Coming Soon - Dasaavathaaram

I look upon Kamal as one of the few people in Tamil cinema to genuinely strive to take it to the next level. And boy do we need him now! As has been mentioned many times so far, 2008 has been a dismal year for Tamil movies so far and I'm looking to Kamal and his Dasaavathaaram to pull Tamil cinema up from the doldrums. And this time, he has nine more Kamals to help him.

The most basic reason to look forward to Dasaavathaaram ofcourse is that its been awhile since we've seen Kamal on screen. His last film was 2006's Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu and and we've certainly missed him. More importantly, its been a long time since he's given us what could be called a bad film. Whether he did comedies, thrillers or rural movies, they've all met certain standards. Even his commercial failures like Hey Ram! and Aalavandhaan (I like both of them, btw) failed more because of his ambition and penchant for experimentation than anything else. Here he teams up with Asin for the first time. The actress caught our eye in M.Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi before capturing our hearts in Ghajini. But she's since been stuck in thankless roles in hero-centric movies like Sivakasi and Majaa. She's currently acting with Aamir Khan in the Hindi Ghajini and with no other Tamil movies lined up, it might be a while before we see her again. So I'm hoping that she gets a role that exploits her talent atleast in Dasaavathaaram. With 10 Kamals and 2 Asins, there's not going to be room for many other actors in the film and the only other recognizable face in the trailer was Napolean, who is playing a King.

The film's USP is ofcourse the 10 roles Kamal is playing. Its the first time in world cinema that an actor is playing 10 roles in one film and that is something Tamil cinema can be proud of. Rumors have been flying around about the 10 characters he is portraying and an avid Kamal fan even managed to sift through the trailer painstakingly to spot the 10. Knowing the dedication and research that goes into every role Kamal plays, it should be quite an experience watching the nuances he brings to these 10 very different characters.

Considering the film's canvas and non-comedic tone, K.S.Ravikumar is not the first name one would think of as the director. But he's had a successful record with Kamal with all three of their teamings - Avvai Shanmugi, Panchathanthiram and Tenali - being hits and probably shares a good rapport with him. His success ratio in general also proves that he has a good idea about what works at the box-office and considering the film's huge budget, that was probably an important consideration. But this is definitely his biggest movie so far and I'm hoping he has done his part well.

Kamal brought in Himesh Reshammiyya from Bollywood to compose the film's music but the film's soundtrack has been widely reviled, atleast on the web. I confess to liking it more than the average reviewer though. One of the complaints was that Himesh's tunes and style were reminiscent of his Hindi tunes but maybe because I haven't listened with any concentration to any of his previous works in Hindi, I found the songs to be in a different style from usual Tamil songs and hence enjoyable. Kallai Mattum... is a serious number rendered suitably sombrely by Hariharan. Mukunda Mukunda... is a wonderfully pleasant, soothing number with the old lady's bit adding a humorous touch at the end. Ulaga Naayagane... is catchy and a rare self-praise song in a Kamal film. While the placement of the other songs is pretty clear, this is the one song I'm curious about where it would occur. Oh Oh Sanam... is rather ordinary while Kaa Karuppanukkum... is the weakest number in the album with the 9/11 reference being particularly distasteful.

After the usual delays and postponements associated with any big movie, Dasaavathaaram is finally hitting theaters this Friday. Let's hope it turns out to be worth the wait...