One striking feature that hits you in the face once you have watched ‘Dasavatharam’ is Kamal Haasan's passion for filmmaking. All the ten roles he has essayed have been meticulously planned right from the body language to dialogue delivery. Be it the American president George Bush, the Vaishnavite priest of the 12th century or Fletcher, the American baddie.




The eyes are considered the most effective tools in creating the right kind of attitude for any actor and Kamal Haasan is a master at that. There are many a time in the film when the audience would have to force themselves to believe that it is the same actor who is the good guy as well as the bad guy.

The expressive and determined eyes of the priest, the mushy and yet funny countenance of Balaram Naidu, the hilarious CBI officer and the peaceful martial artist eyes of the Japanese character have all shaped up to fit into any acting text book. Hats off to Kamal Haasan on the acting front!!

Based loosely on Chaos theory, the narration of the film promises a lot of excitement and as the story unfolds, somewhere down the line there are a few missing links that have been forcefully stitched together. Govind, the bio-scientist in the United States of America has been wronged by his boss who has intentions of selling his invention to wrong hands. The determined scientist doesn't give up. He sneaks it away and after a few accidents the invention lands in India. The hunt and race against time especially with Fletcher, the ex-CIA baddie sniffing at his neck with murderous intent culminates into Govind meeting an irrationally sentimental and at times sweet Andal (Asin). The baddie with sizzling Mallika Sherawat for company proceeds along the vulnerable Indian security system and shows up at the right places at the right time.

The narration then makes sure most of the characters played by Kamal get into close proximity in terms of geography. The stunt sequences are quite professional with its share of thrilling moments, but then there are too many coincidences consistently. The protagonist and his slowly, but surely falling-in-love lady companion seem to be jumping off just about everything. Soft landing seems to be a predictable option at most times.

When it comes to action and stunt scenes, ‘Dasavatharam’ is head and shoulders above most Indian films. The music element in the film is passable with some breathtaking re-recording bits in patches.

Cinematography has been simply awesome. The heavy compositing and trick shots have not dampened Ravi Varman's innate talent at creating the right kind of mood the film depicts.

‘Dasavatharam's’ review can never be complete without talking about the makeup part. Apart from the desired result one can guess the kind of effort and hard work Kamal Haasan would have had to go through just to get them on and that too on a daily basis. Makeup has been good overall except for a few shots that show off a kind of plastic look.

Computer Generated Imagery plays a huge role in the film. When the same actor plays seven feet plus youth and an old woman who is barely five feet, one can imagine the kind of intensive scaling and image manipulation by the CG team. Recreation of the 2004 Tsunami is impressive and the action part weaves the intensity of the story.

The direction has been apt sticking to the script in the true sense of the term. K. S. Ravikumar known for his simple style of narration has not been himself with ‘Dasavatharam’, but has shown sparks of ingenuity.

Kamal Haasan has stuck to his favorite subject of the 'no God' debate in this film too and has glorified himself probably for the first time on screen with a dialogue directed at him as being the 'Ulaga Nayagan'.

With Kamal Haasan playing ten roles, all other actors have been completely overshadowed.

This is a movie that has highlighted a highly talented and passionate actor in his entire splendor. At the end of the film one tends to ask….has Kamal Haasan been so spectacular that he has overshadowed the script and story this time?

Surely, he has a secret to his good looks and health even at the age of 60. Inspite of reaching his second childhood, Amitabh Bachchan is undoubtedly the sexiest man. And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) agree with this completely.

PETA conducted a survey, according to which Amitabh Bachchan was voted as the sexiest vegetarian male in the whole of Asia. Among other Asian contenders in the running, besides Amitabh, Madhavan was the only Indian contender. Among the Asian female contenders Bollywood actresses like Hema Malini, Kareena Kapoor, Mahima Chaudhry and Vidya Balan were considered. However, it was Hong Kong's singer-actress Faye Wong who was voted as Asia's sexiest vegetarian female.

The results of the poll were announced today.

His life story has enough of drama, action, and is filled with adventures, innumerable incidents of his famed survival instincts, high profile kidnappings and the aura of fear about himself that he was able to instill in the minds of the people is a fertile ground for a film maker to get inspired.






Even when the notorious person was alive, Ram Gopal Varma's wish to make a film on his life has been know.

When Ram Gopal Varma's film 'Jungle' was released a couple of years ago, everyone thought that it is a film about Veerapan.

There started the saga of a film about Veerapan and still it has not become a reality.

After a long period of time, with the success of 'Sarkar Raj' Ram Gopal Varma has reinstated his position in Bollywood and now is the right time to think again about his long cherished wish of making the film on Veerapan.

The forest brigand's wife Muthulakshmi coming over to Mumbai for a discussion on the story line of the film is a clear indicator that the film can be expected to roll soon and this time Ramu is really serious in working out the project.

May be the success of 'Sarkar Raj' has brought in a much needed confidence booster for the film maker and he wants to follow it up with a story of the true life story of a different kind of gangster.

Keeping with this film maker's record in making films that satisfies people who are looking out for movies with a realistic touch as well as weaving interesting commercial elements in a particular way in which it will not hamper with the total feel of the film, film lovers will not argue that Ram Gopal Varma is the right person for making a memorable film on Veerapan.

According to the reports the film maker will co produce the film along with Ekta Kapoor and the writer of 'Sarkar Raj' Prashant Pandey will be the director.

The film will be showing the circumstances that the young man in a village to take up the arms and finally becoming the most dreaded uncrowned king of the forests and how he became so successful in fooling the army, the police and the special security forces each time they were deployed to catch him.


Action king Akshay kumar has now an official status and also got a solid platform to show his concern for the nature.

The B-Town star has been chosen as the brand ambassador of the Green Global Foundation started by the International Indian Film Academy to highlight the issue of global warming through the events that the organization hosts and through other possible means.

The Green Global Foundation was launched this year by IIFA as a way of showing solidarity with the different organizations who are fighting against global warming and also to contribute in its own ways to tackle the issue.

The foundation is a joint initiative between IIFA and Wizcraft International Entertainment.

The using of the green carpet during this year's stars reception at the IIFA weekend in Bangkok was a way of showing Bollywood's concern over the issue of the rapid climate change that has become a world wide phenomenon.

The foundation has got a reliable and perfect partner for the cause it is fighting for in the United Nations Environmental Programe and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) headed by the Nobel laureate R.K. Pachauri.

By deciding to make a documentary film on Tigers in India, John Abraham has shown how it is possible to use star status and resource to do something worth for the nature.

Akshay Kumar with his wide appeal can do much more to increase the awareness on protecting the nature.






The
film has opened to a total worldwide Box Office of 63 MILLION US $
being UTV - First South Asian Company to foray into International
Cinema.


"The Happening" - Released Friday 13th Worldwide
gross 31.5 million $ in US Domestic Office (source Variety &
Rentrak) in its 3 day weekend.


UTV’S “THE HAPPENING” DOES 60 MILLION $ (RS.255 CR) OPENING WEEKEND WORLDWIDE


MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP has had a mediocre start in U.K. In view of the
fact that the film was released on 30 + screens, it should've ideally
grossed £ 1,50,000 + in its opening weekend [incl. previews on Thursday
night]… SUMMER 2007 is a debacle in U.K.; the opening weekend numbers
are pathetic… DASAVATHARAM [Tamil film] has fetched a superb start in
U.K., surpassing all Hindi films running there… SARKAR RAJ has dropped
drastically in the three major markets -- U.K. [drop: 72%], U.S.A.
[drop: 73.8%] and Australia [drop: 75.1%].



U.K. BOX-OFFICE

Weekend: June 13 - 15, 2008.



  • DASAVATHARAM [Tamil film] has debuted at No. 12 position. In its
    opening weekend, the film has collected £ 1,26,747 [approx. Rs. 1.07
    crores] on 19 screens, with the per screen average working out to £
    6,671.

    The breakdown:- Thursday previews: £ 19,224; Friday: £ 28,772; Saturday: £ 41,589; Sunday: £ 37,162.


  • MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP has debuted at No. 13 position. In its opening
    weekend, the film has collected £ 1,01,849 [approx. Rs. 85.96 lacs] on
    31 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 3,285.

    The breakdown:- Thursday previews: £ 5,825; Friday: £ 23,439; Saturday: £ 36,710; Sunday: £ 35,875.


  • SARKAR RAJ [last weekend: No. 9, this weekend: No. 15]: In its
    second weekend, the film has collected £ 52,074 on 48 screens, with the
    per screen average working out to £ 1,085. Total: £ 3,31,917 [approx.
    Rs. 2.80 crores].

    The breakdown:- Friday: £ 12,904; Saturday: £ 21,545; Sunday: £ 17,625.


  • SUMMER 2007 has debuted at No. 52 position. In its opening weekend,
    the film has collected £ 1,191 [approx. Rs. 1 lac] on 6 screens, with
    the per screen average working out to £ 199.

    The breakdown:- Friday: £ 284; Saturday: £ 444; Sunday: £ 463.


  • JANNAT [last weekend: No. 39, this weekend: No. 64]: In its fifth
    weekend, the film has collected £ 723 on 13 screens, with the per
    screen average working out to £ 56. Total: £ 1,55,622 [approx. Rs. 1.31
    crores].

    The breakdown:- Friday: £ --; Saturday: £ 40; Sunday: £ 683.




THIS WEEKEND IN U.K.

[Based on screen averages]








































RANKFILMAVERAGE
1DASAVATHARAM [Tamil film]£ 6,671
2MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP£ 3,285
3SARKAR RAJ£ 1,085
4SUMMER 2007£ 199
5JANNAT£ 56




U.S.A. BOX-OFFICE

Weekend: June 13 - 15, 2008.



  • SARKAR RAJ [last weekend: No. 11, this weekend: No. 18]: In its
    second weekend, the film has collected $ 1,68,040 on 70 screens, with
    the per screen average working out to $ 2,401. Total: $ 8,33,005
    [approx. Rs. 3.58 crores].



AUSTRALIA BOX-OFFICE

Weekend: June 12 - 15, 2008.



  • SARKAR RAJ [last weekend: No. 11, this weekend: No. --]: In its
    second weekend, the film has collected $ 29,839 on 9 screens, with the
    per screen average working out to $ 3,315. Total: $ 2,11,191 [approx.
    Rs. 90.64 lacs].

Kuselan, the quickie of Boss, before Robot is getting completed very fast. Shooting is proceeding in Ramoji Rao Film City at Hyderabad. This Tamil remake of Malayalam Katha Paryumbol features Pasupathy in a pivotal role supported by Meena and Nayanthara. The film is also said to have many leading stars in cameo roles. Kuselan is being produced by Kavithalaya in association with Seven Arts Combines.

When the film came for sale, there was stiff competition among the star players of the industry that was found vying with one another to purchase the distribution rights. Eventually, Pyramid Saimira has emerged the winner by paying 64 crores for the Tamil and Telugu distribution rights.