Dasavatharam - Preview

By: Settu Shankar
Thursday, October 04, 2007

The first official stills of much awaited magnum opus of legendary actor Kamal Hassan's Dasavatharam are out on Tuesday and it seems that there is nothing special in the photographs (May be the film had many specials of its kind!). Directed by K S Ravikumar, the movie is produced on a whooping budget by Oscar Ravichandran.

Kamal Haasan plays 10 different roles in this film and for which he has dubbed in 10 different voices. Apart from this Kamal has penned the story, screenplay and dialogues himself. Asin has given her own voice to her character and that too in typical Brahmin Tamil which has come out brilliantly.

Very recently, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Kalaignar Karunanidhi has watched the 10 get ups of Kamal in a special screening and enjoyed a lot with the actor's versatility. After seeing the movie Kalaignar pat the actor's back and said, " Pinnitteenga Kamal. Kalaignaninnu Niroobichitteenga... (You have proved yourself as the Maestro in acting!)"

Kamal says: "Kalaignar has enjoyed the movie with a youthful enthusiasm and appreciated me a lot. According to me our CM's appreciation is equal to an Oscar Award!". The actor further told, " Oscar Films is the only production house after Raajkamal to facilitate everything needed to make the film the way it is meant to be. It is planned to record the crowd voices of the opening sequence using 5000 people to match 10000 on screen. The scene will be shot at Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai next week".

K.S.Ravikumar, the director of the film says, "Kamal plays the roles of 10 different characters, a Brahmin, a dwarf, a scientist, a fighter, a black man, a tourist guide, a robber, an old woman, an emperor, and a young lady in this film. There is no need to say about the commitment and talents of Kamal towards his profession. According to me he is the complete actor..."

The director continues, "The visual effects are handled by three different software companies and they are in the process of delivering their best output. Some of the leading writers who have listened to the narration from Kamal say that the screenplay is more exciting than some of his phenomenally successful blockbusters of the past like Thevar Magan and Aboorva Sagotharargal. Interestingly Dasavatharam features a host of directors in the cast Santhana Bharathi, Vasu, R. Sundararajan, Erode Sounder, Ramesh Kanna and of course me also part of the cast..."

Hollywood Action Director Joop has designed an action sequence in Dasavatharam that is expected to be better than anything that has been done before, even by Kamal himself. Joop took 20 days to can this fight. The care and safety measure the Americans take in executing some of the difficult stunts is meticulous. The thrilling fights Kamal has performed were not done with the help of computer graphics. According to the director and actor all the stunt sequences are original and manual.

"The small tricks employed by the American stunt directors helped me and Asin perform the stunt scenes without taking risks. If our stunt masters follow them, then they would not risk their limbs and lives", says Kamal Haasan.

The shoot for the film started in Chennai and continued in Malaysia, USA and in Pichavaram near Chidambaram. All the dialogue portions have been successfully filmed already as per schedule. The audio of Dasavatharam (Music scored by Himesh Reshammiya) will be launched in Chennai on mid October. The film will be a New Year treat for the cine lovers of all over the country!