Kamal Hassan’s Viswaroopam (2013) Movie Review

Cast: Kamal Haasan, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Rahul Bose, Jaideep Ahlawat,Samrat Chakrabarti, Zarina Wahab, Nassar, Shekhar Kapur, Miles Anderson and James Babson
Director: Kamal Haasan
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Cinematography: Sanu Varghese
Writer: Kamal Haasan , Atul Tiwari
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Censor Certificate: UA
Runtime: 148 Minutes

From the beginning of his directorial career, he has made his audience struck to their seats by his creative scripts. With the great acting talent he has got, one national award cannot compliment him. Let it be Hey Ram or Virumandi, both were best with the plot and of course they carried a unique message. Chachi 420 was a mixture of emotions. Put together, he is natural, no matter how complicated his stories are, but he and is direction is very natural.

Vishwaroopam is a terrorism based thriller movie which is being simultaneously shot in Tamil and Hindi. Legendary actor, Lokanayagan Kamal Haasan starrer Vishwaroopam is directed and produced under his home banner Raj Kamal International. The much-awaited Vishwaroopam, has hit several roadblocks, finally released in Telugu today.

Coming to story-line, Nirupama (Pooja Kumar) a nuclear oncologist, based in New York is more than friendly with Deepak, at work and is also doubtful about her husband; she hires a detective to keep a track on what he does when she is at work. Her husband Vishwanath (Kamal Hassan) is a Kathak dancer and through the detective the matter that he is not a Hindu but a Muslim comes to light. A gang led by Omar (Rahul Bose) kidnaps Vishwanath, Nirupama, Deepu and in the course of this action Deepu is killed. Omar reveals that Vishwanath is a Jihadi and Vishwanath with his wife escapes. Nirupama is shocked and asks him who he is and though he doesn’t answer, his history as a Jihadi is revealed in a flash back episode. He has changed his name, we are shown that before he was a Kathak dancer he was a man who held a gun. To know what happens next, you got to see the film.

Kamal Hassan is looking extra energetic in this film. His styling is full of variety. And he did full justice to the role by acting exceptionally well. His feminine mannerisms in Bharatnatyam are worth mentioning. Pooja Kumar is fine in her role. In the First half her character is naughty one and in the second half she turns into an odd wife’s role. She did well her bit of histrionics. Andrea Jeremiah (Yuganiki Okkadu fame) is good in her role. Rahul Bose enthralls the viewers with his negative role. Shekar Kapoor has done a decent job.

Direction and screenplay of the film is inconsistent. First Half reveals the one angle of the major characters later shows their Viswaroopam just before the interval and major conflict angle between Kamal & Rahul Bose. Second half runs on predictable lines, even the flashback scenes are stretched. The actual story of the film starts after 45 minutes (Takes a lot of time to establish characters) are over. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is alright. The background music is average. The dialogues are okay. Sanu Varghese cinematography is FANTASTIC. Especially Afghanistan, New York Pigeons (at Starting credits) scenes are attractively shot.  Make Up & Art work deserve special applauding. Production Values are Grand.

Vishwaroopam hits the extremes, good and bad that is, and mostly fails to keep a healthy balance. Even then, with the lack of an interesting storyline, the film may not be an engaging thriller after all. But, it is going to cater to the needs of its target audiences (due its Technical stuff & Performances). This film dishes out what you expect from a Kamal Hassan’s movies. Watch without any expectations. You will not get disappointed.

Theatrical Trailer: