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Thursday, March 27, 2025
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TAMIL VISHWAROOPAM
EDITOR'S PICK
`Vishwaroop`:
one helluva entertainer, and no sentiments hurt (IANS Movie Review)
Rating: ****
First things first. Kamal Haasan`s enormously controversial film doesn`t hurt
Muslim sentiments. In fact, it doesn`t hurt the sentiments of any section of the
people except those party-poopers who think having a ball at the movies went out
of style with "Sholay" and "Chachi 420".
Leave aside its sobering take on global warfare, "Vishwaroop", the
Hindi version of the Tamil, Telugu "Vishwaroopam", is one helluva
entertainer. If you`ve forgotten what edge-of-the-seat entertainment meant, then
it is time to rediscover that pleasure. Stylish and substantial, the narrative
weaves and winds its way into coherent and compulsive threads that bring
together the theme of international espionage with the more sensitive issue of
the Islamic and the personal identity of a man, whose heroic stature grows out
of a sense of commitment to the country and to world peace.
Personal interests, we are told, are easy to put aside if you can define heroism
from a context far greater than your own good. The deeper thrusts of Kamal
Haasan and Atul Tiwari`s devious screenplay leap out of this compact epic drama,
which takes off into the Taliban terror outfit in Afghanistan and hence to the
New York suburbia where domestic normalcy is replaced by a violence - a kind of
ceaselessly renewable violence that has gripped working-class lives ever since
the 26/11 attack on the US made it clear that international terrorism is here to
stay. Deal with it.
Just about the only desirable thing that emerges from the horrific folds of
global militancy are some great adventure sagas. And "Vishwaroop" is
as gripping as it gets. The narrative moves steadily and sharply to an
inevitable nemesis. Maverick director Kamal Haasan (and this is his best
directorial attempt since the grossly underrated `Hey Ram` in 2000) is in no
hurry to tell his tale. Not that he wastes time. The mood for adventure is built
quickly, and the payoff is enormously satisfying.
With some remarkably austere and sharp editing by Mahesh Narayan and camerawork
by Sanu John Verghese that captures scenes of violence with as much rugged
candour as the sharply-drawn scenes from the hero`s personal life, Kamal
Haasan`s tale of terror during the times of love, witticism, philosophizing and,
yes, dancing comes alive in a huge adrenaline rush of adventure, action, drama
and other related artistic tools which never come in the way of the
actor-director`s primary concern.
Kamal Haasan means business. He is here to narrate an edge-of-the-seat story of
international terrorism. The rigorous research that has gone into the plot never
weighs down the narration. Whether infiltrating the Al Qaeda (scarily real in
the detailing and eerily cinematic in its visual sweep) or focusing on the
hijinks of our hero, the creative crossovers in the narrative are achieved with
the fluency of chapters in a deftly-written novel.
And yet Kamal Haasan avoids getting overly breathless in his narration. Shall we
just say "Vishwaroop" moves at the pace that it is meant to? Neither
measured, nor hurried, the director negotiates the socio-political and cultural
spaces in the plot with an elegant erudition. Gone is the heavily cerebral
over-studied atmosphere of his earlier directorial epic "Dasavatharam".
Also gone is the over-indulgent footage-occupancy of this actor`s recent screen
outings.
Yes, Kamal Haasan dominates the show with three different avatars whose
destinies intertwine in ways that one can`t reveal without giving away the plot.
But that`s the way the plot unfolds. That is the way it is meant to be. The
narrative in this case just can`t get enough of Kamal Haasan. Who but this actor
can pull off heart-in-the-mouth never-seen stunts (action director Lee Whittaker
and his associates have done a remarkable job) in the same range of vision as an
elegantly performed Kathak number?
Pooja Kumar as Kamal Haasan`s beloved is charming. She has a pleasant screen
presence and yes, she isn`t in awe of her awesome co-star. However, if anyone
leaves a lasting impression after Mr.Haasan, it is Rahul Bose, who as an Al
Qaeda chap swathes his persona in menace and terror without getting into the
gritting-teeth mould.
Bose had last played a villain in Govind Nihalani`s "Thakshak" in
1999. It is no coincidence that he returns to the colour black in a film that in
many ways owes allegiance to the dark sinister angry anti-establishment tales of
Nihalani. But Kamal Haasan adds a dash of warmth and humour to the intrinsically
ominous saga. He is in terror-land with his tongue firmly in cheek.
The sharply-drawn characters, the terrifying insight into the psyche of
terrorism and the sumptuous mounting and packaging add up to a movie that is
quite easily one of the finest adventure sagas in recent times. The action
sequences are, at last, on a par with Hollywood.
Insult to any community? Hah! It would be an insult to the filmmaking community
to miss "Vishwaroop". Miss this big screen adventure your own risk.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan was happy to meet and shoot with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on the sets of "Dus Ka Dum", where he promoted his upcoming film "Vishwaroop 2".The stars shared screen space for the first time on the reality television show "Dus Ka Dum".Read More
Kamal Haasan plans to revive 'Thalaivan Irukkiran'Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan has plans to revive Tamil-Hindi bilingual action thriller "Thalaivan Irukkiran", which he had planned to make with Saif Ali Khan two years ago, a source said.Read More
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