Now that enough of my friends at US have seen the movie and I am not sure when, if ever, the folks at Tamilnadu will get to see it, here is what I have been bursting to say since I saw the movie FDFS. This blog is intended for people who have seen the movie already. Enough spoilers ahead if you want to preserve your innocence going to the movie
First of, I am not a big action movie fan - so, let's get past the fact that this is a great attempt to play at the big league. The CGI and make-up does not make you cringe and THAT is huge redemption from Dasavatharam for many followers of Kamal movies like me.
The central question that keeps coming to me is where do the lies start in this story? The movie opens with the Pooja telling it was a marriage of convenience for her. Was it actually a marriage of convenience for him? Did he CHOOSE to be an effeminate Kathak dancer? Is he living that lie to protect his religious identity from his wife?
When did Kashmiri turn a double agent? After he met Omar or before he met Omar? Was the bounty on Kashmiri's head a lie too? Did Kashmiri and the Indian government take a chance that Omar MIGHT like a Tamil speaking Jihadi?
Did the kid Mamu get on the swing because he was just a kid at heart or did he know he was going to die the next week and was trying to enjoy the nice things in life for one last time?
These are left as questions, because the director wants you to discover and answer for yourself if you please - if you don't want to - there is always enough action sequence for you to enjoy. Kamal's screen play always play these mind games with you. You understand more about a situation in retrospect (Dasavatharam, Hey Ram!) but it is more subtle in Vishwaroopam and that makes the film more interesting.
I heard a lot that the screen play pace could have been tighter. I felt the same at least in two places, (Dance teacher has a secret to hide, and Kashmiri training Jihadis). Was it really slow or did we not like it because the screen play does not give enough hints about where it is headed? Feels more like a directorial choice to reveal where it is headed at a later point and we get listless in the mean time. [By the way, for all ye suspense movie fans, what you like is not pure suspense, it has to be suspense with enough hints to make you comfortable]
There are at least two world class scenes where all the elements come together to tell the story. Kamal, the director can be very proud of these scenes.
The scene with the brick wall, an over-grown child in a swing and the yellow lighting has a melancholy that tugs at your heart for the innocence lost and all the mayhem that is round the corner. Composition reflects the emptiness with more empty space in that scene than elements filling it.
The scene at the park where their colleague lies dead - Frigid air, gray sky, still water of the lake, leafless, barkless trees with gray trunks, distant police sirens... That is the death of some one close and its helplessness. Sekar Kapur taking a tablet to not have a heart-attack is only a bonus. Last time I felt so moved by a Kamal scene is in Anbe Shivam at the Madhavan, Kamal exchange in the rainy railway station.
Then there is the juxtaposition of New York cold and Afghani heat. Is that a reflection of the loud machine gun chattering, Black hawk flying Afghanistan terror and lone student in an apartment and warehouse full of dying Jihadis American terror?
There is a lot of directorial restraint in the movie that is not common in the 'in your face' style of Indian story telling. This is about how terrorists get taken out one at a time in a painful, methodical way. This hero (thankfully) is not one who defies CBI, FBI, KBI, RBI(!) and God himself to save New York, nor is the climax a gravity and logic defying chase sequence. If you like that genre.. well... there is always 'Thupakki' and 'Matraan' for you.
The 'loudest' scene for me was Kamal praying - but it does the trick - especially at the exchange,
"God almighty! That's exactly what he is doing in his own way". What god you pray to does not define who you are. The person who wants to kill and the person who wants to protect can pray to the same god at the same time; and the people on the same side need not agree on what god to pray to, but that is besides the point. Kamal, the creator is very clear about this, I only wish the folks at Tamilnadu and every where else, understand this too.
There a lot of vignettes that make you smile - the subtle friction between Andrea and Pooja after Pooja's new found love for her husband and how nuclear oncology goes from a proud "she is a doctor", to "she is just a doctor in nuclear oncology, what does she know?" to "you better listen to her mister. She seems to know what she is talking about"
And there are the commentaries on American way of life that make you ask "You don't live here. How do you know that?" case in point... "My god has four hands... What ? How do you crucify him then?"
My conclusion: Kamal's success with Vishwaroopam is in the fact that he fooled us into thinking this is a commercial flick. There is a lot to discover and appreciate for nuanced viewers and if you don't want to go there, there is enough action for you. Do watch it one more time... Looks like we have to make up for a lot of people who won't get to watch this movie.
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