4 / 5
After so many delays, Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam has finally managed to hit theaters across TN amid terrific buzz and expectations.
In the trailer, Andrea says that all the lead characters in the movie have double roles. Kamal in fact has triple roles - that of an effeminate Kathak dancer and two more avatars which ought to be caught on the big screen.
The basic plot is about Jihadi terrorists and their mission of vanquishing the US. Their 'modus operandi', their resources, their network, their environment among others have been shown in fine detail by Kamal.
For each of his makeovers, Ulaganayagan Kamal looks the part thanks to authentic makeup. His effeminate act brings a fine chuckle among the audience. The Brahmin slang, the walking style, the minor gestures and reactions etc. are crowd-pleasers. The stills also show how apt he looks with an Islam style beard.
Pooja Kumar turns out be a really luscious charmer with her Anglicized Brahmin Tamil being a highlight. She looks damn stylish thanks to her background and has also put on a feast of her tits in some scenes early in the movie. Her character, that of a nuclear oncologist, is of great use in the latter part of the movie when the thrill quotient is at a real high. I really hope we get to see more of Pooja. She has a lot of talent indeed :)
Andrea, in comparison, doesn't have much to do than be a part of the 'Unnai Kanadha' number and also partaking in the chases and thrill rides. She is sort of a medical expert, we assume. That she is cute and sexy goes without saying. Shekhar Kapur and Jaideep Ahlawat have decent support roles while Rahul Bose's makeover is pretty real. You would definitely believe that he is a Jihadi thanks to the authentic facial hair. The scene, when he puts down the female doctor who comes to check on his wife at home, portrays his authority. The scene, when he doesn't like the fact that his younger son speaks fluent English, depicts the fierce mindset of Jihadi soliders.
Watch out for Kamal, the director, as he weaves terms like the Faraday shield, Geiger counter and (the radioactive) Cesium into his narrative. The basic idea of injecting Cesium into pigeons and using them as devices of deception is also highly highly impressive.
The work that has gone into the Afghanistan portions has to be seen. The sets, the weapons. the backdrop, the landscape look so real. No one would believe that the Afghan landscape was actually created in Chennai. Art director Lalgudi Ilayaraja, take a bow.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy's background score really picks up momentum in the thrilling scenes. The title track is the best experience in the movie when early in the first half, we are shown that Kamal isn't as docile as the Kathak dancer made us believe so. That fight sequence is one of those really uplifting 'adrenaline rush' experiences that you can get, more so if you are a Kamal fanatic. The use of techniques like slow motion and 'freeze frame' really come in handy for director Kamal Haasan. He has tried something along the lines of film-makers like Guy Ritchie, with these techniques.
'Thuppakki Engal Tholile' is a nice training montage song while 'Anu Vidhaitha Boomiyile' comes at a poignant time in the movie. 'Unnai Kaanadha' serves as Kamal's introduction in the movie. This song has been nicely choreographed with Kamal, the supremely expressive dancer, in full form.
The movie has some major explosion scenes and Auro 3D would come in handy for experiencing the blasts as really as possible. Vishwaroopam is definitely technically superior to Kamal's previous magnum-opus, Dasavatharam.
Among the movie's blips include the Tamil spoken by most of the characters in the movie. It is hard to comprehend and definitely warranted subtitles. That everyone has dubbed in their own voice is appreciable but not at the expense of clarity. There is a lot of English in the movie as well as sprinklings of Pashto and Arabic. Though these portions have subtitles, one wonders if the layman can pay as much attention as Kamal wants them to.
One also feels that the sequence showing an extremely agile Kamal 'stunt double' jumping from pillar to post and doing Parkour routines is really tacky. And we might also note that the height of Kamal's character in the movie is 5'10. We all know the reality though.
The Afghan portions in the first half have some streaks of inactivity. But there are many memorable characters in this portion like Rahul Bose's small kid who wishes to be a doctor and the childish youngster who is later used as a suicide bomber. Nassar is also a part of this portion in an inconsequential role. We are also shown Osama Bin Laden!. This Afghan setting is something that only Hollywood movies have dared to show in such detail. Hats off to Kamal and crew for the effort. The wide angle shot of a road passing through the sands of the land will stay with you.
The movie really zooms along in the second half and the promise of Vishwaroopam 2 in the climax is a major lift. On the whole, Vishwaroopam is a true experience and is worth revisiting again. One viewing can't encapsulate Vishwaroopam in its entirety. The effort invested by Kamal Haasan needs to be experienced again to appreciate it completely.
Will update the review as and when I see the movie again ...
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