Peter Sellers was one actor who was called as ’The master of disguises’. How can we forget his different roles in ’Soft beds and Hard Battles; where he played as Hitler and six other nationality roles including a Japanese Prince? And Eddie Murphy transformed himself into men, women and even grandmas for his ’Nutty Professor’ and its sequal ’Klumps’.His prosthetic and cosmetic make ups appeared very natural on screen. Thespian Sivaji Ganesan was also a veteran in playing with faces and his nine role ’Navarathri’ with ordinary make up was a milestone in performances. Now Kamal has crossed this record with ten roles in a single film.
Kamal, even from the starting years of his career has been always experimenting with different make ups. ’Ellaam Inba Mayam’, ’Kadal meengal’, ’Vayanadan Thamban’, ’Enakkul Oruvan’,
’Indrudu Chandrudu’, ’Nayakan’, ’Apurva Sakothararkal’, ’Guna’, ’Indiyan’ , ’Michael...’, ’Alavandhaan’ , ’Virumandi’ were some of the films where he ventured into altering his face and body language. And this tendency makes him one of the most dedicated actors of our Country.
The story of Dasavatharam has been discussed here by mostly all the reviewers, so naturally I will skip it. Many reviewers equate the ten roles with the 10 Avatars of Mahavishnu. Just because Vincent Poovaragan is dark complexioned he is Krishna , Fletcher is on a killing spree; so he must be Parasurama, etc. I beg to differ here. Mostly all the Indian characters have been named after Vishnu’s various names and the comparison ends here and Kamal should be really appreciated for making the viewers indulge in guessing games.
The film is an entertainer with a racy script and a comic book style, yet sometimes confusing. A lot of chaos theory, butterfly effect, chemical names have been thrown in to give the script authencity. But if you have already seen ’Babel’ or ’Crash’ you can see this with a grin. And MGR’s masterpiece ’Ulagam sutrum Vaaliban’ will come before your eyes, if you are an experienced movie buff. The script paves way to different episodes, right from the 12th century and then diving to George Bush and travels to various geographical locations. Well, what is the speciality about this film, except that the main actor comes in ten different roles?
Masters like Balu Mahendra do not approve of cosmetic facial makeups. They feel that the unpainted face gives more texture and emotions. But otherwise make up is a must for cinema, and especially when you come in different roles. Here among the ten characters, Kamalahasan’s real face is visible in 2 and a half (Sardarji) characters, with emotions and free facial expressions. All the other characters are mere masks in different shapes and shades, unproportional to the body they are attached to. They arrest the expressions and Kamal has to rely upon the audio side with different slangs and body language. This is a real drawback for the great actor who relied too much on latex layers. But look at the Nambi character with a typical Iyengar look and unshaven face. The performance just glitters with passion. Among the masked characters, Balram Naidu outshines with his humour. With a face like Telugu actor Chandramohan and voice like Satyanarayana he steals the scenes. If SPB, as the Intelligence officer in ’Thiruda, Thiruda’ comes before your mind, I can’t help it. The old lady part is also played with interest. Other parts like George Bush, Fletcher were like mobile cut outs. Of course, nobody can deny Kaml’s calibre as an Artiste; He is capable of performing all the roles from the lab monkey to K.R.Vijaya, but here I think he has ventured to play the ten actors just for records sake and to fulfil the ever burning hunger of the actor in him.
The starting portion with the 12th century background has been artistically and technically well made. The 3D model of the Temple Gopuram mixed with actual background with Saivites praying and Vaishnavites rebelling in the presence of the adamant Saivite King Kulothunga Chozhan is a real masterpiece.The travels of the temple idol with Kamal tied to it, on road and Pichavaram backwaters to reach the sea and its bed is spectacularly picturised, thanks to the pains taken by the CG technicians. Though the same cannot be said of the Tsunami scenes, they look ok. Some questions may remain unanswered, like the bullet shot curing cancer and the megalith stone statue returning back to the shore after Tsunami, but after all we are seeing a entertainer, is it not?
The Director has performed his duties as a Kamal director always does. Music and rerecording are not much to be discussed. With a sterotype, half crack, ever yelling beautiful Tamil heroine character Asin beside him, it is a miracle Kamal hasn’t indulged in any duet or filmy romance. And I loved this nice change.
After seeing the film, my friend was joking that Kamal’s next venture is Mahabharata and he plays all the 5 Pandavas, 100 Kauravas, Krishna and even Drowpathi. Yes, when Thespian NTR made ’Dhaana, Veera, Sura Karna’ with all major roles, why can’t Kamal and his CG crew?