Praveen Kumar from New Jersey :one India
Friday, January 25, 2013, 12:06 [IST]
Rating: 3.5/5
The wait is over. Kamal Hassan's biggest-ever film Viswaroopam, which has been delayed for one or the other reason, has seen the light of day in foreign countries but not in Tamil Nadu and other Southern states as the High Court has stayed the release after several Muslim groups raised objection. After a gap of three years, Kamal Hassan is back with Viswaroopam, which is written, directed and produced by himself.
The film was supposed to be directed by Selvaraghavan but as the director walked out of the film due to other commitments, Kamal took the responsibility of directing the film. The film is simultaneously made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. It is made with the budget of Rs 95 crore, which is the second highest budget Tamil film after Rajinikanth's blockbuster Endhiran. What does the multilingual action-thriller has to offer?
A reader named Praveen Kumar from New Jersey reviewed the film, as the movie was not released here. Read on for the review...
The movie starts in America. Viswanath (Kamal Hassan), who will be seen as Kathak trainer, is surrounded by girls and one among them is Andrea Jeremiah. This makes Dr Nirupama (Pooja Kumar) to doubt on her hubby's character and hires a detective, who gets killed by Al-Qaeda group.
The Al-Qaeda is planning to plant a Nuclear Bomb in New York and Kamal Hassan is well-aware of it. How? He has a past where he has a connection with the terrorist group, which is headed by Omar (Rahul Bose).
Will the terrorist organisation succeed in their mission? What role does Kamal play? Is he a terrorist or an undercover agent? To know all these, you should watch the film. The story of the film begins on a slow note but it is gripping.
The first half is entirely shot in the US, and keeps you engaged and generate a lot of curiosity. When it comes to second half, the narration is dragging at parts but gets interesting with Kamal Hassan's past getting revealed.
Viswaroopam has a wonderful story. It is well-backed by technical aspects like action and cinematography. It has to be noted that only one song will be part of the film even though the album of the film has a couple of tracks. Kamal ends on the note that Viswaroopam will continue until Omar or he is killed.
What do you expect Kamal Hassan to deliver? The man, who has done countless experimental roles and called as the modern-day Stanislavsky of Tamil cinema, is brilliant. Be it in his avatar of Kathak dancer with feminine qualities, or in the role of a terrorist, he proves again why he is the best when it comes to acting. He looks terrific in the Jihadi warrior getup
Pooja Kumar is a new find and she looks promising. She is sexy and adds glam quotient to the film. But Andrea Jeremiah has not got a big role and her role is not well described. Rahul Bose is astounding in the role of terrorist. Shekar Kapoor is good and rest others are okay.
Of all technical aspects, Sanu Varghese's cinematography stands tall, as he has done a brilliant job. He has wonderfully captured some of the rarest locales of Afghanistan. Shankar Ehsaan Loy's two songs are good and background score is excellent. Especially, it is a treat to watch the Jet Fighter scenes on Auro 3D sound format. However, Mahesh Narayanan's editing would have been better had he reduced the length of the film.
Verdict: Being a fan, I enjoyed the film thoroughly and the film is on par with Hollywood standards. My rating is 3.5.
