Badavatharam. Review on Dasavatharam Movie

"I'm an ardent fan of Kamal Haasan, no doubt. There are a few actors in the film industry across the globe who can emulate the kind of roles he has donned in the past decades. But it doesn't mean that I should be a sycophant every time he makes audiences dumb fools to endure his over-the -top ambitious project  touted as the next-best-thing that is going to happen to Tamil cinema, and Indian cinema.

First of all this movie had received tremendous hype and hoopla before its release and all the news channels were flocked with specials and interviews of Kamal and the director. Of course, the attempt is honest and the storyline is a novelty in Indian cinema that soley relies on screenplay rather than twists and plots thrown at random.

I agree Kamal wanted to give the Indian audience a new lease of storytelling. But, one should accept the fact that his efforts did not see the light of it mainly due to his notion that whatever he does his the best. And to make it worse Kamal flaunted by saying this was the best screenplay of his career and that it contains mind-boggling special effects.

I guess he presumes that the Indian audience haven't come out of the pre-historic days of graphic evolution in the 90's or even the 80's and has somehow developed the thought that they will forgive the glitches and will be awed by the spectacles they witness on screen. Mr. Kamal, Think Again! I entered the cinema hall with an absolute empty mind devoid of any expectations and anticipation as the reviews were already circling with negative vibes in a majority of media. But after the initial 30 minutes, I began to squirm in my seat and the movie disastrously failed to ignite any sense of involvement in its story or characters. I loathed the scenes involving the so called "Special Effects" that were so on the face that even a 5 year-old kid would point out to his parents saying that it looks Funny! Kamal and the creative team have taken the audience for granted, as its very much evident in the quality of effects. It is so very amateurish that it can be compared to those effects from the 80s or 70s Tamil movies, which used simple camera tricks. I mean, did they think Indian audience are a pack of rabbits that if you show them a bag of juicy-red carrots they would just drop their tongues out? Kamal has failed to understand his audiences and thinks they are bound to be awestruck with whatever he does without realising that people are exposed to a lot of cinema from across the world and know the difference between good and bad. The first scene of the movie is so badly executed with a retro effect that it made me feel sick. The camera by Ravi Varma, who is known for his top-notch skills makes your head dizzy with unwanted and irritating camera movements throughout the film. Not a single frame caught my imagination. Now, where was the 90 odd crore budget spent? It had the worst lighting, composition, even the film stock they have used is bad (covers a major portion of a film's budget), the prosthetics are so bad, that you feel nauseated watching the characters in motion. K. S. Ravikumar had once said in an interview that the special effects were done in different countries so that the competition would increase among them to produce the best. But after each country handed them over with the final product the editor stuck them together and you see an array of different shades of shabby, amateurish, puking effects on screen. Why would these guys want to boast about an ordinary film with   third-rat special effects coupled with a laboured exercise of inserting characters in undesired slots in the screenplay for producing a disaster film? Mr. Kamal, please don't take us for granted anymore and try watching a few quality Tamil films that came out in recent times in understanding what 'CGI' means. The challenge is in blending the unreal with real so intricately that one should be able to break his head trying to point where the filmmakers have used it, not like this film where its so on your face and so badly rendered especially when the one or more avatars share the screen space, and the Tsunami sequences. Please don't blow trumpets again saying this film is a landmark in Indian cinema, its packed with mind-blowing special effects in standard with Hollywood, etc. In fact this film has not even met with Tamil cinema standards in recent times. And for those of you who might get furious with this summary, let me tell you one thing... let us not make a fool of ourselves anymore by gaping at sub-standard films"