Vishwaroop

 

                                                                       The first in India

               

              In spite of having seen decent action sequences in some recently released films like Ek tha Tiger, action in Indian films has been incomparably inferior to that produced in the west. Writer, co-producer and director Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroop is a perfect example to break this convention and is to date the most technically sound film made in India. This can perhaps become your sole reason to catch it this week in the theatres.

                Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroop totally sucks you into the plot within the first few minutes of the run time.  It is easily amusing to see an effeminate hero dance kathak on a classical number, in a spy thriller in the very beginning of the film. But it soon starts to lose its grip with some scattered writing in the second half.  Hasan writes a non linear screenplay and tries his best to keep the suspense intact, but the story is often too simple to even pretend to have anything hidden.  And in this desperate play of the screenplay, Hasan introduces unnecessary characters and scenes which add nothing but an excessive run time.

                It all starts with narration from Dr Nirupama(Pooja Kumar) an oncologist in the states, who is married with an hidden agenda to an effeminate and much older husband,Vishwanath(Kamal Haasan). Having to self hide her guilt of an affair with her boss, she hires a spy to find out a possible extra-marital affair of her husband. Soon the spy falls into the wrong hands while chasing Vishwanath, and things start to unfold and all the lies to unveil.

 



                A large portion of the film is shot in parts of the terrorist camps of Afghanistan and is easily the highlight of the film. The combat including the bombings, the Arab culture and especially the vicious terroristic influence on the kids of the jihads is shown with utmost genuineness which makes it a well researched film. Hasan excels in showing emotions of the innocent Arabs living life on the edge in Afghanistan.  For instance, a scene where an innocent Arab accused of being a traitor is hanged to death on a crane while the mother cries helplessly reveals the intense atmosphere in the country.

                The camera work is excellent with clean cinematography capturing the lonely arid deserts of Afghanistan and cold snowy winter of New York. Editing is uniquely done, especially the spoofy edits when the narration changes timelines.

                Pooja Kumar as Dr. Nirupama is well cast, she often struggles to match up to Hasan’s performance, but succeeds in most providing a comic relief in the film. It is interesting to see Rahul Bose cast as a jihad, especially when the casting team had a lot of other options. He seems a little uncomfortable in his character, and doesn’t finds a spot for it. Shekar Kapoor has limited work, and he hardly shines through whatever he gets. Praising Kamal Hasan for a good performance is like calling sugar sweet; from being the effeminate to the macho guy, he gets it all bang on!

                Vishwaroop could have been a great film had it managed to find a smarter script. Yet, the film is easily watchable and I would recommend a watch as this film has touched such a height of excellence in the technical department that no Indian film has to date.

                For the record the film doesn’t make any derogatory remarks on any sane community of the world, and the film clearly deals with anti-terrorism ideals and the reality of the terrorists groups of Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

I am going with a 3 out of 5 for Kamal Hasan’s Vishwaroop. Watch it for its technical finesse and to have a closer look at the reality of Afghanistan