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.
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.