As an inoculum cast, Kamal Haasan thrives in the space that he has created with tremendous industry, by him. The coming together of filmmaker Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan after a period of 38 years is therefore bound to create curiosity and huge expectations.
Starring: Kamal Haasan, Mahesh Majerekar, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Nassar, Rajashree Deshpande, Rohit Saraf, Ali Fazal, Babu Raj, Sania Malhotra
Direction: Mani Rathan
Alina Gufan in her work 'No Place to Call My Own' states, “Some filmmakers make films, others make statements”. To continue the narrative, film actor Kamal Haasan states that a film should be more than a series of talking images and must necessarily convey a thought process or an idea. As an inoculum cast, Kamal Haasan thrives in the space that he has created with tremendous industry, by him. The coming together of filmmaker Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan after a period of 38 years is therefore bound to create curiosity and huge expectations. The filmmaker and the actor bring on board an awe-inspiring filmography. However, it is a very uninspiring reunion.
Even the technical finesse that one associates with Mani Ratnam is conspicuously absent. On the technical side, except for Ravi K. Chandran who shines with his cinematography, there is little that the crew recommends on its own strength. Even A.R. Rahman comes out with one of the most uninspiring musical scores. For instance, the ‘Hunt’ song is of such poor quality that when the son of Sadanand (Mahesh Majerekar) is being killed, the cinematographic effects of Ravi Chandran are messed up. If there is anything in the scene, it is the quiet performance of Sadanand’s sister, Rajashree Deshpande.
In a statement recently, actor, filmmaker and story writer Kamal Haasan declared that Tamil cinema was ‘caught in a groove’. He drew inspiration from Malayalam cinema, he said. Unfortunately, Kamal Haasan does not put his money where his mouth is.
There is no gain in saying that both Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan are avid students of world cinema. They understand the fabric, the matrix, the reach and its consequences. While the off-the-cuff remark may be a tad instinctive, the making of the film is obviously deep-rooted in what the two bring on board. It is thus a double whammy when the end product is a poor echo of other films, ‘Nayakan’ included.
The story line is simple. It’s about gang wars between two mafia lords, Shakti Raj (Kamal Haasan) and Sadanand (Mahesh Manjerekar). The Shakti Raj family includes wife Jeeva (Abhirami), girlfriend Indrani (Trisha), daughter Manga (Sanjana Krishnan) and brother Manikyam (Nassar). The film starts with a shoot-out in which a newspaper vendor dies leaving behind his son Amaran and daughter Chandra, who goes missing. Shakti takes charge of Amaran and promises to find his lost sister. Decades later trouble between the warring parties is kickstarted when Ranu (Rohit Saraf) impregnates the daughter of Manikyam and the latter commits suicide. Shakti kills Ranu and goes to jail. He anoints Amaran as his heir apparent to run the show in his absence, much to the annoyance of his brother Manikyam.
The entire world of important characters including Amaran, Manikyam and Sadanand and hangers-on including Pathros (Joju George) and Ambu Raj (Bhagawaiti Pirumal) join hands to isolate the aging Shakti Raj. The enemy camp has another nephew of Sadanand in Deepak (Ali Fazal). A rare poignant moment is when Amaran is told that his father died at the hands of Shakti Raj. Eye-pleasing moments include Kathmandu and a bit of Goa. However, the script draws very heavily on the cinematic license of making Shakti Raj superhuman in surviving bullet injuries time and again.
It is often said that cinema is not so much about logic as it is about conviction. The contrived attempt to state that crime does not pay goes abegging in the midst of huge dollops of violence. Scenes, where limbs are cut, do not leave the desired impact against cult violence; it is still gut-wrenching. On the analytic board, the film's spokesperson and part story-writer Kamal Haasan would arguably have a lot to explain for about 45 minutes of the film counting backwards from the end, you almost have a feeling that Mani Ratnam has left the sets. Neither are the dialogues punchy nor the scenarios intriguing. The scene where one of Shakti Raj’s victims is thrown on a moving train does Mani Ratnam no justice. It would be interesting to compare this with the impact that the accident scene in ‘Jalsa’ is picturised. As students of commercial storytelling, it is disappointing that the Kamal-Mani rendezvous fails to take off.
It is a very grave story where almost all the characters end up in the grave. While the film could attract for its curiosity quotient, it fails to retain the viewers’ attention. There are moments in the stretched nearly three-hour exercise that are pleasant or eye-catching. Most actors in the film deliver; however nondescript the character may be, they bring in their repute and earnest commitment. Abhirami seems to be inspired by films of the 60s of Padmini and even looks like one of the Travancore Sisters.
In the role of the inspector, Babu Raj shines with a very balanced performance. Sania Malhotra is wasted, Trisha’s character is so bad that her assistant Pushpavalli (Vadelu Karsi) is more impactful. Actors like Mahesh Manjerekar and Ali Fazal are left with little to do. Silmabarsan tries hard and is backed by a solid script. Better actors would have taken great advantage, but he fails. Kamal Haasan is too mature an actor to be tested time and again for his caliber. However, his performance moves from subtle to template to theatrics to over the top. You wonder whether in the end the interpretation of Shakti Raj is neither Mani Ratnam nor the cinematic understanding of Kamal Haasan but is simply the dictat of the filmmaker’s perception of the box office requirement. Surely, the filmmaker and the actor have steered clear from the nuanced Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece.
In this context and more, the film's conclusion Vishwadaha Nayaka is a hollow ode.
