the Tsunami to be the savior in this film, he also symbolically questions the reason behind the Tsunami. The man made differences leading to quest for scientific inventions going against the forces of Nature gives rise to such global warming and Tsunamis. So man in a way is destroying mankind in the name of God, whether be it in the 12th century or the 21st century. This is the underlying message of the film conveyed beautifully through a fast paced plot where Govind Ramaswamy the scientist is chased down by the villain Fletcher right from US to India. Kamal Haasan also plays the role of Krishnaveni Patti, the grandmother and Shingen Narahashi, a martial expert.

The film moves at such a brisk pace that one forgets the many loopholes and enjoys the grandeur and spectacle of the movie. The cinematagrophy is world class and the background music brilliant. The Director of the movie Ravikumar has done a good job, but the success of the movie can be attributed to the script and screenplay of Kamal Haasan. It is difficult to encompass such a complex thought, the chaos theory into a movie to be enjoyed particularly by an Indian audience. Kamal Haasan's performance as Rangarajan Nambi,Christian Fletcher and Vincent Poovaraghan certainly deserves National and International Awards. His portrayal as Balarama Naidu and Kalifullah Khan are hilarious. I liked his portrayal as Dalit leader Vincent Poovaraghavan. Of course, the hero Govind the scientist, Kamal Haasan was first rate. Heroine Asin also displayed superb acting skills. Mallika Sherawat played her part. Music by Himesh Reshammiya was nothing had audio cassettes selling like hot cakes. As a Director, Kamal Haasan already proved with 'Hey Ram'. Dasavathaaram is another quality product from him as a script and screenplay writer, though it could have been a milestone. One can expect more from Kamal Haasan as a script writer and also as a Director in the future.

Good attempt. One must watch it in theater. Still not on par with Navarathri.

[raamr · 7/10 · 14 June 2008]

At the outset, I would have to say that I agree with all the negative comments posted by others. There are flaws in story, logic, make up, graphics etc.,

But what makes this movie stand out from rest of the Tamil movies are the very same things that are mentioned above. This is a very good attempt to give an Hollywood style movie for Tamil cine goers. But definitely could've done much better. Sivaji's navarathri is a better entertainer compared to this one. Story line involving America could've been traded for story and acting by saving some money for Oscar. But then my suggestion is to watch this movie in theaters.

Pros

• First 20 mins. (There is a message at the end why it was included)

• Kamal's acting in four characters. Especially the Villain one.

• The climax scenes.

• Very unusual story line.

• Not another Tamil movie.

• Graphics

• Mallika's character after her intro dance.

• Asin's beauty.

Cons

• Un-necessary extravaganza and budget.

• Too many unwanted Kamal's characters

• English-Tamil dialogue scenes. (Un-necessary foreign mogam)

• Graphics. :)

• Makeup for Kamal.

• Kamal has not given enough emphasis to the acting part for most of his characters. He could've dome it a LOT better.

My suggestion is to watch this movie definitely. But...

Don't go to this movie because of the hype. Don't go thinking this movie is as good as a Hollywood movie. Don't go thinking kamal has done his best. Don't go thinking this movie is a very good entertainer.

Verdict - This is a Kamal Vs Kamal movie.

Very disappointed

[aatishshah · 4/10 · 14 June 2008]

Dasavatharam - I was expecting it to be a great movie, not only because Kamal was acting in it, but he was also the story writer, screenplay, and dialogues. And we know some movies like Anbe Sivam where he has been great. Knowing Kamal's talent, seeing him dawn 10 roles was a sure puller for me. But sadly it did not deliver.

I would start out giving a 7 star rating for this movie as I did not like, absolutely did not like 3 of his characters. The Afghan like guy (Youssuf), George Bush, Japanese guy (Why were they even there) Ugh. The rest of the 7 characters have been done from average to extremely well. The Naidu character is a must watch. The first scene of Naidu was really entertaining, and then he also becomes a drag sometimes. Kamal is phenomenal in his linguistics and portrayal in lot of his characters. Extremely well essayed.

Well I will start removing the stars now.

Asin - Oh my God! She was atrocious, I am not talking about her but I am talking about her role. It was flat annoying. Her love for Perumala is so irritating, that you will want to pull your hair out. And she has such length role that it adds oil to the already started fire. So the discredit goes to script and not her. (One star lost here so 6 stars) The story - Kamal wanted to have a message in the film, but the plot was so predictable and absolutely below par, that from first minute you want to find flaws in the film. And there are plenty for grabs. Finally the message somehow gets blurred. (5 stars) Screenplay - I can't believe except for a couple of characters and a couple of scenes, nothing remains etched. Absolutely poor screenplay for Kamal's talent. (I am still pulling my hairs because of Asin's character). (4 stars) Direction/Editing - This was one of the worst parts of the film. It never gives you the sense that the movie is taking you somewhere. It throws you from here and there with its uninvolving sequence, like it doesn't want you to get interested in the film at all. (3 stars) Kamal - He has done phenomenal, just in terms of portraying so many different people and some of them extremely well. People that don't understand Indian or even South Indian cultures will not be able to appreciate it so much. His best characters in terms of performance are Naidu, then the dark skinned Antony, and Fletcher Better than average performances - as scientist, old lady, 12th century guy. Average performances - Singh singer, below than average - Afghan guy, George Bush, and Japanse guy. Most of the characters were there just because they had to tally the count to 10, I could have lived with 3-4 avatharam. So this looked more like Kamal's selfish desires to be more versatile in a single movie rather than making 10 movies. This brings the movie to its rock bottom. (2 stars) Special effects - For the amount of money spent, it was a disaster. Some people were trying to convince me that for Indian standards its great. I would disagree, why to set the bar so low. We are capable of wonders. I am sure they did not want to meet the "so called Indian standards". They wanted to make it phenomenal. I am sure most of you would agree that it was very far from that. The most talked about Tsunami scene, it was so computer generated, the color of water, the way it flows, you gotta be kidding. Certainly not expected from a movie this big (1 star) Yeah, so where did I end... oops 1 star. I would add 2 stars for extraordinary effort put in by Kamal for all the different roles and the tireless efforts put in by the make-up artists. No wait some of the make-ups were so gawdy, so just 1.5.

Hence my final verdict, i give it 2.5 Having said this, I still respect Kamal, for he is one the most versatile actors in any industry today. So, please live up to it the next time. Next time make movies for some story, screenplay and not for some marathon desire for versatility. Will await your next movie.

Great Work. Don't Miss It.

[aravindjose · 10/10 · 16 June 2008]

(First of all, I'm not a Fanboy) How could a movie in which One Man In Ten Roles be bad/not good?

I agree that, the story line is not that strong as we expected. It has got only a basic thread (but) onto which the ten characters have been BEAUTIFULLY interlaced.

The Movie is a VISUAL TREAT (100%). It is worth the money you pay for.

If you want to experience the full thrill of the movie, don't read any summaries/synopsis nor read about the Ten Characters of Mr. Kamal in the film. If you've read about those different characters before watching the movie, You've already missed a great part of the thrill.

Some characters of him, (I'm not mentioning since it has to be experienced) are SO PERFECT that you'll take time to convince your mind that it's Mr. Kamal itself.

Now into the movie. There are shots, where 3 or more characters of Mr. Kamal interact with each other. (not to mention a shot which took 20 days where Mr. Kamal kicks Mr.Kamal!!)

Though, you might get slightly bored during the half hour just before the intermission, the events after the intermission are enough and more to pull you back into the movie. Especially, the Tsunami Sequence is the best. Perfectly shot sequence. Also there are some Hollywood-class Car Chases including Choppers (which are a rare thing in Indian Cinemas).

Overall, I recommend this movie. Be proud that this happened in Indian Cinema.

Thank You. (I've not mentioned any incident/event so as not to spoil the thrill. It has to be experienced).

One of the best embryo formed in Kamal's wombs

[bharani123 · 7/10 · 5 July 2008]

If you watch Tamil "mass-appeal" movies regularly, you will fall in love straightaway. I was little disappointed since I expected Kamal's ideas all over, but the commercial elements doused the brilliant concept that Kamal unveiled throughout the movie.

Concept - The very concept was interpolating Chaos theory into the projection of 10 avatharams in modern spectrum. Th message will be revealed only if you choose to ignore the usual funny stuff - songs, fights, and loquacious blurbs.

Conceptualization - Our brain has to be a NASCAR driver to follow every situation, the meaning (or the avatharam portrayed) of each character of Kamal, process the information and then decide the message he wanted to give! The movie starts in a hurry and ends in a hurry. Portion of the viewing pleasure was lost because of the incessant and sometimes annoying delivery of dialogues.

Songs - As usual, they are garbage and unnecessary for the pace of the movie and have been simply stowed in for appealing to mass audiences.

I am giving a 7 because the concept was brilliant but the presence of commercial elements make it unappealing.

Dasavatharam - why you should watch it.

[tempor1 · 9/10 · 14 June 2008]

Dasavatharam - why you should watch it.

Why should you watch Dasavatharam? First off, just to watch Kamal get into the skin of each of the 10 characters he portrays, the mannerisms and body language that he gets perfectly for each character and the awesome dialogue delivery of each. The Telugu officer, Balram Naidu, is easily the best of the lot - brilliant comic timing, mannerisms and dialogue delivery. The old lady, the Dalit Christian (watch Kamal's fiery eyes act by themselves in this role), the Sikh, the Muslim and even the Japanese are all spot-on with their body language, accent and voice intonations. The ruthless assassin is well played out too, his entry sequence is racy. Second, the layers within the film - I seriously don't understand some of the reviewers who found flaws with the script and screenplay and who could not connect the first episode with the rest of the movie. Yes, the story, in a nutshell, is quite simple - vial lost, hero and assassin race to get hold of it, hero manages to stop assassin, vial destroyed, movie over. However, there are several other threads running within the movie - religion, politics, science, the environment and the list goes on. The underlying theme is chaos theory which links seemingly disparate events. At another level, the movie also questions if there is a force behind every occurrence in the world or not - did the sinking of the idol in the 12th century result in God venting his fury centuries later in the form of a tsunami, which, both, returns the centuries old sunken idol back to the shore, and neutralises the virus from the broken vial? If so, then why did God not prevent the virus from being developed in the first place? As the scientist Kamal says in the end, he never said that God did not exist, but only that it would be good if God really existed. There are several bits and pieces throughout the movie that pose this question - the sacred mark on a truck which saves scientist Kamal when he jumps from the bridge, the people who are herded into the mosque for interrogation and who are unwittingly saved from the wrath of the tsunami, the bullet that hits the sardarji's neck etc. At another level, the movie poses questions about our abuse of the environment - the sand mafia's constant erosion of sand and land from the coastal areas (which by the way, is still a major problem all over Tamil Nadu) despite the obvious risk of sea water incursion, the spiraling increase in government funding of weapons development etc. Or if you are just looking for plain entertainment, the movie still works well as a straightforward action movie with a hero and a villain. Third, the dialogues are splendid - whether it is the 12th century chaste Tamil, the Iyengar Tamil, the Telugu inflected Tamil or the northie accented Tamil, the dialogues are simply great. Incidentally, the dialogues have been penned by Kamal and not by Crazy Mohan as some reviewers seem to think. Fourth, the technical quality of the movie - the cinematography by Ravi Varman is awesome, the sets are brilliant (the 12th century portion is a visual treat) and some parts of the CGI are good (though we obviously have a long way to go before we can compare our CGI to even an average Hollywood special effects flick). Fifth, finally an Indian movie that gets rid off the typical romance routine, avoids the formula song and dance routines, and which blends the songs into the narrative seamlessly. The Mukunda Mukunda shadowgraphy bit is creatively done.

So what are the drawbacks in the movie? Clearly, a couple of the characters are not really necessary - the Muslim one could definitely have been removed from the movie. The Sikh character is another unnecessary addition (seriously, the bullet getting rid of the cancer? What were they thinking??) While the George Bush one may not have been necessary, it still is a treat to watch Kamal parody Bush (I loved the "can't we nuke it" line). Second, the Asin character (Andal) is a pain. Watching and hearing her repeatedly clamouring for the idol gets really irritating after a point. It would have been a lot better if they could have just toned down her character and made her more realistic. Third, the makeup for some of the characters is a letdown. The Muslim character, especially, is badly done. The ones for the Japanese and the old lady, though, were pretty good. It was hard to believe that the Japanese was not really a Japanese guy.

Despite these flaws, the movie is certainly a must-watch whether you are a Kamal fan or not. So make it to the nearest theatre and do not get misguided by reviews that tell you otherwise.

A milestone of course.

[getdheerubhai · 7/10 · 15 July 2008]

Kamal's secret selfish desire to enact 10 different roles in a single movie beating Eddie Murphy(7-roles) and Shivaji (9-Roles) in world film landed to the birth of Desavatharam.The flawless actor has delivered a well-groomed effort in delivering the actions to the perfection but other departments ( technical and screenplay) fails.It can be treated as a fair-attempt made by Tamil film industry to match Hollywood standards but eventually got busted by miles. Magic sustains until it is kept invisible to the spectator, similarly the CGI effects were toned down in many (may be most) of the sequences. Starting from the introductory sequence where Stadium is picturised, the crowd is not showed instead a vague glimpse of shaky pictures and sounds are made heard. If they can pour Rs70 crore into the production-bucket, is it really a big deal to get sufficient people to fill the gallery. The 12th century sequences, it more evident that Temple is a computer made super-imposed image, if you compare it with opening sequence of The Mummy it far beyond comparison. Dumping Kamal into sea looks "Water-Tank" effort, lot of mismatch in colors and shades of water here and there. The much hyped sequence of Tsunami looks like an episode from famous Doordarshan TV-Serials. I do agree making such a movie to a near perfection may require Rs200-300 crores, but the expectation and hype given by the production house should be treated as a mere publicity stunt. For an Indian movie, it's a gear-shift for the next generation....A milestone of course. Kamal,he is one the most versatile actors in any film industry today, portraying 10 characters in not a big deal, if asked Vadivelu(South Indian comedian )too can do but providing different mannerism for each roles really makes it worth and Kamal has done the justice to each of it. Performance of CBI officer and Delid leader were mind-blowing and performances were unmatched and I don't think anyone in Filmdom can beat the show. It is a big flaw, which made few roles just for the sake of counting numbers to sum up to 10 .The make-up used for Grandma and Tall-man it too UGLY and even kids could identify it as mask. They could have avoided it by using long focus shots. Can you believe a person using binocular (not microscope) sees the virus replication, that too from a helicopter..! Hero and Villain reaches airport at the same time, where the later had to get married and file petition to fly to India and other formalities. An international terrorist is being chased by One CBI officer, where are other officers's gone? May be on vacation A monkey was smart enough to get password of a locker door, but not intelligent enough to differentiate chocolate and virus capsule. All the Ten (oops, 10-3=8) characters are given special foremost seat in the final meeting held at stadium but are they that important to the screenplay? (of course important for the movie ) Dasavathram is not the piece of cake for K S Ravichandran, I prefer Shankar could have done better. Positive Side: Ofcource great outstanding performance. Great camera flow and shot selection. Stunt sequence. Funny but realistic dialogues. Virtual Cinematographic excellence. Innovation from all-sides.

Best film ever made in Tamil

[sivajiever · 10/10 · 14 June 2008]

Dasavatharam is spectacular What a super human effort! That will be the first reaction of any normal film buff who watches Kamal Haasan's Tamil magnum opus, Dasavathaaram. The film is certain to thrill and entertain the audience for all of its 165 minutes, making them feel that they are watching something unusual and spectacular on screen. The film starts off with an incident that occurs in the 12th century when Shaivite intolerance against Vaishnavites was at its peak. An ardent Vishnu devotee loses his life to save the idol of Lord Ranganatha. Kamal plays his first role of Vishnu devotee Rangarajan in this episode which is marked by excellent technical work and the actor's extraordinary performance.

IS This movie really a Kamal Hassan's flick??

[s_ravi85-1 · 7/10 · 14 June 2008]

well,i m a big fan of kamal. I have been watching all his movies and i really like him for his acting skills,dedication,hard work,passion for cinema, his ideas about taking Tamil cinema to another dimension and all those... i don't think DASA would be considered one of kamal's best movie. Sure,v can see definite hard work in the movie, but i think he has missed out something in this movie. I saw the movie on the 1st DAY at famous players hoping this movie could be a unbelievable one,extraordinary film.. this, that like all other fans, but it turned out to be a ordinary movie wid extraordinary performance by none other than the legend. The introduction was excellent, i was expecting it to be a different film all together, but it was a normal flick wid some fabulous performances. May be i thought i had seen enough of kamal in one movie, but he is a legend and i don't mind seeing him all day.WATTA ACTOR!! I loved all his roles except for Kalifullah Khan and US President.It was very unreal and dint suit at all.Many scenes were narrow and unrealistic like Fletcher's unwanted killing, Asin's stupidity throughout.I m not sure if any girl would be so innocent and be so unreal. The graphics was SO terrible and i dint know if kamal had anything to do in this dept and y wasn't he unaware of it.The old lady and the naidu were one interesting performance and other roles was nothing wen compared to his class and talents, its a cake walk for this unbelievable person.At the end wen he says DAT he was not against god and only wants god to be there to help people proves the whole point and the story altogether. The movie was neither Ravi Kumar's class neither KAMAL's class. I m not very disappointed as his hard work and dedication could be seen and its a OK movie for kamal's standards.

Nightmarishly bad!! I wouldn't go and wouldn't recommend anyone....nearly the worst film ever made

[siva-subramani · 1/10 · 14 June 2008]

I am not being too critical, I am a great fan of Kamal and have been proud, but this movie is really really awful. They have seem to put in loads of effort and poured in money, but movie is not all about everyday 6hrs makeup! They seem to be introducing character by character without any relevance and the makeup is so bad that sometimes you want to turn your head away..UGLY! And, the graphics, please don't tell me you spent money on this...it looks like some students college graphics project. Really shameful to think of the fact that we make such a awful graphics.

No story whatsoever, background music is bad at times, camera irritatingly rotates all the time, reminds me of typical Dhanush or Vijay movies! Asin is the most annoying girl you will ever see on screen.

Kamal & KS R experimented a great deal in someone else's money! :)

I wouldn't go and wouldn't recommend anyone...absolute waste of time Only +, some songs are good, Kamal is good at times.... Please don't go...just watch few clips on television

Truly the best Indian film to-date - Kamal rocks!!!!

[shankar-nandakumar · 10/10 · 14 June 2008]

Vow! Fantastic. An fast paced action thriller, this is the best Indian movie ever........

A movie, which I went into the theatre with little expectation, came out with such enjoyment that, I am planning to see it again. In the world of cinema no one has acted in 10 varied roles in one movie. Most of the 10 characters were portrayed with such diligence with only few not up to the mark (in comparison with others, but by itself they are good).

You don't need to be anyone's fan to watch this movie. Just go and watch with no threads attached and you won't be disappointed. You cannot expect a great screenplay in a movie such as these, as 10 characters have to be intercepted without logic. A clean entertainment in the ropes of Hollywood style computer graphics and action.

Dumbo

[jacobj-46918 · 27 May 2020]

Bad prosthetics. Bad movie. Above all Asin was a irritating whining idiot

Amazingly Overrated Movie-Poor Script,Kamal Hassan shines!!

[Hrithan2020 · 6/10 · 18 June 2008]

I saw Dasavatharam amidst a lot of hype and positive reviews and to tell the truth,i was sorely disappointed.Admittedly,the first few minutes were awesome.It should have set the pace for a gr8 movie,but unfortunately poor screenplay,unnecessary character addition (apparently to set a record) and poor CGI(considering the huge budget of the film) lets the film down.Action scenes were mostly good especially the last fight.

But,it should still be a treat for the Kamal Hassan who has portrayed some of the characters such as Christian Fletcher,Rangarajan Nambi were brilliant.But some of the characters such as Kalifullah Khan and Krishnaveni seemed unnecessary.Its mainly due to the poor script where the interlude (so to speak) was poorly scripted.Also, the connection of the 12th century scenes with the 21st century left much to be desired.The music was bearable,to say the least.I wonder whether the decision to make Himesh Reshamiyya the Music Director instead of A.R.Rahman was a tad too hasty.

Asin's 21st century character seemed a bit too zealous and dumb.(Maybe because of overacting or the screenplay).Also there are obvious flaws in the direction where in the latter parts the background characters are caught doing silly things.The director surely needs to pay attention to the details.

In short,u'll probably enjoy if u r a kamal hassan fan or don't mind the poor script and graphics.

Absolutely idiotic

[vinz990 · 1/10 · 21 July 2008]

I went to see this movie with great expectations.But at the end of the show i came out of the theater with my mind filled up with the thoughts and concepts of a terrible movie.I could not believe that,kamal,a favourite star of millions {including me}wrote this sucking story.In my own words i would describe this movie as a terrible one with absolutely brilliant acting.Kamalhassan was truly superb and all his ten characters were really cool.But what spoiled the movie was its story.There were many situations where i felt fletcher had more skills than spider-man .Anyone will feel that in the closing stages of the movie.There were also many other scenes which ,i felt,ruined the whole movie. 1 - First of all i felt that there was no need of the first story of Rangaraja nambi.He {govind ramasaamy} could have directly narrated the story.But then i got the reason.Anyway kamal wanted to star in ten different roles.So he just created the character without even thinking about its harmful effects on the movie.

2 - Fletcher the spider-man -This is the second part where i felt the movie was literally turning into a super"villain" movie.In the climax scenes ,the way he jumps from floor to floor and the building under construction ,was amazing.

3 - Mallika sherawat's role was truly idiotic.A song ,a dance and a few scenes with kamal .thats it. There was no need for it .Then i felt that it was a good idea to create mallika 's role so that the movie will be seen by many in numbers.

4 - the next part- the most important part-I wondered why kamal included those scenes in the movie.Would you believe it ???? .The singer was shot in the throat ,he survived it for almost a day and even his cancer was cured .That was absolutely rubbish.But i thanked kamal for giving that idea.I was happy that the doctors got a new idea to cure cancer.All they have to do is to shoot the patients in the neck and then perform a surgery and the cancer is cured

5 - The next part is very ridiculous .I don't know what grudge does kamal hold against American president Bush.There is a scene ,where Bush is told about NaCl.And Bush doesn't know what is NaCl.He asks his secretary about it and he is told that NaCl means sodium chloride.

6 - After the terrible incident of tsunami ,in the final scene,i don't think that bush will commit such a foolish mistake.The way he walks to the mic to deliver the speech.....my god.Was it actually a fashion show???.The way he got up from his chair...that was moreover like a Rajnikanth style.He walked in a style of fashion contestants

Those who described this movie as amazing,great,brilliant,superb..etc ,i would kindly request them to read this and correct their comments about this movie which is,as i said earlier,a terrible one with good acting.

Everyone should watch.... and UNDERSTAND

[sivausa · 9/10 · 15 June 2008]

Okay, I read a lot of nasty comments in another thread about how bad the story , graphics, and makeup was. First of all, I am actually a Rajini fan, but after Anbe Sivam, Thenali, and now Dasavatharam, I can safely say I also really like Kamal. Yes, the graphics were a bit disappointing, but that shouldn't make or break the story. Yes, some makeup was obvious on some characters, but goddammit they all tried their best as can be seen after the movie and you know what, my dad really thought Fletcher was a white guy until the interval.

The most amazing thing about this movie, in my humble opinion, is the amazing story, the lessons it teaches, and all the little details added to bring about the story.

Okay, now I will start my analysis of the story...

Chaos Theory was one of the themes in this movie. Everything affects everything. No matter how small of an event, it can still have a huge impact. Someone said the 12th century flashback was pointless. I am sorry my friend, but it is vital to the Chaos Theory theme. The huge idol of Perumal dropped into the ocean in the 12th century BC affected the tectonic plates just a little slightly. After almost 3000 years, the tectonic plates shifted enough to cause an earthquake, which subsequently caused the Dec.26th South Asian Tsunami. This tsunami caused enough sea water to submerge the deadly biochemical that Fletcher releases. I hope you remember that sea water is in fact salty water (NaCl water). Hero Kamal said they would need mountains of NaCl if the biochemical was released, and that mountain of NaCl came in the form of the tsunami. All the little details that happened throughout the course of the movie ultimately brought the biochemical to the shores of the sea. Also, it was fate that brought Kamal and Asin to the seashore of the same beach scene in 12th century BC. Because they were at a historical place, Boovaragalam was there to stop the sand-stealers from destroying the historical area. This in turn allowed Kamal+Asin to escape and allowed Boovaragalam to subsequently go to his enemy's house to subsequently save his children.

The value of each individual is a second theme found in the story. Everyone has the potential for change to happen (chaos theory). Like, Boovaragalam (i know wrong spelling) said, we are all heroes, some of us just choose to live like vermin. This same character also rebutted the sand-stealer's offensive statement that his lower class people can not read. Boovaragalam shows example of all his people that can read, he even introduces one of his people who is a poet. When the poet finishes and one of the people in his group say all of us can now read, Boovaragalam admits he is illiterate. But then his friend makes a beautiful comeback for him, when he says Boovaragalam is a genius without even having to read. That scene really made me feel for those who put down others in society based on caste or education level. The scene showed how important every person is, no matter how literate or how rich or how high class a person is. We are all equal in god's eyes. Boovaragalam doesn't think twice about risking his own life to rescue his enemy's children. Unlike others who were not in the right place to save the children, Boovaragalam was. The scene showed the power each individual possesses.

Now, on to the many many many fine details... Fletcher shows his bad-****** attitude a lot, did you see him flip off the security camera? lol The lion statue on the sea shore appears in the 12th century and in present times. Old Asin killed herself on the head of this lion, present Asin hits herself on the same lion. In the scene where Old Kamal is dropped into the ocean with the idol, a little of his blood triggers the senses of a shark. The shark of course eats him, except for his hand, which is why there is only the bones of a hand that remains on the statue after the idol washes ashore after the tsunami. The hordes of birds that fly over Fletcher when he is alone with the idol on the construction building indicates the impending tsunami.

I have written all of this based on only seeing it once. There is a lot more that should be added once I see it again. Plus, I did forget some details here and there as well. As I hope you can see, the powerful story and the important lessons that are taught throughout the story really over power the "obvious" makeup and "PS2" graphics.

If you watched the movie for super amazing makeup, go look at a plastic surgery magazine. If you watched the movie for amazing graphics, go watch Transformers. If you want a good entertainer for 3 hours that also has a great story and important lessons without being preachy, then please, go watch DASAVATHARAM!!!