DECIPHERING DASAVATHARAM..
I was thinking of content for another blog when I thought it’d be suitable to write about the detailing behind the “Chola Mandapam” scene in Dasavatharam, and started discussing with my sister. But during the discussion, we both thought that it’d be nice to decode the entire Kamal characters based on their avatars. I admit that apart from the “Avatar” thing, there are many layers like “Butterfly effect” and “Chaos Theory”, but thought those would become too complex for the readers to comprehend. In many ways, Dasavatharam is one of the most ambitious movies in Indian Cinema, both narratively and visually. I was too young at that time to understand the nuances in the screenplay, but I think I have some amount of knowledge now to decode the character traits of Kamal with that of the “Dashavatar” of Lord Vishnu, the saviour.
The order of the Avatars will be based on the order in which each Kamal comes in the film.
MATSYA-RANGARAJA NAMBI:
In Matsya Avatar, Lord Vishnu takes the form of a fish. The mythological story is that of how King Vaivasvata Manu escapes the great Pralaya with the help of Vishnu and saves his people in a boat. Here, Kamal shows the King releasing the fish into the ocean as a song montage in “Kallai Mattum Kandaal” and the Pralaya as the Tsunami, which would come in the climax of the movie. And, people in boats is shown visually at the background when Govind and Andal have a conversation. It is just the beginning, lots to come!
KALKI-GOVIND RAMASWAMY:
This should be an obvious giveaway, as the Kalki avatar comes in the Kaliyuga(present time), and appears when chaos prevails, the same as how Govind tries to protect when a big destruction is about to happen. Icing to the cake appears in the form of the “Vial Chip” he has, which is a silver color box of protection, similar to the sword that kalki has.
PARASURAMA-CHRISTIAN FLETCHER:
Just like the mythological character, Fletcher goes on a killing spree to get the vial chip in his hands. And when he does get the chip, the Tsunami comes, just like how Parasurama throws his axe in the sea and the sea gets displaced.
NARASIMHA-SHINGAN NARAHAZI
Shingan sets out to kill the person who killed his sister, and similar to the lord Narasimha, where he used his bare hands to kill Hiranyakashipu, he used his bare hands to demobilize Christian Fletcher. Narasimha is a teacher of Prahalada and in the movie, Shingan is an aikido teacher as well.
KOORMA-PRESIDENT BUSH
Koorma Avatar is the tortoise which helped in stirring the Ksheera Sagara and bringing out the Amrut. Similarly, Bush here tries to explain the situation of the “Vial Outbreak”, but he is too slow like a tortoise that the situation goes well beyond his control.
BALARAMA-BALRAM NAIDU
This is an easy given. In the mythology, he is shown to protect Lord Krishna(Though it isn’t in the actual film) and he is also considered to be a avatar of Adisesha. He protects the Yadavas during the Kurukshetra. Similarly, Balram Naidu strives to protect everyone. Similar to adisesha, Balram Naidu is shown at the top, both visually and narratively. He himself says that through the dialogue, “naane uyar adhikari, enakum mela na sorgam dhan iruku”.
RAMA-AVATAR SINGH:
Rama, in the epic, stands for one man one woman, and he loves his wife so dearly. Here, Avatar Singh loves his wife Ranjith Kaur so much that he wants to live for her till the end.
VAAMANA-KRISHNAVENI SRINIVASAN
This character, much like the mythological character, is shown to be a dwarf character. Vaamana took giant strides to protect Bali, one of the earth, and the other of the three worlds, and Bali himself offered his head to complete the stride. Here, she is shown to travel on people’s shoulders to protect the “Vial Chip”. Ringing a bell?
KRISHNA-VINCENT POOVARAGHAN:
This character has an obvious introduction scene, when Andal is about to get disrobed. He has that dark complexion, as mentioned by the song lines, “karumai nira kanna”. This character dies of a rod piercing his leg. Sounds familiar, isn’t it?
VARAHA-KALIFULLAH KHAN:
Well, I had a tough time cracking this character as to what mythological character it might be, and while reading between the lines, I read that Varaha carried the earth out of the ocean and restored it back to its place, and in the movie, we see that the people in Kalifullah’s locality are being stationed at the mosque, when the disaster occurs. Brilliant piece of detailing, isn’t it?
Well, to conclude, Kamal Hassan has always brought discussion regarding his movies whenever they have been released, be it the comedy collaborations with Crazy Mohan or serious subject written by him. As a fan, I personally want him to write and possibly direct a comedy movie, so that it’d be a fitting swansong to an illustrious career.
