Post-release, Kamal visited Hyderabad and Kochi to meet the press and promote Dasavathaaram. Accompanied by KS Ravikumar at both locations, Kamal provided interesting insights.

IndiaGlitz reported in text and video formats on the Hyderabad event. Watch the long video to enjoy Kamal’s answers to several questions from the media. Chennai 365 covered the meet, wonderfully capturing an array of his expressions in the form of photos. Rediff.com, Sify.com, TeluguCinema.com and Behindwoods carried some of the highlights of the Q&A. Sitting in the Taj Krishna hotel, Kamal declared that Dasavathaaram had received the biggest opening in his career.

At Kochi, Kamal revealed that the incident in MGR’s life was an inspiration for Avtaar Singh getting cancerous cells removed by a bullet shot in Dasavathaaram. Read reports from The Hindu, The New Indian Express and IndiaGlitz.

[With inputs form Ananth]

K Balachander was delighted by Dasavathaaram and we already heard about it. But here are his exact thoughts.

I liked the film immensely for the wonderful dialogues and the way it has been mounted. I saw the film again. Being a student of cinema I’ll watch it a third time because he’s achieved so many things in one film. I have a few things to learn.

I have a lot to learn from him as far as technique is concerned. He’s outgrown everyone in Indian cinema.

He’s a man who revels in freshness. The effort he puts in is phenomenal. Others are only making money. This man has taken two years to complete this film. He could have amassed four times the wealth if he’d worked in more films.

…Kamal teaches everyone and fine tunes every other artiste’s performance on the set. He’s selfish to the extent that he wants the product to be good.

I told him I didn’t know what to make after watching the film and he said, “You made me.” I was touched.

This interview is brought to you by S Shivakumar in The Hindu. Regular readers of this blog would have seen other stuff from him earlier — Vishnuvardhan on Kamal and interview with Kamal. As seen in the above article, Shivakumar himself has not made up his mind about the movie. Here goes his review, reproduced with his permission.

The opening scene is riveting. Set in the 12th century it shows a lone Vaishnavite taking on the Shaivite ruler attempting to replace Vishnu with Shiva in a temple. His resistance and eventual submergence in the sea tied to the idol of his lord is brilliantly shot. Cut to the present where an Indian scientist is being honoured for saving the country from a biological weapon he’s developed. Rewind to the recent past. Our scientist helps in developing a weapon of in a vial which has the potential for mass destruction. He gets wind of the fact that his boss is trying to sell it off. The vial is mistakenly shipped to India and now scientist and an ex-CIA agent turned mercenary are in hot pursuit of it for different reasons.

A simple enough story but Kamal decides to pack in his beliefs, thoughts and philosophy about life into the three hours. The film talks about the chaos theory, the butterfly effect, atheism, the ecological imbalance that the mindless sand mafia is wreaking and the fact that ultimately nature is the greatest leveler. What sets Kamal apart as a filmmaker and actor is that he doesn’t believe in mindless entertainment. He tries to make people think though he doesn’t thrust his radical views on the paying public. With the failure of masterpieces like ‘Mahanadhi’ and ‘Anbe Sivam’ he tries to pack in humour, action and the sizzling Mallika Sherawat. So does the film work? Only in parts.

The fact is that Kamal has nothing to prove as an actor. He’s undeniably the most gifted actor on-screen. His body of work is unparalleled and is the only actor who’s got success on his terms. So the essaying of ten roles is only of academic interest. The discordant note is that some of the characters he plays have nothing to do with the plot. Mainly the seven foot tall Muslim and the Sardarji pop superstar. The plot thankfully does away with lengthy fights, duets and romance. Kamal the script writer, you feel has bitten off more than he can chew. He’s a gifted screenplay writer with classics like ‘Thevar Magan’, ‘Mahanadhi’ and that cult classic, ‘Micheal Madana Kamarajan’. Here he fails to sew the scenes seamlessly. The narration is jerky in the pursuit of giving importance to all the characters. The ten characters jostle for screen space.

Surprisingly the film is technically tacky. The computer graphics leaves a lot to be desired and the ruthless fury of the tsunami leaves you cold. The photography is brilliant though, especially a chase shot in the night.

Kamal’s acting is flawless. The prosthetics is over done but the way he changes his body language, voice and accent to suit the various characters is breath taking. There’s a brief shot of the Japanese Kung Fu master walking in silhouette. His gait in that brief shot encapsulates his dedication as an actor. Asin’s incessant chatter even in the face of adversity is irritating.

Don’t miss ‘Dashavatharam’. Kamal’s failure as a script writer is more than made up for by Kamal the master of masquerade.

S.Shiva Kumar

Producer: Aaskar Ravichandran

Director: KS Ravi Kumar

Photography: Ravi Varman

Music: Himesh Reshamiya

Cast: Kamalhassan Asin

Rating****

Have Dasavathaaram ticket in hand? If you’ve come here to get the last pieces of news before watching the much-awaited movie, here you go, with all that was left out till now and the latest.

• A widely reported rumour was that US President George W Bush might be watching the movie! Finally, it has been quashed by The Times of India, which reports that it was the handiwork of US distributors and also about a new rumour involving Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Another involved UN delegates!
• There is talk of a car chase sequence featuring 5 characters played by Kamal and Vincent Poovaragan (Tirunelveli Dalit character) providing comic relief.
• There were rumours that certain portions of the “Ka…karuppanakkum” song featuring Mallika Sherawat had some cuts. That’s not too bad considering the movie received a ‘U’ certificate.
• Ayngaran distributes the movie in UK, Europe, Gulf countries and Singapore. The Hindi version is delayed by 2 weeks apparently due to deals not being finalised.
• It is said that rates (distribution / ticket?) have been slashed in ‘C’ centres to enable more people to watch the movie.
• Aascar (note the name change) Ravichandran handed over a print of the movie to Kamal a while ago.
• Web-sites like Sify.com and IndiaGlitz have been running news items daily to whet the appetite of readers. Here are a couple from the latter, talking about the Tsunami sequence, how Kamal has achieved authenticity for the 12th century portion, the action sequences and finally proclaiming the movie a magnum opus even before release. Sify.com threw light on the excitement and expectation among Kamal’s colleagues and provided other updates.
• There was a reported clash with an animated Hindi movie named Dashavatar. Not sure what’s happening with that.
• KollywoodToday.com put up a list of movies featuring the same actor in many roles.
• We had news of how Dasavathaaram is being insured.
• Finally, let’s check out some interviews: Kamal in The Hindu, NDTV and News Today | Asin in Rediff.com | KS Ravikumar in Sify.com | Brian Jennings (visual effects supervisor) in Rediff.com.

[With inputs from Ananth & A1]

Here are some more articles on Kamal and Dasavathaaram that appeared on Rediff.com.

The first one is an interview with Thota Tharani, one of the three art directors. He shares his experiences along with some drawings, including scenes in the Oval Office and involving the Tsunami. Below are a couple of his thoughts on Kamal. Enjoy the whole article!

I have done more than eight films with Kamal, and between us, we have won 5-6 major awards including national awards for Nayagan and Indian. We also won the state awards for Raja Parvai and Sagara Sangamam.

Kamal is unlike any other artiste I have seen. That is why I was asked to create a story board for Dasavathaaram. Though I am not a story board artiste, Kamal and I sat together and did this story board on the tsunami.

Then, we have an interview with yet another Kamal fan, Malayalam actor Jayasurya. One would remember that he did a small but effective role in Vasool Raja MBBS. Highlights:

He is, without a doubt one of the greatest actors we have in Indian cinema as well as the world.

He has born to be an actor, no doubt about that. He takes only seconds to become the character. He improvises the mannerisms and dialogues as the shots are being canned. In fact, I did ask him about this and was surprised when he said that it was one trait he learnt from Malayalam cinema.

Movies are important to him like the air we breathe. His passion for the medium is truly commendable, and perhaps that gives him the strength to try out new experiments. He has set a different standard for himself and is a league apart from almost every other actor in the business.

Finally, Rediff.com came up with a slideshow on Kamal’s interesting ‘avatars’, which though slipshod, is worth looking at.

[With inputs from A1]

Dasavathaaram has been getting quite a bit of publicity in all kinds of media. (The Hindi version, Dashavtar hasn’t had the same coverage though.) As part of it, we had two interviews recently, one with Kamal in Deccan Herald and another with Devisri Prasad on Rediff.com.

First, let’s hear it from Kamal:

Obviously this is what fuels all my passion for work. For a creative person, two factors act as fuel— the other being constructive criticism.

From Hollywood my favourites are Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers. From India, I am also a huge fan of Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar). Sanjeev Kumar was another favourite. We worked together in Yaadgar and it was a great experience. We had another great common interest— food!

Knowledge should be acquired from anywhere in the world. Haven’t we taken the best in medicine and education from the West? The West has also taken a lot from us. We have been an international country now for 2000 years!

The standards of Hindi cinema have risen very highly in the last few years, especially in the matter of acting and technology. I keep telling our industry here that Hindi films are really beginning to give South Indian cinema a run for our money.

We have heard Devisri Prasad gush about working on Dasavathaaram before. Here’s more, where he also reveals that he did the background score for the trailer too:

One day I got a call from his office asking me for a meeting. We had a casual meeting at his office. I asked about his films. He asked me about my work — where I record and how. It was more of a general chat.

The producer said that Kamal Sir had seen a few films of mine and loved my style. He said he would really be happy if I did the background score so he asked me to find out. I fell off my chair when I heard it.

I went and we watched the film in the editing room. What was great about him was even though the voice work and other things were not done, like an assistant director he was prompting and telling me all the dialogues in sync with the scenes.

The greatest thing about him is, he always asks for our time. He doesn’t ask ‘would you come tomorrow?’ Rather he will say ‘are you free tomorrow?’

One day he called me to his office to show the promos. He took me around and showed me his conference room, his home theatre etc. He did not act like a star. At that moment he was just a simple man switching on the lights, fans and DVD player. I was shocked to see him take such pains to show me around.

I love him as a singer too and I want to make him sing a song soon. I hope he would do it for me. Kamal Sir has been a great inspiration for me.

In time for Dasavathaaram, Rediff.com provides continued focus on Kamal. Here, we cover a few recent pieces.

Madhavan declared himself a “hardcore Kamal fan”. Let’s have a few excerpts before you read the full interview.

After I started acting in television, people would call me for award functions. I accepted their invitations only to see Kamal Haasan in person. I would scream myself hoarse when he went to collect the awards.

That was when I met Kamal Sir for the first time in a hotel, where I was having dinner. He came over to me and said, ‘Madhavan, I have seen some of your work and they were good.’ You could have knocked me down with a feather, so great was my shock.

Working in the film was like studying in a university. Every minute I shot with him was pregnant with information. He was like a father figure to me on the sets.

What I learnt from him was that there is no shot in the world which is simple and can be taken lightly, and that you should give a hundred percent to every shot. It is amazing to see his dedication to each shot even after being in the industry for so many years. You see child-like enthusiasm, missionary zeal and extreme passion in each shot.

Then, we had a slideshow on some of Kamal’s movies in Kannada and Telugu. Check it out for some valuable information on unfamiliar movies like Kokila and Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu.

Finally, Rediff.com gives us an interesting look at his past heroines from Srividhya to Sridevi and Madhavi to Amala.

The last two pieces also feature some superb rare stills.

[With inputs from A1]

With Dasavathaaram pretty much set to release on June 6, publicity is everywhere. Above we have a ‘making’ video designed for the Hindi version, Dashavtar.

Vodafone (formerly Hutch) has got exclusive rights for delivering content over mobile phones.

As mentioned earlier, national Web-sites have stepped up on news related to the movie. The latest is an interview of Ravivarman, the cinematographer, on Rediff.com. Let’s look at the highlights:

I will summarise the two years of working on Dasavathaaram as going to study in the world’s best university.

Kamal Sir in ten characters! How was I going to match his talent? That was my worry. Then I started planning. I planned every minute detail about each character. I prepared a story board for the entire film.

…there were many foreigners working for the film. And when they started appreciating our work, I realised that what we are doing was as good as Hollywood.

For that one shot we spent Rs 1,50,000! And for that one song we spent Rs 20 lakhs. Throughout all this, the producer never once questioned me about the expenses.

The first day of shooting was inside a cave at the MGM amusement park in Chennai. Except for a small lamp, there was no other source of light inside the cave.

Kamal Sir would get up at 3.30 in the morning for make-up and by the time he was ready, it would be 7.30. We generally started shooting by 8.30am. By then I’d have the set ready with the correct lighting needed for that day’s make-up.

[With inputs from Ananth]

Here are two more interviews of Kamal, done as part of Dasavathaaram publicity. Sample some excerpts before enjoying the whole interviews at DNA and BusinessOfCinema.com.

I have spent 500 hours doing make up itself and it takes a lot of perseverance and belief in what you are doing to keep doing it. If I spent that much time inside a cockpit I would be a successful commercial pilot.

“I can alter my life, you can’t! You can criticise it, comment on it, but you can’t change it. That is a great advantage to have.”

“…There is a downside to everything. If we take ourselves too seriously, we actors will definitely need a psychiatrist.”

“…I make sure that I get my privacy. I demand it and sometimes I steal it. It is sometimes taken for granted, but I maintain that my privacy is nobody’s business.”

“…Spirituality makes you rest, makes you content. I will only settle down when I am in a coffin, under the earth or inside the fire. Till then I will keep myself active and alive…”

“…I think every actor has a responsibility. One cannot say I am an actor, I will do my job and not care about what’s happening in the country.”

From the perspective of international standards, money and talent is being invested in the right direction and I feel that in two years from now nothing called Bollywood will exist.

[With input from Ananth]

Sify.com published a write-up on Dasavathaaram, which seemed to have been written by Kamal himself. It talks about make-up, screenplay, music, etc. Excerpts:

We started with just 25 days for the first schedule of the film, which had no shooting, no acting. It was just for the make-up tests. 25 days in the US. 20 days, 12 hours a day, and then 5 days of taking photographs. When we came back with the photographs, people believed more in Dasavatharam, including the producer, the director and myself. Till date nobody outside of the unit has seen any of these photographs.

Synthetic bio-weapons, research and analysis wing, Kulothunga II’s distaste for Vedanta and the Chaos theory!

Yes. Said in one sentence the above sounds pedantic and pompous. But embedded into a screenplay it makes for a racy read.

…about the chaos theory and how we are all connected as a world. None of your acts or mine will go without an effect.

It’s like as if one act, collides with another. It’s almost like particle physics if you look at it. One object crashing onto another producing something else which could tell the story of how all things came to be.

I think, basically I am a cinema fan. And I have given you what I would like to see as a sensible cinema fan. So, I think your intelligence will not be insulted, your time will not be wasted, and you will really enjoy this film. And why you should watch the film, because we worked so hard for you, that’s one good reason why.

KS Ravikumar reveals some details in an interview to The New Indian Express.

The movie is complete but for the frames of the tsunami, which are being done in Hong Kong. “But the music that was out a week ago is doing very good. My pick is Ulaga Naayagane”, Ravikumar reveals.

“But for Kamal Haasan, the hardest role, I think, would be the role of Fletcher that he plays in the movie. Shooting the grandmother role and the tall man’s role was most challenging for me”, he adds.

“If I do movies as big as this, I can only do four Dasavathaarams for the rest of my life”, he jokingly states. And not all producers would be open to doing big budget movies as this”, he reasons.

Here’s a short interview of Kamal in The Times of India. Highlights:

I used to spend five hours only in makeup. What was interesting is that I have started respecting women more after that.

I know Dasavatharam is going to be a hit. I can’t say how big. I know I sound pompous by saying that, but we have got a U certificate for the film, which will be enjoyed by all age groups.

I feel film promotion has become extremely important and I don’t think it’s new. That has always been the trend. The loudest seller in a bazaar attracts attention. I have always felt that the loudest crying child gets the milk.

Let’s look at another article in The Times of India. It mentions that Kamal has won 175 awards till date! Here’s a quote:

The actor, who is a fan of Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers, says the strength of his performances lies in his ability to do his job “very honestly”. “I’m a true Gandhian in that respect; I believe that if you are honest to whatever you do, name, fame and accolades will automatically find you,” he says seriously.

Ravivarman, the cinematographer, too had things to say to The Hindu.

“List 10 of the best action films of Hollywood, and ‘Dasavathaaram’ would easily match them in quality,” says Ravivarman.

“I don’t think I can work on such a mammoth project again. I could go into depression or have my pressure levels touch dangerous levels,” laughs Ravivarman.

There was this car chase which included a helicopter, with Kamal Haasan at the helm of the sequence. It was shot at night in Florida. “Ideally, the entire city ought to have been lighted up for it. But as it couldn’t be done, I went ahead with the available lighting. It was all dark when I looked through the lens. But experience told me we would get the required effect. They were anxious moments, because if the effort had gone awry re-shooting the portion would have been impossible,” recalls Ravi.

Another piece of news that has been doing the rounds is the names of the 10 characters. Here is the list from IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com and Adhikaalai.com.

IndiaGlitz also came up with a ‘preview’.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Dasavatharam got opened up further today, with a new still and Kamal’s interview in The Hindu. Here are some highlights:

“Dasavatharam has a lot of Al Gore in it, and also Ramanujar,” he says.

“For one, there are 10 characters, ranging in scope from a Ramanujar and a Galileo to a particle physicist. Computer graphics bring to life many of the scenes.”

“Amitabh Bachchan will also be here,” adds Kamal. “Chan is well known to the producer. So he decided to invite him. It will be a grand event,” he says with a smile.

“I enjoy telling stories so it was a wonderful experience. And it’s been a great team, together with an understanding producer (Oscar Ravichandran) and a competent director (K.S. Ravikumar) at the helm. It’s not as though there were no egos but the project sailed smoothly thanks to frank and creative exchanges,” Kamal adds.

“It’s rare for a composer from the north to create tunes that allow the lyricist here to lend words with equal ease. Himesh has pulled that off. You will find in Himesh’s song, the joy of an M.S.Viswanathan tune. Those in the unit were initially sceptical but they fell for his music,” says Kamal.

No conversation with Kamal is complete without a reference to his mentor Ananthu. “He would always say, ‘keep it simple.’ I’ve followed that,” says the veteran. The humour and fun of ‘Michael Madana Kamarajan,’ the sadness of ‘Mahanadhi,’ the sentimentality of ‘Thevar Magan’ and the emotions of ‘Hey!Ram!’ are all woven into a screenplay that is irreverent enough to defy pundit-driven formulas. Yet, ‘Dasavatharam’ will remain faithful to time-tested storytelling techniques, he says.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]