Interesting plot goes haywire

The film once again proves that story and screenplay are the most important components of any film. Actors only take them to new levels. Kamal seems to have forgotten this once again. He concentrates more on showcasing his 10 roles without embedding them properly into the main storyline. All the characters come and go creating confusion in the minds of audience. What bothers most is that all the characters are played by Kamal himself.

The film starts on a high note showing some great visuals depicting the 12th Century rift between Vaishnavas and Shaivates. Kamal excelled in the role of a Vaishnavaite (5/5 points) who dies in the hands of a Shaivate King. He is thrown into a sea along with huge idol of Lord Vishnu. The episode runs for about 20 minutes and this takes us to an entirely new world.

Then the story moves to the US, where scientists are trying to manufacture some biological weapon (it is not clearly defined) to safeguard their country post 9/11. Kamal (3.5/5) is part of that team. He comes to know that the chief scientist is trying to sell the weapon to terrorists for a huge sum and runs away with the weapon. Here he appears as George Bush (3/5). Kamal is projected as a terrorist by the US and Indian media. A terrorist group hires an ex-CIA member Fletcher (4/5), who will be after Kamal throughout the rest of the story. Mallika Sherawat plays translator to this US-based killer and she is okay.

The story then shifts to India where you have a chief police played by Kamal (4/5) who takes up the case. The weapon is couriered by mistake to some Vaishnavaite staying in Chidambaram village. Here Kamal appears as a 85 year old widow (3.75/5) who provides a huge comic relief. In the mid-term you will also see a Punjabi singer (2.5/5) suffering from cancer and a Kung Fu master (2.5/5), whom it is very difficult to recognize.

The film tempo goes down after the first half as the director tries to connect all the 10 characters and in the process creates a few unnecessary scenes which take the tempo down drastically and away from the core plot. The introduction of Christian (2.5/5) and tall Muslim (1.5/5) characters add to the confusion. The make up of the Muslim man looks odd. The film ends with a huge Tsunami bringing out Lord Vishnu's idol from the sea bed.

The basic flaw of the movie is lack of proper screenplay and clear narration of the link between the first 20 minutes and the climax. The songs, composed by Himesh Reshamiyya are a big disappointment and I don't understand why he was chosen over AR Rahman or Mani Sharma. Devi Sri Prasad provides background score, which is good in parts. What if Himesh had composed even the background score. Director K S Ravikumar, who is known more for his commercial, comedy flicks tries to add too much comedy to a serious film in the second half.

On the other hand, the graphics and the camera departments need a special mention for some scintillating work. A few scenes are reminiscent of some Hollywood flicks. Heroine Asin does her job well too.

On the whole, Dasavathaaram is not what the promos promise.

Department wise ratings (out of 5)

1. Direction - 3
2. Story and Screenplay - 2.5
3. Camera and graphics - 4
4. Editing - 3
5. Music (background) - 3
6. Make up - 3.25