100 CRORES IN 3 WEEKS - DASAVATHAARAM COLLECTIONS

Dasavatharam has grossed US $14,683,762 at the end of the third week after it hit the silver screens worldwide. However, the amount does not include the collections made in North America and from certain parts of India.

After learning more about the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory weaved into the storyline, the audience seemed to have understood Dasavatharam better. In fact, people have been thronging the theatres to watch the film yet again after learning about these theories. It is inferred that if the present trend continues, Dasavatharam could easily be on its way to becoming one of the highest grossing South Indian movies around the globe.

In Chennai city alone (not including the suburbs) it has grossed about Rs. 6.5 crores. With the collection details for the fourth week expected soon, the trade analysts have estimated the world wide collections to go beyond Rs. 100 crores in less than three weeks time!

DASAVATHAARAM WALLPAPERS

It has been a long wait for Kamal’s fans after Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu and the legend has not disappointed them. He has established emphatically that the wait is certainly a worthwhile one and has proved time and again that cinema is his lifeline.

And we present you the wallpapers of Dasavathaaram.

DELETED SCENES AND INTERVIEWS IN DVDS

Sony has acquired the DVD rights of the film Dasavatharam. Earlier the audio rights were also bagged by Sony. The DVD of the Dasavatharam will be released in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu throughout India by end of next month.

The DVDs and VCDs will be available at stores.The movie stars actor Kamal Hassan in 10 roles, including that of US President George W. Bush, a wrestler and a scientist. Mallika Sherawat, Asin, Jayapradha and Vasu are also part of the cast. The story of the movie, directed by K.S. Ravikumar and produced by Venu ‘Aascar’ Ravichandran, has been penned by Hassan himself. The music of Dasavatharam has been scored by Bollywood composer Himesh Reshammiya.

The most exciting part of this DVD is that it will have all exclusive interviews of star casts and crew members of this film. Also will carry half an hour of deleted scenes in the film.

DASAVATHAARAM BEATS SARKAR RAJ IN UK

The performance of Dasavatharam is very impressive not only in the domestic market but also in the overseas segment.

1.As per the Malaysian Box office collections report for the period June 12 to 15, the films stands in second position having grossed $601,307, being screened at 58 theatres. At the first position is ‘The Incredible Hulk’.



2.In the United Kingdom, where generally Bollywood films rule the roost, Dasavatharam stands at 11th position having piped Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Raj to 16th place in the period June13th to June 15th. The film has grossed $ 246,677. Though the film is being screened at a few theatres, it is reported to be doing well in terms of percentage collections.

DASAVATHAARM REVIEW - 3

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Napolean, Chandran Bharathi, M.S. Baskar, Asin, Mallika Sherawat, Jayapradha etc

Rating: 3.25/5

Banner: OSCAR Films Pvt Ltd

Music: Himesh Reshamiya, Devi Sri Prasad

Action: Thiyagarajan, Kanal Kannan
Make-Up: Michael Westmore and Mosher

Cinematography: Ravi Varman

Director: KS Ravi Kumar

Producer: Oscar V Ravichandran

Released Date: June 13, 2008
Story:

A one stop shop, the movie begins on a flashback mode when all of us are taken to the twelfth century when there were only two sects - Vaishnavites and Shaivaites fighting against each other and the dominance of the Vishnu devotees is challenged when the local king of Chidambaram Kulathunga Chozhan (Napoleon) puts his iron foot down and is on a spree to put an end to the presence of Lord Vishnu and replace it with Lord Shiva. However, his power is challenged when Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal) opposes the decree and despite his friendship with the king, he is tied to the idol and is drowned in the sea along with the idol of the Perumal. All this is watched by his wife (Asin) whose pleas fall on deaf ears and even she gives up her life. The story takes turns and reaches the present modern day and goes all the way to America where the protagonist Govind (Kamal) happens to be a scientist and is a key part to the crucial bio synthetic vial that is being devised. Due to a freak accident, the vial's danger is realized by Govind and much to his horror, he knows that this is being sold by his superior Dr Sethu to some unwanted elements. Govind takes it upon himself to ensure that the vial is kept away from wrong hands and he is chased by the professional killer Fletcher (Kamal) hired by the company. The vial reaches to India through coincidence and Govind reaches in search of that, he is being followed by Fletcher who comes to India with the assistance of Jasmine (Mallika Sherawat). Govind meets the Tamil cop Nadar (Kamal) and through a tale of events, he becomes the wanted criminal. In his search for the vial, he goes to Chidambaram and comes across Lakshmi (Asin) along with her granny (Kamal) who hails from an orthodox Brahmin family and there he discovers that the vial is inside the idol of Lord Perumal. He is being followed by Fletcher even to Chidambaram and finally in his efforts to retrieve the vial, Lakshmi is with him and both of them come across many characters like the famous Punjabi singer Avtar Singh (Kamal) and his wife Ranjeetha (Jaya Prada), the tall man Khalifullah (Kamal) and his family, the social leader Punyakoti (Kamal) who is against the land mafia, meanwhile there is also the president of America (Kamal) who is taking keen interest on this case. Then there is the Japanese martial arts sensei who comes to India to avenge the death of his sister since she happens to be a friend of Govind and gets killed by Fletcher in a skirmish to save the vial. What happens in the end? Does Govind get to the vial? Can he save the world from an end? All this forms the rest of the story.
Presentation:

The director has come up with a simple story line but then a lot has gone into the narration and the presentation of the plot. He has been well supported by good visuals, some crisp editing and a fairly good background score. The script looked like a cocktail thanks to the number of characters that had to be justified but then the arrangement of them and connecting the dots was well placed. The screenplay could have been a lot better during the initial stages of the film. Fight choreography and stunts were sub standard considering the budget and grandeur of the film. Asin looked perfect as the Brahmin girl and her innocence and simple mindedness was worth her performance, Mallika Sherawat added enough spice with her looks and song though her role was limited, Napoleon looked grand like the king, the others did their job with the required standards. The heart and soul of the movie was as expected Kamal Hassan in his ten different roles. He has put his everything to do justice to each and every character he did and has enacted the roles very well. The appearance of the ten roles was distinct and it was only the sheer talent and power of Kamal that could have carried out so many roles with elegance. He has yet again proved that he is a man beyond comparison when it comes to creativity and acting. The tsunami scene was taken really well and it looked like the Indian cinema met the Hollywood standards in some aspects while watching the clips.

Conclusion:

The film which has been received with great hype and grandeur initially is a bit confusing with so many characters filling the screen with disturbing visuals and random scenes happening. Though the initial twenty minutes was unsettling, the film gradually falls in line and the audience start putting 2 and 2 together. The second half got a bit slow at some instants but then it picked up and the penultimate minutes of the film were worth a watch. The makers were trying to justify each and every character of Kamal which kind of made things difficult and more focus was given on the appearance and make up of the protagonist which kind of weakened the story line. One really wonders having spent so much money on the venture, why they could not spend few extra bucks to come up with some breathtaking fight sequences and stunts. The film has to be appreciated for the Herculean efforts that were put in the making and it could have been a sure shot blockbuster had they focused on small issues like the action sequences and other technical aspects.

Kamal portrayed 10 different roles in the film Dashavatharam as:

1. Rangaraj Nambi, the Vaishnav Brahmin.
2. Govind, the US Scientist
3. Fletcher, American Terrorist
4. Balaram Nadar, the Security Officer
5. A Japanese Fighter
6. Kamakshi, the Old Woman
7. Avatar Singh, the Sikh Singer
8. Punyakoti, the Dalit leader
9. Bush, the American President and
10. Khareemulla, the Tall Man

SP Balasubrahmanyam has given voice for some of the above roles.

DASAVATHAARAM - A SUPER HUMAN EFFORT

What a super human effort! That will be the first reaction of any normal film buff who watches Kamal Haasan's. Tamil magnum opus, Dasavathaaram. The film is certain to thrill and entertain the audience for all of its 165 minutes, making them feel that they are watching something unusual and spectacular on screen.

Story and Performance:

The film starts off with an incident that occurs in the 12th century when Shaivite intolerance against Vaishnavites was at its peak. An ardent Vishnu devotee loses his life to save the idol of Lord Ranganatha. Kamal plays his first role of Vishnu devotee Rangarajan in this episode which is marked by excellent technical work and the actor's extraordinary performance.

From here, the film goes to a time when the whole world is on the brink of a biological warfare waged by terrorists. Actively opposing them is the American president who urges the rest of the world to combat this evil.

Meanwhile, a computer chip containing a vicious biological material goes missing from a laboratory in the United States. An in-house scientist Govinda (again played by Kamal Hassan [Images]) who is aware of the dangers of the material launches a hunt for the missing material, which takes him to India.

In the course of the hunt for the missing chip, Kamal takes on eight more characters and travels to many continents.

The film is a scientific thriller par excellence and it is certain that Kamal has excelled in his eleventh role of the story and script writer. It is difficult to imagine that any normal script writer can think of weaving such a fantastic subject that mixes intelligence with commercial ingredients. It requires an extraordinary intelligent mind to write the sequences some of which are food for thought to the intellectuals as well as ordinary people. Perhaps this is the best script of Kamal Hassan till date. Throughout the film, the writer, an atheist questions the existence of God.

Now comes the challenging part -- picking Kamal's best role out of his ten. Will it be Annachi or Padikkadha Medhai, who fights against the Sand Mafia? Or will it be the investigative officer Naidu? Better yet, will it be the 100-year old woman Krishnaveni, who still yearns the return of her son? But what about the Punjabi pop singer Avatar Singh or for that matter the former CIA agent, Fletcher? Will it be President George Bush or the lanky Afghan merchant? You get the point. So excellent is the make-up and voice modulation that picking any one character is difficult.

Though Kamal had performed many roles that were similar to the roles of 12th century priest, Rangarajan and scientist Govinda, you still see some novelty in Dasavathaaram.

It is very difficult to single out the best sequence of the film, yet the tsunami episode is perhaps the outstanding presentation mainly because of the top class visuals backed by a superb background effort.

It is not necessary to say how great an actor Kamal Haasan is but one thing has to be said; no other actor would have dared to take on these varied roles. And hats off to him.

As for the heroine, Asin, she has improved since her debut. In a way, Dasavathaaram is an extension of her excellent performance in Ghajini. All the other artists have also performed very well.

K.S. Ravi Kumar should also be complimented for his handling of such a complicated but challenging subject. This may well go down in the history of Indian cinema as a unique experiment in the commercial circuit. He has taken the best out of his artists and technicians.

Only Himesh Reshammiya fails him. Except for Ulaganayagane and the Bhangra song, the rest are nothing to write home about. However, background music by Devi Sriprasad is excellent.

So is the camera work by Ravi Varman. The special effects and stunt choreography are of international standards.

All in all, Dasavathaaram as an extraordinary effort.

DASAVATHAARAM REVIEW

Starring:
Kamal Haasan
Asin
Mallika Sherawat
Jayapradha
Nagesh
Nepolean
Santhana Bharathi
P Vasu
R Sundarrajan
Erode Sounder and others
Direction: K S Ravikumar
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Production: V Ravichandran

It has been a long wait for Kamal’s fans after Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu and the legend has not disappointed them. He has established emphatically that the wait is certainly a worthwhile one and has proved time and again that cinema is his lifeline.

The seventy crore magnum opus challenges Hollywood films and has even set up a benchmark for their films. Special kudos to producer Oscar Ravichandran for ably supporting the actor and the director in their pursuit of rendering a world class Tamil cinema - especially in the technical department.

The grandiose scenes spellbinds the viewer and the crew has worked hard to sustain this feeling through out the film. The film opens with the camera zooming on Chennai from the ocean and gently stops at Chozha era when Saivites and Vaishnavites locked horns with each other.

Kamal’s performance, Ravi Varman’s cinematography, Devi Sri Prasad’s re-recording and Thanikachalan’s editing teleport the viewer to a different era which would take a long time for them to unravel, particularly the scene where the Saivite King orders the statue of Lord Ranganatha to be thrown into the sea and threatens the ardent Vaishnavite Kamal to utter Om Namashivaya just once. And when Kamal begins OM, the suspense is killing not only for the king but also the audience. Though the film begins with Chozha period, it subsequently moves to modern times, bringing with it adventure, high flying chases. etc

Kamal’s hard work and perseverance is palpable in every frame
and in the different getups that he has essayed. An angry Vaishnava young man from Chozha period, US President George Bush, mentally unstable old woman, a Japanese Karate master, Punjabi ghazal singer, a dalit man fighting for justice, an American terrorist out to kill people, an eight feet innocent Muslim, an astute scientist, a Telugu secret service man speaking Tamil in a weird fashion- a variety indeed!.

Out of the ten Kamals, the dalit Boovaraghan stands out with his distinct style in dialogue delivery, eye movements and body language. Grandma Kamal is a reminder of Avvai Shanmugi while the secret service agent tries to tickle the funny bone in us, while in all the other Kamals, makeup alone can be talked about.

Asin as an Agraharam girl is a revelation and is almost on par with Kamal in performance. Mallika Sherawat has understood why she has been hired and accordingly does her part.

In the music department, the Tamil flavor is retained only in the Mukunda number while in the others, Himesh Reshammiah’s difficulty in unwrapping himself from Hindi clutches is discernible. K S Ravikumar’s directorial acumen is revealed in Ulaganayagane number where he has picturized Kamal’s make-up secrets.

Dasavatharam’s main forte is technical expertise, which the technicians have utilized without the viewer being aware of it. Top of the line technical excellence is perceptible in Tsunami scenes, car chasing shots, Chozha period sequences and the scene where all the Kamals come together. On the flipside, if the focus given to technical brilliance had been given to a stronger storyline and character portrayal, the film would have earned a perfect TEN.

All in all a colossal visual opulence at its peak for the first time in Indian cinema.

ALSO READ DASAVATHAARAM - A SUPER HUMAN EFFORT

GEORGE BUSH IS GOING TO WATCH DASAVATHAARAM TODAY

Producer Oscar Ravichandran who made the film Dasavatharam with Kamal told the media that a special preview is bring arranged to US President George Bush on 10th June.

Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamilnadu watched the preview of the film on 7th June in Chennai and appricated the team of Dasavatharam for making a film of Hollywood standards.

Meanwhile, challenging the ruling of the Chennai court in favor of the film, a religious organization filed its fresh petition with the Supreme Court, repeating its contention of disrespect to Hindu religion. The ambiguity is expected to be cleared, soon.

The film is releasing on 13th June for general public worldwide with more than 1000 prints.

DASAVATAARAM SPECIAL

1.The duration of the film is for 3 hours

2. the film has been shot in 8 overseas locations which includes America, Japan, Malaysia and United Kingdom. In India the film was shot in Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Hyderabad and many other places”.

3.Dasavatharam has spine-tingling action sequences which include airplane chasing and also a car chasing which is sure to bring joy to all action buffs.

4.The shooting was completed in 280 days while Kamal had worked for 30 months for this film.

5.The producer has spent 6 crores for advertisement alone for Dasavatharam.

6.On 30th May, a special screening has been scheduled for honorable Chief Minister Karunanidhi who is said to have expressed his desire to view this film.

7.Kamal’s 10 avatars, around 20 days have been utilized to shoot the portion of every single avatar of Kamal.

DASAVATHAARAM CENSORED

Dasavatharam with 9 Censor Cuts and 'U' certificate

Dasavatharam is aproaching its release date – that is being kept under wraps until now – and Tamil version has recently underwent the censor certification. The panel members, after watching the movie, have advised 9 cuts and passed the movie with U certification. Censor scissors seem to have sheared a few scenes from the Mallika Sherawat item number. Not too surprising, given the fact that Mallika has never been in the good books of Censor Officials.

That apart, few other scenes also succumbed to scissor hands. However, according to a censor board official, the movie does not have any controversial scenes that might provoke the religious sentiments. “There are no scenes that show the idols of Hindu Gods in poor light and no idols are shown being smashed,” another official was quoted as saying.

With that Kamal’s multi-language and multi-crore summer visual extravaganza is all set to hit the screens in the first week of June. And if the legal wrangles pose hurdle, the movie would be released in the last week of June. An official announcement is expected in this regard soon.

DASAVATHAARAM IS THE COSTLIEST OF ALL INDIAN MOVIES

Kamal Haasan starrer Dasavatharam has overshot its Rs.1.3 billion budget and becomes the costliest Indian film to be ever made, said sources.

"Friday's much hyped trip of Jackie Chan to Chennai on a chartered flight had cost Rs.100 million to the producer and has added to the total cost that has now gone beyond Rs.1.4 billion, said sources close to producer "Oscar" Ravichandran."

The producer, however, is not said to be complaining.

"Since top stars from Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Mallika Sherawat were present, the worldwide publicity generated has contributed more to the movie's Hindi release than what we actually ended up spending," the source added.

Unfortunately, there was chaos at the film's audio launch function last week in Chennai. Dozens of people, including journalists, were injured when police cane-charged frenzied crowds at the star-studded event.

"Any news is good news. Despite spending all this money, there were no pictures of our shy producer Ravichandran. And there is no mention of his apologising to anyone anywhere," said a publicist associated with the film, referring to the mismanagement of the audio release function.

DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN DASAVATHAARAM AUDIO SONGS

Starring: Kamal Haasan,Asin Thottumkal,Mallika Sherawat,Napolean
Music Director: Himesh Reshammiya
Director: K.S.Ravikumar
Producer: Oscar Ravichandran

Tracklisting:

01 - Loka Nayakunda (come Dance With Me)
02 - Rayini Maatram
03 - Oh Sanam Ho Sanam
04 - Mukundha Mukundha
05 - Ka Katukaki
06 - Oh Sanam Ho Sanam (DJ Mix)

Download full album: CLICK HERE

Click on the song to Download (160 kbps)

1. Loka Nayakunda (come Dance With Me)
2. Rayini Maatram
3. Oh Sanam Ho Sanam
4. Mukundha Mukundha
5. Ka Katukaki
6. Oh Sanam Ho Sanam (DJ Mix)

Listen Online:

A STAR STUDDED EVENING- PHOTO GALLERY

The Dasavathaaram music album, under the Sony BMG label, was released just a short while ago in the midst of stars and celebs and a great deal of cheer! The first CD was released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi and received by none other than the much-loved and much-adored Kung Fu King Jackie Chan.
Also present at the event as a guest of honour were Bollywood Moghul Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jayapradha, Asin and the hot Mallika Sherawat, various luminaries of the film world, ministers and the who's who of the film world. Shobhana stunned the audiences with her fantastic compering in three languages - Tamil, Telugu and English.
Speaking on the occasion, Amitabh Bachchan said he has worked in 'one-and-a-half' movies with Kamal, and welcomes the chance to work with him again. He plans to have discussions with Kamal in this matter, since he is already at Chennai. Mammootty said that he has been a Kamal fan since his college days. Vijay said that he is happy a small 'kuruvi' like him has been given a chance to share the stage with mighty and famous persons like Kamal, Jackie and Big B.
Kamal said that he is most happy Mr. Karunanidhi attended the function and thus again encouraged him. He has plans to make a film with Jackie Chan who has inspired him in many of his fight stunts. He announced that one of the invitees, none other than Hema Malini, would also act with him in his next project.
Jackie replied that he will be happy to share screen space with Kamal and admires his work very much. He spoke in a most humorous manner, and said he will be happy to visit Tamil Nadu for many more such functions. He willingly posed for pictures with VIPs after the function ended.
When the Chief Minister spoke, he said that he is impressed how much research Jackie Chan has done because he spoke and wrote like an expert about Tamil films. He also said that when he saw the trailer of the film, he was so impressed, he kissed the clean-shaven Kamal. Kamal and Jackie Chan were born in the same year and operate on the same wavelength, since they are both truly talented film persons, always looking for different ways to attract audiences.The welcome speech was given by director K.S. Ravikumar. He said that this is the fourth film in which he is collaborating with the 'kamaal' named Kamal and this will be the best ever film till date from the Oscar banner. Producer Oscar V. Ravichandran and his brother V. Sridhar also spoke at length about how happy they are to be associated with this project. Oscar V. Ravichandran donated Rs. five lakhs to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. This cheque was handed over by Jackie Chan to the CM.

DASAVATHAARAM TRAILERS

Movie : Dasavathaaram (2008)
Cast : Dr.Kamal Haasan , Asin Thottumkal,Mallika Sherawat,Jayaprada,Napolean
Direction : K. S. Ravikumar
Producer : Oscar Ravichandran
Music : Himesh Reshammiya
BGM : Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Ravi Varman
Editing: Ashmith Kunder

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:


Trailer 3:

ASIAN SUPER STARS AT DASAVATHAARAM AUDIO LAUNCH

Actor Kamal Haasan’s much-awaited ‘Dasavatharam’ was expected to be released on Tamil New Year’s Day. However, the team has been working on the computer graphics, causing a delay in completion. The word is that it would take a couple of months before the film hits the cinemas.

The climax song penned by lyricist Vairamuthu, ‘Ulaganayaganae…’, and set to music by music director Himesh Reshammiya will have Kamal in all the 10 avtars. Director K.S. Ravikumar will make an appearance, and shots of the process Kamal went through for the different guises have been included. Sony is said to have received orders for about 50,000 copies of the music CD.

Hollywood actor Jackie Chan and Indian superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Mammootty watched Tamil star Kamal Hassan’s Dasavatharam at an exclusive screening in Chennai.

According to sources, the three actors watched the magnum opus of Kamal Hassan in a star hotel, where an entire floor was booked for Jackie Chan.
.
It is said that all the three were floored by the performance of Kamal in 10 different roles, ranging from American President George Bush to a staunch Vaishnavite Nambi.

Jackie Chan, one of the world’s most popular action hero, arrived in Chennai by a Singapore Airlines flight on Thursday evening.

After a red carpet reception at the Anna International airport amidst tight security, Jackie Chan and his 10-member entourage were taken to the hotel.Industry sources say the actor was paid a huge sum (a few crores) to participate in the event.

A battalion of Tamilnadu police are giving additional security to the actor even though he has his private security guards.

This evening, Jackie would be attending the grand audio launch of Dasavatharam along with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan, Mammootty, Vishnuvardhan, actor Vijay and others.

DASAVATARAM PHOTO GALLERY