Rating: Popcorn
Set in December 2004, a group of scientists create a harmful bio-hazard for defense purpose, but when scientist Govind Ramasaamy discovers that this virus cannot be controlled he decides to prevent others for using it.
Dasavathaaram stars Kamal Hassan, winner of 4 National Film Awards (India). Interestingly, Kamal plays the role of 10 different characters (Rangaraja Nambi/Govind Ramasaamy/The United States President/Avtar Singh/Christian Fletcher/Shinghen Narahasi/Krishnaveni/Vincent Poovaraagan/Kalifullah Khan/Balaram Naidu).
The movie is filmed in Tamil, India’s third most spoken language, and some English. Don’t be afraid if you don’t understand Tamal as the film includes subtitles. Dasavathaaram’s English title in India is The 10 Avatars. According to Hindu mythology, an avatar is the incarnation of a god.
Dasavathaaram is quite different from the stereotype-filled Hollywood films that we watch everyday. Russians and people of Middle-Eastern decent are most commonly stereotyped as the terrorists in American films, but Dasavathaaram gives you the opportunity to see through a different lens. Govind Ramasaamy (Indian-American) is the perceived terrorist in the film as he runs away with the vial containing the harmful bio-hazard, however Christian Fletcher (American), an ex-CIA agent, is the real terrorist as he seeks to find the virus and destroy the world. The various masks used by Kamal Hassan to impersonate Christian Fletcher and George W. Bush make Americans look ridiculously fake.
Dasavathaaram is also different from American movies by the way it is filmed. The director uses various shots, angles and special effects. Some of the filming is so bad that it makes me laugh. One of these moments is when President George W. Bush is riding in his limousine in India and we can see through the windows the crowds out on the streets. The crowd is not a real crowd, but a clip from Clint Eastwood’s In the Line of Fire, when the President is being escorted down the road in his limousine.
Reflecting on the movie, Dasavathaaram tells us that the Indian gods saved the world from a bio-chemical terrorist attack by washing away the virus with the tsunami that hit India on December 26th, 2004.
Dasavathaaram may not be one of the best foreign films, but it’s worth watching it on DVD (if it ever does and if it is released in Canada and the U.S.) for giving us a different view of the war on terrorism. The film is currently playing in select theaters across Canada.
Theatrical Release Date: June 13, 2008
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
vishnu
It’s Tamil not Tamal
Jun 30th, 2008
admin
Thank you Vishnu, I’ve corrected the spelling.
Jul 1st, 2008
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