Dasavatharam - Kamal disappoints

Let’s get this straight – Kamal Hassan is a national treasure and KS Ravikumar is a very bad director.

Indian movies for most parts merely serve as a vehicles for hero worship – from the days of Bhagavathar to “Dr Illyathalapathi”. every decade has its favorite “hero-pair” be it MGR/Sivaji, Rajini/Kamal, Ajit/Vijay and so on. Our directors (with a few exceptions) are either slaves to these heros or mere puppet in their hands.

Kamal is a rarity – he is both an actor (national award winning I might add) and a director (some obscure Korean award for virumandi?). Anyone even remotely doubting his penchant for making movies has probably been sleeping under a rock for the last forty year – simply put he is a living legend who makes mistakes. What is additionally interesting with kamal is that he is a “known” rationalist and spiritually inquisitive – look no further than Anbe sivam for what I mean. This particular aspect is what draws this writer to “kamal films” – Nayagan, Thevar Magan, Guna, Pushpak, Anbe Sivam all stand tall in repertoire.

Kamal , post Indian has developed a fixation with makeups – probably from his drama routes. This fixation has only helped soar his reputation as a great actor – be it the atrociously simple Indian or the sweet Avvai Shanmugi (my favorite ). Alas “this” kamal seems to have gone overboard with his fascination resulting in disastrous consequence – namely his over hyped magnum opus “Dasavatharam”.

Now to the movie – with all the hype surrounding the film, the initial scenes captivate and glue you to your seats. It moves you deeply, leaves you with Goosebumps and makes you impatient while asking for more. Alas for most viewers the movie will start and end here, what follows after is probably the most contrived storyline one would have ever hatched together.

Kamal’s canvas is simply too large and too thin to paint and whatever happen on it leaves nothing but a-mess-of-a-film that’s scarred beyond recognition by its own auteur. Perhaps the giant who calls himself kamal has either taken up a task too big for him or was reined in by the more earthly commercial gimmicks – romance, comedy, fight, drama and yeah 10 different makeups !

The story is “simple” – its fate trying to connect the dots between people. Every action is inter connected and has a consequences. More importantly these actions have a meaning that’s all carefully put together by the master himself a.k.a the almighty. The people, as you would guess is kamal in 10 different roles criss-crossing each other in the most cinematic fashion. If “this” is how god planed, then he surely must suck at it!

The details – a biological weapon is out of the super secret labs in the US and reaches shores of India, following the “viral-bomb” is kamal the scientist, his boss sends out “terminator” kamal to wipe him out and retrieve the box. Kamal is stopped by naidu (his best role following the priest). The box is addressed to patti kamal, so our hero reaches Chithambaram to retrieve blah blah blah……, yawn… yawn – you get it right ?

Now that the stupid story is out of the way – let’s look at why one should hate this movie

• Plot holes – there are so many that this exercises is best left as an exercise for kindergarten kids.
• Inconsistent script, screenplay and not to mention the piss-poor dialogs, what could have been powerfully moving, rib-tickingly funny, bitingly sarcastic only ends being irritatingly repetitive and idiotically unfunny except of course our naidu who along with the priest stand tall among all other insignificant characters.
• Hollywood influence – being clearly inspired by the “terminator” assassin, the butterfly effect, the crash/babel style screen play and day after tomorrow type tsunami only proves that the director has either seen these movie or own these dvds (thank god for these wonderful little invention!) . I still don’t understand how this tsunami special-effect was accepted – we simply don’t know how to create special effects , by even somalian standard it looks very amateurish.
• Makeup – as numerous others have complained online and elsewhere, we come to see kamal movies for his acting skills, the way he would flex his facial muscle to show off character nuances, not hide behind some ramsay brother horror show makeup. As they used to say “the make-up fails once the character vanishes and the actor emerges”. Alas the film’s greatest gimmick is also its failure !
• Overly symbolic - With characters named as Govind Ramaswamy, Andal, Chritian Fletcher etc. there were opportunities galore to leverage them but nothing happened along these lines – Andaal was good at being more stupid than taking care of lord, and our “periyar” was more confused than a dog on a highway.
• Tsunami – In an effort to showcase a point-of-view, the creators of this magum opus have leveraged tsunami to explain “intelligent design”. In order to save millions of victims a few 100 thousand need to be destroyed !!!! This accordingly to this reviewer is the single most obscene cinematic act that Indian cinema has ever experienced. No one and I repeat no one can justify what happened when nature unleashed her fury on unsuspecting, innocent people. Its heart breaking to notes these people were also socially and economically weak. Tsunami is the absolute truth – one cannot justify why it happened, trying to do that would only result in rubbing salt in “real” wound of victims. Along with india how does one explain over 100K death in Indonesia, 30K death is srilanka and over 200K missing in total !

Of course kamal does question the act but leaves it at that and starts romancing the very next minute while the backdrop is filled with people either dead or dying or crying for their dead. This cinematic time-splice experiment is so disgusting and so forced this viewer felt like throwing his slipper at the screen.

Fate, chance, religion, actions, consequences are too big of a topic to wrestle with – it’s best left with people who can handle it. As much as I complain about running-around-trees-signing-songs-type-films, I would prefer that over this half-baked insulting piece of trash cinema.

So let me repeat Kamal is a national treasure – his movies are looked up on as quintessential good Indian movies, but his latest outing is a travesty is film making. In an effort to create a record of some sorts kamal et. al. merely resemble the fellow who stopped cutting his finger nails to enter the Guinness book – yes it’s a world record but pretty disgusting to look at!

Kamal fans (unlike others) are of two types – one who like him as a brilliant actor and the other who worship him for his persona. I am the former, for me Kamal is our Robert De Niro – numerous times have I seen his films and enjoyed them but alas in Dasvatharam Kamal the persona takes over and when all chaos ends only his mountain size ego remains.

Say "YES" to "No Smoking" - Movie Review (?)

Don’t listen to anyone - just go see it...., its that good.

AK has taken Indian cinema several notches above..., kudos to anyone and everyone associated with this project. All i can say is our beloved critics (really box office pundits nothing more) have no idea what is going on (and to an extent the audience too) - by claiming "boredom" on seeing this film we are merely acknowledging our "intellectual fatigue" and our inability to comprehend ‘personal cinema’ expressed in this case as "Symbolic Cinema". Now symbolic cinema have long existed in Indian cinema and let me add in its most crude form (why do you think they sing & dance in our cinema?). But I doubt anything as surreal as this one has ever burned the Indian silver screen. I am no film historian or theoretician – but I have seen my "quota of cinema" and this one is strikingly unique atleast for Indian cinema.

The film in itself resembles a dark comedy (atleast I feel it is), which takes on the style of a "surreal neo-noir" cinema. The existence of an ‘underworld’, use of shadows, layered characters, moody atmosphere, weird camera angles and of course the quintessential femme fatale (perhaps the weakest link of the film) points me to believe AK wanted to create a noir-istic mood for this offering and what a treat it is. No amount of adjectives or superlatives will ever truly translate to what you see on the screen – a picture is indeed worth a 1000 words, a pure kino-matic experience!

Now for the film itself ** spoilers ** (or do u care?) , the film revolves around characters (quite literally) the protagonist is called "k" , his wife, his brother (called "j"), a doctor, a friend, a secretary, a high-priest, a mother, a policeman, a watch man etc. etc. at an abstract level there is no difference between them of course other than their ‘obvious’ profession or should we say their "purpose of existence" in society – all in a way zombies carrying on with their everyday mundane life. I believe this might be a reason why so many characters repeat themselves (wife is same as secretary, driver & security all the same man , at some point a character even says he is there to meet an alphabet!). The film also is very claustrophobic with most things happening in a very "closed" environment inside bath tubs, inside elevators, inside car, inside a prison etc. perhaps highlighting how much we are all "restricted" to move not necessarily with our body but also with the mind – what we are allowed to do and what we can really do. The other point worth mentioning is that the film is not necessarily a linear film – i.e. events shown on screen don’t necessarily follow one another in space or time. It pretty much unfolds like a dream not knowing where you started, not sure where you will end, not sure when it happened or how it happened. There is also a continuous flow of sexuality in the film – from a Narcissus ‘k’, to recurring homo-sexuality themes, transsexual/transgender rendezvous (at the traffic signal), infidel "castro" cigars, ‘performance issues’, the jazz number (loved it!), secretary fetish …, to the extent I believe the last post-credit song is also merely an extension of ‘k’ renewed sexuality (it was funny to see how the audience was in awe of the last song more than the film !).
With so much going on in the film its tough to tie all the dots and give a concise "central theme" if I am asked to write something say at gun-point (pun intended) then I have to say its about suppression, the ability or the lack of ability to do what we want to do. Perhaps the "Prayogshala" is representative of the society and ‘guruji’ our government (or any governing body)…, you have to follow certain rules to be accepted into formal society and that rule AK believes applies in particular to the soul (which is more free spirited than the body). Any "body" that does not conform first goes through a physical strain (a big bang), where the "body" looses all sense of hearing. You are given "special" hearing aid – perhaps this is to make free spirited people to listen to ‘them’. Then there is the psychological fear – hurting the body and his near and dear ones. This "fear" is a powerful tool and it makes even the toughest nut crack. Now when even this doesnot work its time for the soul to be "freed"….,gas-ed to be precise, very similar to the German gas chambers (another recurring theme in the film). When the "free spirited" soul is killed the body abides and everything is back to normal. Once ‘k’ is "cleansed", he now has to work towards getting more people into the system (similar to the amway system?).

The film is also very circular in narration – characters keep visiting the same places, have the same nightmares over and over again, do the same thing. One of images that stick to your mind is the "arrogant", "perfect" John looking at himself in the mirror in awe of himself – so full of it…, that is he is succinctly branded as ‘gay’ by his wife (could this be true ?), perhaps this self centered thought process is what brings about his demise. Had he paid attention to the transsexual then he would have the "one ruppe" to free his soul (she does say "it will come of use"), but in real world he is deaf (he does not have the hearing aid then!). His arrogance has cost him his soul. The ‘almost’ final shot of himself staring at "emptiness" but realizing his "soul" is looking back at him is poignant and bland at the same time.

The film in way is autobiographical I presume, in the way this country and its people treat its artists and their free will. The film title is a misnomer – by saying "No Smoking" it really means loosing your free will by cleansing your body and killing your soul. Perhaps in its "truest" form this film is anything but anti-smoking and for anyone who thinks this is a film against "smoking" and its "ill effects" they really need a smack against their cinematic sense…, if you still don’t get it, no worries "Om Shanthi Om" and "Saawariya" are waiting for you – enjoy them.

My humble request to all cinephiles in India – I assume most of the folks reading this have not lived during the hay days of Ritwik Ghatak, Mani kaul, (among numerous other unsung giants and "real" mavericks of Indian cinema). This film marks the point when "real" cinema in India has just been fertilized…,but with this joy also comes a sense of in security, perhaps a desperation that even before this "cinema" grows…, its going to be killed by the omnipresent "consumer cinema". I never "dreamt" that we would be analyzing the work of an Indian filmmaker like how we do for films from Lynch or dare I say Bunuel (perhaps even Takashi Miike)…, oh for how long have we waited for this day to come. Now the question is – is this a dream ? If so don’t wake up from cinema nirvana.

I could go on and on but to explain it any further will invariably lead to deviation from the director’s true intent and I will stop at that. Perhaps a directors commentary on the DVD ?, it’s a nightmare to image its going to be done by ERO$

Slacker - the immense effort required in order not to create

After “slacking” of for a few years (!) , my personal movie watching habit is looking back at me. Perhaps Aditya and Dhananjai (two of Raji’s friends) had to be the conduit through which this curse had to be broken (Thanks Guys).

For the last couple of weeks (4 really?) we have been watching movies regularly - Pan’s Labyrinth, Little Miss Sunshine, Wag the Dog and finally Slacker. Ironically it had to be “Slacker” that got me into writing again (Ahem – I am no writer in any sense of the word, for me writing is merely a “thought registering process”, nothing more).

As “usual” we met at around 6-ish at our house, Aditya was first in and while waiting for Dhananjai we started talking of “things” we have been doing …, work , life and in general how “methodological” life is turning out to be (with most bickering done by myself). As Dhananjai walked in, Raji followed gleefully flaunting her new “creation”…. behold – Bindi Masala (Thank God – it’s not the awfully ‘tasty’ spaghetti/noodles of hers). We were our usual suspicious self about her “creation” but given no choice – we gobbled down the Bindi Masal with Dosa (it was actually good). After we were done, Raji “welcomed” herself to our club, the lights dimmed and the movie rolled.

Without ranting about what happens “in” the movie, I guess I loved to see what happened “outside” it. Right out of the bat I could feel everyone was waiting for the movie to end – with Raji really spearheading the group. It was unlike any movie they have seen let alone “expect” to see. Aditya and Dhananjai gave it thumbs down while Raji gave it the middle finger. There was no divided opinion, all of them consistently hated it and I am sure I will be held accountable for ruining their Saturday evening.

To understand the Movie or at least its relevance folks can refer to any number of articles that are found online. Perhaps even listen to the director’s commentary on the DVD.

Following are some online resource

Slacker's Oblique Strategy - Ron Rosenbaum
Slacking Off - John Pierson
"Slacker": 15 years later - Salon.com

As for me, I loved the movie, its structure or the lack-of-it is what initially attracted me to it, but what really cemented my liking to the movie is the “fun” Linklater seems to be having with the movie camera, the climax (for lack of a better word) is my absolute favorite (not to mention the numerous quotes you can potentially “steal” for the movie). No doubt it’s a very personal movie (almost semi auto-biographical ?) and like all ‘good’ personal films to criticize or analyze is futile – either you are with it or against it, there is no middle ground.

I fail to understand why others seem to “miss” its significance for our times especially in “booming” India.

Have we never felt the “chaos” and more importantly the “order” that stems from it ? Have we not realized the meaninglessness of our professional life ? or even better/bigger have we never felt the “useless” of our own lives ? Or is it just me who is the ultimate nihilist in this group.

I sincerely feel its our own reluctance to step out of ourselves than anything that’s stopping us in making this film relevant. Perhaps we are all merely putting in an “immense effort to not create anything”, alas we will reproduce rather than produce!

With this I will leave this post with one of the most “meaninglessly” poignant observation made by the old-man in the movie

“When young, we mourn for one woman... as we grow old, for women in general. The tragedy of life is that man is never free yet strives for what he can never be. The thing most feared in secret always happens. My life, my loves, where are they now? But the more the pain grows, the more this instinct for life somehow asserts itself. The necessary beauty in life is in giving yourself to it completely. Only later will it clarify itself and become coherent. “

P.K

Took a break

Well it appears i took a fairly loooooong break ..., hopin g to break that pretty soon. so watch out for "my" BLOG

08/22 - Dogma and Al Franken's Lies and Lying Liars who tell them

OK , managed to sneak in one movie Kevin Smith's wacky little movie called Dogma. perhaps its not a little movie ( had huge cast !) . it was interting take on chritian religion . as usual Jay and Slient bob rock !!!

then started reading Al Frankedn "Liars" book. in the 1st 50 pages he is attacking Ann coulter. looking forward to finshing this and start reading Ann Coukter's Slander book: ;)

08/21 - Shaolin Soccer and Main hoon Naa

Saw Sholain Soccer again. this is a very very entertaining movie . combines kung-fu and Soccer . very nice movie . an i am seeing it second time !


Saw this midly enteraining hindi movie. 2/3rd of the film was bad but the campus scenes with SRK was nicely done ( cliches filled ..., but still watchable). music seems to be hummable also. after a long time i saw an mainstream hindi film. though disappointed ..., i still sat through and watched the entire thing unfold

08/20 - Outfoxed and Return of the Dragon

Had to see outfoxed a documentary on FOX NEWS. truth about fox news or fox news haters ?? . got me intersted to read al franken's "Lies and Lying Liers" book.

after this i still had the time and energy to see Bruce Lee's Return of the dragon. much much better Bruce Lee film. he is the best !!!. my brother loved it and me too. nice way to end friday :)