Till Dasavatharam, I used to think of Kamal as an actor for the classes, and till Sivaji, I used to think of Rajni as an actor for the masses. Now the situation has changed quite dramatically.
Sivaji was a breath of fresh air from Rajni. He took all the things that the classes did not like about him, and made jokes about himself - Sivaji was brilliant as a parody of everything about Rajni. It had the usual stunts, and gimmickry that his hardcore fans love - but for the others, Rajni was willing to parody himself - and at the same time gave out a really in-your-face message "I am like that only - if you like it enjoy, if you dont like it, I dont care!". But the very act of parodying himself, did the trick, and even the people who did not like Rajni started liking him.
Also the way he parodied the color of his skin, parodied his real world bald look, etc. were brilliant. I am not sure how many people really understood the subtleties in the message. This is an actor who is so supremely confident about himself, that he can parody himself, and still come out tops!
On the other hand, an accomplished actor like Kamal finds the necessity to resort to gimmickry to show that he is good. I guess the massive success of Sivaji could have pressured Kamal to show that he can do things that no one else can!
But in the end, it turns out that all the rubber masks that were made for the movie will serve one useful purpose - to keep the rotten eggs and tomatoes away from his face!
RE:Rajni has improved, Kamal has fallen
by K Bhaskaran on Jun 18, 2008 01:30 PM
Sivaji offered nothing new. As regards Rajni making jokes about himself, he has done it many times in the past. Sivaji was an affront to human intelligence. I am sure that Rajni could not have done the 10 roles that Kamal did.Rajni is a showman wheras Kamla is a supreme actor.
RE:Rajni has improved, Kamal has fallen
by two paisa on Jun 18, 2008 01:47 PM
You call Sivaji an insult to intelligence? In what way is it an insult? Or maybe it insulted "your" intelligence - because you could not understand all the subtle undertones in the movie?
And what about Dasavatharam? A movie made purely to showcase Kamal - 9 of the characters had no reason to exist - except because of a contrived script.
And the begining of the movie has not been connected to the rest of the story in any way - just to take potshots at Hinduism, something that seems to be very common thread in Kamal films.
Sivaji had a proper story, and the plot was conveyed in a very entertaining manner. What exactly did Dasavatharam have, other than a lot of rubber faces?
Well - not sure how much Rajni has parodied himself in the past - but in Sivaji, he really went all out. I did not like Rajni, till Sivaji - but after Sivaji I actually liked him! I was a genuine fan of Kamal till Dasavatharam, but I think that movie is really pathetic!
It takes real intelligence to be able to recognize crap when you see crap, and to recognize a great movie when you see a great movie. The day I saw Sivaji, I was sure it would be a mega blockbuster. And the day I saw Dasavatharam, I am sure that after the initial craze, this movie will fizzle out totally.
If you blindly think Dasavatharam is good, just because Kamal put on 10 masks - dont go around making comments about "insult to intelligence".
I still think Kamal is a great actor. Just that he did something really stupid now.
I happened to see Dasavathaaram in Los Angeles - to put it simply, the production values of the film, though noble, are horrendous to say the least. The film has neither a script nor a story, and Mr. Haasan (with due respect to his prior acting skills) has clearly lost it - in the first place, I couldn't see what the intrinsic advantage of him performing 10 different roles was. E.g. he performed as an old lady - why try performing that role after hours of plastic-looking make-up (which by the way was the worst part of the film!) when you could use an experienced actor for the same? The movie was definitely a self-indulgent process and Mr. Haasan failed to do justice to any of the roles as a result. Finally, I watched Dasavathaaram on Sunday evening in a well-known multiplex chain in LA, and there were three other people in the theater, most of whom left the screening in-between. This is clearly a case of Emperor's new clothes..!
RE:The Emperor's New Clothes
by K Bhaskaran on Jun 18, 2008 01:36 PM
just because a gew people left the theatre does not make it a bad film. You must have gone expecting a Sivaji type of movie whereas Kamal is several notches higher. When one does 10 roles, it is obvious that he cannot give adequate time for each role in the film. Some of the roles really stood out, like Naidu, Patti, Nambi Bhuvaraghavan. No one else could have made the roles look and sound so different. If you had watched the movie closeley, you would have found that the voice that Kamal used was different for different roles. Let us face it. It is a great movie and Kamla is really Ulaga Nayagan.
RE:The Emperor's New Clothes
by DINESH BABU on Jun 18, 2008 01:27 PM
DASAVATHARAM received mind-boggling response throughout USA. The movie was released in nearly 50 major cities across America, with almost all shows sold out for the entire weekend. DASAVATHARAM has broken all prior records and is inching towards the highest ever grossing movie mark during any opening weekend for
south Indian movies. The Telugu version received response comparable to a Chiranjeevi movie! Huge crowds invaded major theater locations across America and long lines were seen in all the theaters where DASAVATHARAM was screened. People are talking about the various roles played by Kamal and every one appreciates the hard work done by Kamal Haasan and the courage of producer Aascar Ravichandran in producing a movie like this. Some locations have reported twice the crowd of SARKAR RAJ, which in itself has been declared a hit.
The tempo among audience is upbeat and advance bookings for the second week are also very strong. Exhibitors are expecting houseful shows for the second week as well! As the movie is screened with English subtitles, various audiences from Malayalam, Kannada, including some Americans are watching it and appreciating the special efforts.
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by pradeep mylarappa on Jun 18, 2008 01:37 PM
Can you tell me, one good different acting done by akshay kumar. He is the most lowsy actor without any variation. There are better actors who stand tall much more than him like sivajiganeshan, rajnikanth, mamooty, etc., looks like ur a big fan of him hence u have rated him high, which is not true,
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:42 PM
Akki is Comedy king and Action king........................
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by devdass on Jun 18, 2008 02:25 PM
Replace Kamal with Sivaji and include Rajini. Your list is otherwise correct!
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:39 PM
Who is Amir Khan, HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE......................
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by srikanth reddy on Jun 18, 2008 01:26 PM
U added dilipkumar and AB. Then u must include NTR,ANR,SVR(S V ranga rao)from 1 to 3.other wise remove top india and put top hindi,tamil & Malayalam
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:32 PM
Then wilU put is as only Telugu, Agreed NTR, ANR and SVR are gr8 in Mthological Movies, BTW I have not seen any Tamil or Malayalam Movie Bcoz I dont know Tamil and Malayalam, I know Telugu, So I watch Telugu Movies.
ZMohanlal has won many National Awards......................
RE:Top 5 Actors in Indian Film Industry..........................
by Kannan S on Jun 18, 2008 02:07 PM
@SachinTheGreat "BTW I have not seen any Tamil or Malayalam Movie Bcoz I dont know Tamil and Malayalam, I know Telugu, So I watch Telugu Movies. " Saying that you dont know Tamil and Malayalam you watch hindi and telugu movies then you should have given the topic something like Top 5 Actors in Hindi&Telugu Film Industry. Indian films do include Tamil,Kannada,Malayalam,Bengali,Gujarathi,Marathi,Bojhpuri,Konkani and Tulu film industries apart from Hindi and Telugu. So please think before you post.
Thalaivar is on top and kamal has to look upon him from the ground and the rajni the vamana avatra is growing growing andd on............by the way dasavatharam is a piece of junk..kamal is confused with chaos theory,butterfly effect,theism vs atheism..he simply is not clear
RE:junk
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:17 PM
Rajni the Vaman Avtaar, U Buffoon, Why ru comparing Humans with God.................................
RE:junk
by sundar keyan on Jun 18, 2008 01:19 PM
there is no god dear..its all mythological stories.there is neither ram nor allah or christ..darwinism holds true
If you want to enjoy quality movie's its Kamal's SKILL, in Tamilnadu, can be admired by anybody even outside tamilnadu,if its emotion its rajni,and can seen out tamilnadu where KARAPU ,he is black and simple , high-majority tamils have complex issue's ,same is with some more actors. Its like in hindi,AB stands for Quality,SRK stands for Emotion
RE:Quality or Emotion? which is great?
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:18 PM
In Hindi AB Stands for Acting and SRK stands for Nautanki....................
Rajnikanth is nothing but a super Star. Kamal Hassan is nothing but the Doctor, Padmashree, Universal Hero etc and on on ........ Please Rajnikanth learn acting from Kamal Hassan.
RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by ravi dara on Jun 18, 2008 01:10 PM
Rajini have people mandate. So popularity itself speaks that he is Box office king. I dont want to comment about Kamal.
RE:RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by Sunil Chaturvedi on Jun 18, 2008 01:13 PM
becos box office crowd is mostly seeking heros who like them most-----the masses...
RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by sundar keyan on Jun 18, 2008 01:06 PM
please kamal have your own mind and dont copy from hollywood.its better to make masala movies than being a copy cat
RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by SachinTheGreat on Jun 18, 2008 01:14 PM
U Fool all Masala Movies are Copy of Hollywood Movies.......................
RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by Sriram Govindarajan on Jun 19, 2008 06:13 PM
and all hollywood movies are copy of chinese movies...no one knows this,thats the problem,the execution is better in hollywood...
RE:KAMAL HASSAN IS A UNIVERSAL HERO
by Kannan S on Jun 18, 2008 01:09 PM
Come on balaji. Talk a bit matured. Rajni has got his own talents which are different from kamal yet appreciatable . You cant contest rajinis acting skils in certain movies like thillu mullu ,aarilirundhu arubadhuvarai etc. Kamal acting is great. Both lack certain skills of which we cannot comment upon. If rajini has to learn acting from kamal dont you think kamal has to learn how to express himself stylish, how to get huge fans from rajinikanth. Kamal and Rajini are two heroes which tamil film industry has got. Dont create unnecessary rift between their fans
Krishna avatar - Vincent Poovaraghavan Lord krishna is actually a dalit, he is dark-skinned [shyamalam]. He saved draupadi when she was being violated and he was the actual diplomat in mahabharatham. Lord krishna dies of an arrow striking his lower leg. Now look at how vincent was introduced.. he appears when asin is about to be molested and he saves her like draupadi. Vincent is the dalit diplomat, fights for land issue [soil issue to be exact] and dies from the metal rod striking his leg. Oh even five of vincent’s men are drugged at P. Vasu’s.. sounds familiar???
Balarama avatar - Balarama naidu This is an easy given. as the name suggests and the role personifies you can easily get it.
Mathsya avatar - Ranagaraja nambi nambi is thrown into water in an act of trying to save lord from being thrown into sea, though vainly. what more clue do you want?
Varaha avatar - Krishnaveni paatti During the mukunda song, krishnaveni paatti does varaha avatar in the shadow puppetry. The frame freezes on it for a second. there is the clue. Moreover, in varaha avatar lord actually hides earth so as to protect life forms. Here too krishnaveni hides the germs - life form inside the statue so as to protect.
Vamana avatar - Kalifulla khan remember in vamana avatar, lord vishnu takes the vishvaroopa, that is the giant form! Hence the giant kalifulla here symbolises vamana avatar.
Parasurama avatar - Christian Fletcher Parasurama is actually on an angry killing spre
RE:The 10 avatars described in movie Dasavatharam
by venkat narayanan narayanan on Jun 18, 2008 01:39 PM
Amazing analogy!! Man. I havent seen the film as yet, but when I do, I think I should be able to correlate the movie with the 10 avatars of the Lord Himself!!!
RE:The 10 avatars described in movie Dasavatharam
by Matha Kamal on Jun 18, 2008 01:01 PM
Parasurama avatar - Christian Fletcher Parasurama is actually on an angry killing spree and killed 21 generations of the particular kshatriya vamsa. Hence the real KILLER… Guess what thats what our Fletcher is! He comes around with the gun [modern upgrade for axe] and kills everyone around. I have to check if he kills 21 people though.
Narasimha avatar - Shingen Narahashi first of all the name itself is a play on the words singam [means lion in tamil] and narasimha [the avatar being symbolised]. Lord Narasimha manifests himelf to kill the bad guy and he also teaches prahaladha. In the movie, he shows up to kill the killer fletcher! and is also a teacher.. Lord Narasimha had to kill the asura with bare hands and hence the martial arts exponent here.. get it?
Rama avatar - Avatar Singh Lord Rama stands for the one man one woman maxim, kind of symbolising true love.. Here Avatar portrays that spirit by saying that he loves his woman more than anything and wants to live for her.
Kalki avatar - Govindaraj Ramasamy As you know, the hero in kaliyug can be none other than the Kalki avatar!!!
Koorma avatar - Bush This is the most loose adaptation I couldn’t clearly comprehend. But if you look at the real koorma avatar, the lord is the turtle/tortoise that helps in stirring the ksheera sagara and bringing out the amruth. This essentially creates war among the devas and asuras. Similarly today Bush facilitates war between you know whom… May be Kamal also indicates that
RE:The 10 avatars described in movie Dasavatharam
by Ram on Jun 18, 2008 02:32 PM
In English 'Fletcher' also means 'one who makes arrows'. Hope that fits in with this.
RE:KAMAL HASSAN DASAVATHARAM
by Sriram Govindarajan on Jun 19, 2008 06:15 PM
yeah,if kamal is dhanraj pillai then he knows cricket,hockey and other such sports as to how kamal is a genius in directing,acting,singing and other such...
The title should not be "I have done nothing new" - it should be "I have done something stupid".
What a completely brain-damaged movie, from an actor who I thought was one of the few that had a brain!! Does he think just by putting 9 different rubber masks and wigs on his face, he has done a great thing? The acting was pathetic, and most of the characters were just tortuous to bear.
This movie is a complete insult to the intelligence of the audience. At least if the make up had been good, one could have given credit to the make-up person - but even there, most of the characters had a plasticky/rubbery look.
Maybe it is difficult to emote with so much rubber on your face - and we couldnt even see his eyes -- but at least the voice and diction could have been done in a better way during dubbing. Except for Balram Naidu, none of the other characters had proper diction even! I guess he thinks talking with various objects in his mouth is a good substitute for acting.
From an actor who spoke fluently in several languages in Ek Duje Ke Liye, one would expect to get proper accent etc. But the way he spoke Japanese was as obviously fake as his face!
Looks like all the research, preparation, etc. just went into the masks to be used for the various characters.
This movie with its contrived disconnected plot shows that Kamal has started scraping the bottom of the barrel. He was great in some movies, and even some of his recent movies were brilliant - but now it is end of the road
