"Vikramasimha" (Telugu)/"Kochadiyaan"(Tamil) Film Review

This is one Rajanikanth film that is made for the family and it doesn't deserve the adulation and the anticipation built into it. A colossal waste of money and effort, in short. Made with lot of passion and talent and money riding on it - screenplay by KS Ravi Kumar, cinematography by Rajeev Menon, music by AR Rahman and of course, direction by Rajani's daughter Soundarya Aswin, the film is an animation film shot in 3D with motion capture technology - similar to what is used by James Cameroon in "Avatar". The only difference is despite having the money to spend in making a great film sound on technicalities, Rajani's team cut corners in editing, lighting, landscaping and set design and in the execution itself - resulting in a shoddy output that is below world-class.

The story is itself is nothing new - another fable from Chandamama folklore without drama and twist which straight-lifts scenes from some of the famous films that capture the cult of the colossal hero like "Braveheart", "Gladiator", "Ben Hur" and "Robin Hood". The story by KS Ravi Kumar, the most successful director for both Rajani and Kamal is a simple tale of rivalry, love, betrayal and revenge. The rivalry is between two ancient kingdoms - Kotapatnam and Kalingapuram. A commoner Vikramasimha (Rajani) rises from the ranks to command respect from Kotapatnam that armies cannot get. He becomes the most trusted and powerful man until one day he foregoes his army with Kalingapuram in a trade-off between their fight for survival and their slavery. Blamed for treason, the King of Kalingapuram (Nazar) orders Vikramasimha's beheading in the presence of his family and the people. Vikramasimha's son Ranadheera watches that and vows to get back the enslaved people of Kotapatnam. He achieves that and much more including the love of Deepika and the love of the people. This is the story but the screenplay, to be fair, runs in reverse to the order in which I have narrated. That is the most interesting part. The dullness is in the narrative and picturisation.

Director has failed in embellishing the story with the right visuals and richness. In every scene of the animation you see on screen, there are huge gaps - the battlefield sequences look unimpressive, the king's court assembly look like an Amar Chitra Katha cardboard illustration, the shots are mostly either dark or under-lit, and the animations of characters and objects outside of the screen characters are lazy and imperfect. With such a vast canvass of two mighty kingdoms and huge stadia fights, one expected better ouput on screen but the quality of visuals is a big let-down. Except for Rajanikanth as Ranadheera and Nazar as the arch-villain, the motion capture technology has failed to capture the right facial expressions of most characters. Yes, the famous legendary comedian Nagesh finds a reboot in the film but after initial promise, the characterisation fizzles out. Even for Deepika Padukone, this is a forgettable film, her portrayal shows her lacking in feminine grace, bewitching beauty and dancing grace - all of which made her famous in the first place. Characterisation apart, the film's biggest weakness is lack of entertainment and emotional connect with the audience.

The team should have consulted better screenwriters who worked on the best animation projects in studios like Pixar (more now part of Disney's) and Disney's. Today, an animation film in the West is made with a budget of $40 million which  is still more than what a "Robot" or "Enthiran" can collect in a first-run. Except for the pirates scene in the beginning and the bamboo sticks fight before the interval with Deepika Padukone, there is no wow factor in the film. Talk about music by AR Rahman, despite an energetic and exceptionally wide-ranging musical score by the Indian Mozart, the songs do not lift you much out of the dark monotony of the film. The dance movements by Deepika Padukone or second heroine Shobhana are in a world of themselves, out of sync with Superstar or too fast for the music. I wonder if thats a chronic problem with motion capture/performance capture technology. It is unwise to compare with "Avatar" alright but why attempt something with imperfections and expect a blockbuster out of it? If you look at Pixar, they made one smash hit after another from "Toy Story" to "A Bug's life" to "Monsters" to "Finding Nemo" to "Cars" to "Ratatouille" to "Wall-E" to "Brave" and their movies are becoming more Indian, more poetic, more emotional and less prosaic. Prosaic, thats the word that sums up "Vikramasimha" because it lacks that x-factor to make you want to go that extra mile to see and come back for more.

Are there any other redeeming factors from music? It is Rajanikanth who looks like a 21-year old Samurai - nimble, large-hearted, charishmatic and metrosexual. Like in "Basha", Rajani sprinkles aphorisms and pearls of wisdom in the opening song with Ranadheera and the song that comes after interval with the real hero in flashback - Vikramasimha or Kochadiyaan. Lovely references to Kriya Yoga, difference between ownership and leadership,  living long by waking up before sun-rise, the transcience of the world, the fate of being born to parents and the will of choosing right friends. Those pearls embody the personality and principles lived out by Rajanikanth - and find a place in the soundtrack too. On the whole, a film with mammoth effort but minimum impact. If you are a Rajani fan, you will anyway skip this review and go for the film. If not, you may suffer one anyways.  Is the film unwatchable? No, but it is not remarkable either.
My Rating: 2/5.

"Viswaroopam" Telugu/Tamil Movie Review

"Viswaroopam" is truly a treat for fans of Kamal Hassan who admire his versatility and talent. Even though there's no title justification, the film is a stand-out in terms of technical brilliance and production standards that outmatch Asian cinema. To say, it holds a candle to Hollywood will be an outright cliche because Hollywood is always going to be on a different planet - their industry, their stalwarts, their creative flicks and their collaborative genius can never get exceeded in many lifetimes by anyone else outside of Hollywood. But Kamal Hassan wouldn't take that, as would  many other talents in Bollywood and other "Woods" who feel they are a misfit in Indian industry. Eventually, these talents either hit upon one or two films that pushes the door for an Oscar nomination or they end up collecting shingles for a role in "their" films which Americans can't even remember.

Kamal Hasan has gone through this angst many times in his lifetime and one day, we will all get to read about it in his own autobiography. Unlike his contemporaries in South film industry like Chiranjeevi and Rajanikanth, Kamal Hasan never compromised on his beliefs, his standards of acting, his quest for meaningful cinema within the boundaries set by commercial sensibilities. Unlike Rajanikanth and Chiranjeevi and even Amitabh Bacchan, he never got carried away by what the fans expected of him. Each time he acted, right from his toddler days as a child artiste, he kept pushing acting performances towards new highs and never fell to the temptations of stardom. We could have lost him many times in his career as an artiste of repute but Kamal Hassan never succumbed to the trappings of a mass hero which can nip your creativity in the bud. Playing characters, working with the greatest talent harvest in the golden age of Tamil and Telugu film industries, Kamal Hassan was true to his own self - which has earned the respect of every film goer who sees an artiste in him.  He has tried to play a new character and not the same matinee idol role that others were getting drunk on. On top of this acting talent, he can also write screenplays, sing an occasional song, make himself up into a different getup, edit films, pen sharp dialogues and direct movies. That makes him almost a non-pareil in modern times in Indian films a sort of a Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt or a Shantaram. He is also a maverick in more ways than a Hollywood multi-faceted legend like Sidney Lumet, Clint Eastwood or a recent Ben Affleck - he strongly believes in creating cinema thats different, bold, taboo-free and subtext that sometimes is so strongly segued with his own belief-systems that they lead to the ruckus that's unleashed for "Viswaroopam". Whatever they may say, that Kamal is an atheist, he is anti-brahmin, he is anti-Hindu, he is secular, whatever, "Viswaroopam" is an uncomplicated visual treat which must be watched atleast once. 

What is evident from his films, in general,  and this film, in particular,  is that Kamal Hassan likes to give subtle messages of rationality, empowerment of women, a voice of dissent to those who act irrationally and a background to the social winds of change that sometimes miss commentary and observation by one and all. "Viswaroopam" is a good story told with lot of detail and passion  about an Indian RAW officer who infiltrates a "Jihadi" network of terrorists by becoming one of them. He changes his name, religion to be a Kathak dancer flirting with his girl disciples but earning the distrust of his not-so-loyal wife Andrea Jeremiah. Andrea is a nuclear oncologist and lands in a soup when a detective she appointed to spy on her husband's "illicit" liaisions knocks on the door of a terrorist. That terrorist's den belongs to Rahul Bose - a one-time ally of Kamal Hassan in his flashback role as Wasim Kashmiri. Rahul's men hold Kamal and Andrea captive and get ready to break his knees. That's when Kamal sets himself loose and polishes off the villains.  The sequence opens out further to reveal the flashback in terraneous Afghanistan where Rahul Bose and Kamal get together to become brothers-in-arms under the elderly guidance of Nazar (he is always there in Kamal Hassan's films, isn't he?). The flashback is the heart of the film and runs for an elaborate length within the overall running time of 148 minutes.  It is well-researched and well-shot on the magnificent plains of Afghanistan or the parts of Central Asia that protected Osama Bin Laden. This part of the film  - the part of the flashback which shows the sun-drenched tough-living conditions of mountainous regions where the terrorists train to fight for a cause but have their emotions run below the surface - for their loved ones - is shown with fascinating detail.  Under-stated but firm interplay of emotions of joy, friendship, betrayal, love and anger are well-bought out.  Certain scenes may remind you of the basic plot in "Kite Runner" that memorable tale filmed from a best-selling book. There are other scenes which resemble some of Kamal's films like "Dasavataram", "Satyaa" and "Hey Ram" (which he himself directed). 

Screenplay is pacy, and the narrative cascades well with a storyline that is well-written. Characterisation and emotions are the only two aspects which take a back-seat in Kamal's self-directed films. Not all characters get the right attention and except for Kamal, Rahul Bose and his associate, the rest of the characters were a wasted lot. Shekhar Kapur,  Prema Kumar and Nazar could have got meatier roles because they have the screen presence. Kamal's own performance actually gets overshadowed in the film by Rahul Bose who is such a fine actor. At times, Kamal Hassan is unconvincing as a Jihadi terrorist, but Rahul Bose is bang-on whether he stops himself short on doting his son and wife or rabble-rousing his camp followers or slicing his targets. Even his Arabic is flawless and sounds so good to hear. Andrea Jeremiah is cute and so is Prema Kumar but Kamal's fans must be disappointed not to find the customary lip-kiss that has become so commonplace in his films lately. The last time Kamal directed "Hey Ram" he was all over Rani Mukherjee but this time wonder whether it is the the creditors and the censors that made him lose intimacy with two cute debutantes.  Songs never get the extra-padding in his films especially the era after he gave up on Ilaya Raja. In this film, Birju Maharaj composes a lovely number on Kamal as a Kathak dancer set to hummable tune by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The trio also score a terse yet tense background score that never distracts the audience from expecting surprises. Kamal has once admitted that he killed his own career in the early 2000s by acting in comedy films in which he plays marbles with other also-rans. Then it took many films to get back his mojo even though the golden run has gone. He is not a bankable star at the box office because he doesn't improvise on his charishma, he merely experiments with different characters and nobody really whistles when he appears on the screen, nobody takes ninety seconds to read his name on screen as with other stars with epithets like m-e-g-a-s-t-a-r or s-u-p-e-r-s-t-a-r. Here is a star who gives story the headweight it demands, blends his character like any other character in the film  and uses humor that is most often never dumbed down for the galleries. You will find references to famous literary works like "killjoy" or questions that he wants you to ponder like "Which God of yours?" (a reference to the Hindu Pantheon). Infact, think of the treatment, there is nothing in the film that buys controversy. Its just that the terrorists of a certain network are shown as highly religious in the traditions they follow - thats not objectionable by any stretch of imagination. 

Obviously, violence is quite graphic and brutal as it is depicted to match the explicit nature of what terrorists indoctrinated to achieve their means do. Climax could have been better and the wry humor that Kamal likes could have been spaced evenly throughout the film. Tension grips the film from the outset except for the titles when pigeons - the most peace-loving creatures flutter in their backyard. One noticeable point, I must say is that for the first time, a film doesn't preface with a statutory warning on smoking and drinking. Thats a rarity. Kamal Hassan, the director has aced up Kamal Hassan the actor. Wherever he wants to migrate to and become a citizen of,  Kamal's films are good to watch  - they are different and have a nice mixture of cinema sensibilities that the Indian viewer is seldom exposed to. For all that and for the controversy that it has generated sans the emotional and entertainment connect with the masses, "Viswaroopam" deserves 3.75 out of 5.