Vishwaroopam Explored...

Vishwaroopam is probably the most controversial of Kamal Haasan’s films, leaving the spats about Hey Ram look like an infant. What all happened and why those happened is for another day, here I want to just write about my observations of the film. It is not criticism (not wholly, at least) , this is just a write up containing few of my opinions, importantly my inferences and assimilation of the film. 

First off, the title: if you had watched closely (even in  the trailer), the letters of the title run from right to left, unlike left to right which is how scripts of most of our Indian languages are written. This is very unlike most Indian or even Saxon languages (only one Indian language by the name of Gandhari has had script which was written right to left).  Anyway, the message is clear: Kamal obviously hints at the Arabic language. The dots over some letters and the font style of the title also imitate Arabic, subtly suggesting the movie is around Islam.

Secondly, the first line of the movie, “I believe in America.” This is probably a tribute paid by the veteran actor to the legendary movie Godfather, which also starts the same way (spoken by Bonasara while asking favor to Don on his daughter’s wedding day).

Pooja says to psychiatrist, “Everybody called him Viz, so I too called him Viz.” We realize later subtly that he had chosen Vishwanath as his coverup name so that he can be addressed with the same monicker for his real name, Wisam. “Wiz” for Wisam and “Viz” for “Vishwanath”.

The Kathak dance sequence was very graceful to my eyes. Though Kamal has very good knowledge in dance (being a dance master himself), Kathak is not that frequently danced in Tamil cinemas. But having a good base in Kathak already, he told in an interview that it was relatively less difficult for him to learn from the famous North Indian Kathak teacher (and Hindustani vidvaan) Birju Maharaj. I really loved the lyrics of the song and the song will be much more enjoyable if one realizes the lyrics and see Kamal’s expressions (or muthirais, in Tamil) for the lyrics.

We have to give Kamal kudos for this:  the effeminacy in Vishwanath’s character. He has proved yet again that he can play any character. Though this should be a piece of cake for Kamal having done Avvai Shanmughi, it really takes a lot of effort to hit the bull’s eye again. Every minute movement of every muscle in his body was unbelievably effeminate! I especially loved the way he threw himself a little bit more forward when he was running towards the ringing phone after the class had gotten over. Also the way he exasperatedly shrieked on opening of the door to the freezing breeze that blew over his back. 

Another important thing to note is that while dancing for the song, Kamal the director has shown a small statue in front of the mirrored wall. If you had noticed closely, the side of the statue facing us will be female (the outer identity) and the back side of the statue reflected to us by the mirrored wall is male (the real identity). You can also see this statue again in the slide show at end of film (shown before showing Kamal and Pooja in bed {now you remember that instantly, don’t you? :P} ). I later learnt from a website that this Vishwanath character’s identity is inspired from the Pandavas’ Virata phase in Mahabharata, where the Pandavas are forced to spend the last (and thirteenth) year of their exile by concealing their true identity. Arjuna concealed his identity by acting like a eunuch (male with female behaviors) who teaches dance outside his country (or Raajya).

When I went for the film the second (and last) time I noticed that when the actress says “America” in the first line of the movie, we can see that Kamal had asked the dubbing artist to specifically pronounce the letter ‘r’ as ‘aazh’ as opposed to our usual (Russel Peters spanked) Indian “aarrr”. Similarly when Vishwanath says to Andrea, “Shaaptu po”, he was wary of the accent delivered.  I think he wanted to elucidate on screen the social dogma of our country’s present generation which feels proud to follow the Western culture, running away from homeland and also the changing Brahmin culture (“paapaathiyamma, nee shaaptu shollu…”). I would have slipped these minute things in theater had I not earlier seen these videos of Kamal.  


Anyway, carrying on, the big and the best (for me!) scene: kidnap and its aftermath. When Farooq and the boss Deep kidnap Kamal and Pooja, we can see that a less toned humour is salted all along. I think Kamal made it that way so as to balance the violence and severity in the following sequences, for this will be watched even by families in theatres (or at home, thanks to Kamal’s efforts on DTH).

When Deep profanely asks him, “..ngummaala… evvalavu naalaa da unakku theriyum?”, he replies, “purandhadhu lendhe engammaava enakku theriyum…”. I think Kamal tries to mock the concept of profanity itself! When coming to profanity, it reminds me of this small video bit of one of my favorite thinkers of our time, Stephen Fry!

Coming back to the torture scene, I liked how drops of water dripping into a small pool were shown each time Pooja or Kamal was slapped by Farooq. I think Kamal wanted to draw parallels with the Chinese Water Torture by showing the droplets. I also liked how Farooq made Deep stand at the centre of a large laminated (and blood proof!) sheet before shooting him on the head; I amusingly found it as an intelligent and convenient way to shoot someone without any mess, wouldn't you agree! (The actor played as Farooq also played a terrorist role in Unnaipol Oruvan. Trademark Terrorist I guess, like how actor Murali was a college guy till his death!) When Kamal is asked his name, he says “Thoufiq”; we realize later that this is an eulogistic gesture to the late Sheikh Thoufiq who got lynched for treason.  And when Farooq tries to photograph Vishwanath, we can see that Vishwanath is doing his level best (with his hands tied) in avoiding getting photographed. He bangs the iPhone off Farooq’s hands with his head; he shakes his head, etc., It is because he knows he will be in trouble if the picture reaches Omar. Also when once Farooq hits Kamal, he shouts in pain, “Krishnaaaa!!!”… Those who have some music knowledge might realize that the pitch in which he shouts “Krishnaaaa…” is the same as the one in which Shankar Mahadevan starts “Krishnaaaaa…” in “Unnai Kaanaadhu”. I think this was tailor made to overlap both the voices in trailer (from which I actually realized it!). Also the “tha ga tha ga tha ga” was followed by gunshots of same rhythm in the trailer. When Omar checks in his office (if you may call it that!) for matches of Pooja’s details, we can see that the searching software has FBI logo in it. Director is meaning to convey that the terrorists have access even to confidential database of FBI!

The Arabic phrase, which Kamal prays before THE scene, is from the Quran (2:201). It is as follows:

“Rabbana atina fid-dunya 

  hasanatan wa fil ‘akhirati 

  hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar”

It means: 

“Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in hereafter. Save us from the chastisement of the fire”. 

Just thought it might be interesting for you to know that. I am guessing the fight sequence was inspired from Robert Downey Jr starred Sherlock Holmes fight scene.

But all I can say regarding the scene that immediately is this: I can give (120 x A) rupees to watch this scene again and again, where A>100. ;-) 

The flashback scenes were really a treat for eyes. Amazing cinematography, jaw-dropping stuff! Discussing how to take a movie in a hotel room is one thing, bringing it up majestically on the big screen is completely another, credits should be given to Sanu Vergheese for splendidly doing the latter. It was even a tad better than The Kite Runner, I dare say. The editing is nonlinear. The narration is about the past while driving in a car, just like in Russel Crowe starred “The Next Three Days”, except NOTHING else is similar. I feel the editing could have been a little better, pacing up the first half a bit. Not a bad job altogether.

Osama scene’a awesome’ah they have portrayed (pun intended)! I loved how the BGM abruptly stopped when Osama stood up to the screen’s view, giving us some seconds of silence to help gulp magnitude of the sight alongside Wisam (remember, it is 2002, post 9/11). During this scene, we can see also that a Pakistani ISI officer is speaking with Osama “updating” him with news. To those who don’t know what ISI means, it stands for “Inter-Services Intelligence”. It is Pakistan’s official government intelligence agency, just like how we in India have the CBI. What Kamal tries to say is that Pakistan knew about Osama’s presence and his whereabouts but it double crossed America in capturing of Osama. What that Pakistani ISI officer updating Osama about is America’s plans in catching him. You can see Salim telling Wisam, “He will work for ISI and will also work for us *grins*”. I encourage you to see this documentary if you hadn't already. It is about how Pakistan secretly protected Osama, it is a BBC documentary so you can expect it to be pretty authentic. For now, click on the hyperlink and watch just the first 2:00 minutes.

Carrying on, I liked the way how Kamal saw Osama while leaving, retreating back, with a combination of shock, awe, helplessness and a tinge of hatred. NATO attacking scenes were thrilling and the action was encapsulating (the warning at the beginning of the movie was for these action sequences, it was a fair warning).  

We can also see how easily the terrorists jump borders in the Torkham-Jalalabad highway, between Pakistan and Afghanistan. After getting bribed, we can even see the guard at the border gate greeting terrorist Omar, welcoming him to his side of the country. If you have seen those 2 minutes which I asked you to see from the link above, you will exactly get what Kamal tried to say from that scene! The training camps were good to watch. The double used for Kamal was pathetically bad as he was too lean to dupe Kamal. I later tried to find out whose picture they were trying to shoot (besides Bush); I will be glad if someone can shed some light on that. When Nasser asks Kamal if he reads Quran in English and when Wisam replies no, Nasser laughs and says Wisam then indeed knows Arabic, subtly expressing the hatred towards the English language and the people who speak it. Hatred for English is also shown by Omar when he prohibits his son from learning it.  

 
During the song sequence in terrorist camps, you can see that two or three men wear women dresses and entertain other men. I was told by my friend that Islam prohibits crossdressing and so you can see Nasser carrying out punishments on them for crossdressing. You will later see that Mammoo, the young Afghani “Warrior”, crossdressing to sneak under a NATO tank to destroy it. I think Kamal is trying to say that the terrorists are not “true” Islam followers, flexing rules for their own wishes and whimsies. Speaking of Mammoo, I think the swing scene alone conveys the message of this whole movie: Islamic idealogists are immature and are taking the world by storm for shitty reasons. Remember the scene where Omar’s son will walk away from the swing saying he isn't a child but then Mammoo comes and sits to ask Wisam to swing him high? Later when Wisam walks past another child who is swinging, Omar shows Wisam the newspaper in which the photo and news of Mammoo’s death is put up, smiling proudly. Also when Thoufiq is hanged, Kamal gazes up to the sky helplessly as a Jet passenger aircraft flies thousands of feet above the air, not caring what is happening in the world below it. Amazing directorial touch, Kamal, you genius!!!

A friend of mine remonstrated, “Will FBI travel in NYPD cars?” Fair question, the general answer seems to be no. It would be like CBI travellingin a dabbaa police jeep. But there there have been numerous collaborations between the state police and FBI on various missions; saving NY surely is an important thing, so we cannot take that for a goof. Coming to Abbasi, the Black Nigerian Jihadi, we can see how easily he nods his head for death after just a single phone call conversation comprising not more than 20 words. Also when Deep keeps the money inside the safe, he says that the banks do not trust the customers, especially from Middle Eastern countries, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, etc., Kamal cared to throw it in at the beginning itself. The password, “moolah”, generally has the meaning of “money”. It is also the root word for “Mullaah,” an Islamic scholar…irony again! Before getting ready for detonating the dirty bomb, we can see that Abbasi shaves his hair off all parts of his body. This is a tradition of Muslim Jihadis to shave before committing suicide attacks. Actually, Muslims purify the body after one is dead, so that when the deceased person enters heaven, he will be clean. But since suicide attackers don’t have that luxury, they die with a clean body. In fact, Jihadis believe that after their suicide attack, for having waged a Holy War, they will enter heaven where 72 virgins are waiting for them to devour. For that purpose, suicide bombers even wrap their genitalia with Aluminium foil so that it remains intact and can be used in heaven. I know, no comments.  

The pigeon distraction caused by tying dangerous radioactive Caesium  on to their legs was a good irony too! It is ironic in the sense that pigeon is the standard symbol for world peace; a dove carrying an olivebranch. Also when Thoufiq is hanged, we can see that when crane operator operates the lever, a dove sitting on the crane’s silencer flies off.

You may have wondered why there was not a single hint of crescent (with star) anywhere in the film. It is simply because crescent is not associated with Islam at all; even some other site had pointed this out. It wasn't until the Ottoman Empire that the crescent moon and star became affiliated with the Muslim world. Islam.about.com says that when the Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty. Based on this history, many Muslims reject using the crescent moon as a symbol of Islam as it has nothing to do with what is said in Quran. The only time when a crescent is seen is when Kamal jumps off the airplane with parachute in the laaaast scene of the film. 

About music score, I wasn't much disappointed with Shankar-Ehsan-Loy but as Bosskey put in his Indiaglitz review, the scope for them in the movie was limited. The intro scene had amazing BGM, it fitted perfectly well.  I liked the first song too. Besides those, I thought the music was average.

About the cast, I felt many of the actors were not used to their full potential. Andrea, though is not a great actress, was given a lesser role even to her credibility! All she does is put up some dance steps, puts up some stitches on Kamal’s face, talk in the interrogation room with a black lady and walk briskly here and there. Shekhar Kapur’s role was limited too. He talks at the dining table, saves Kamal from the embassy and swallows pills. Nasser, another great specialist actor of Indian cinema, was inexcusably under used. And the old man who shoos away a pigeon on the first scene, he never comes again in the movie, that left me curious. Maybe, who knows, all these characters will have a greater say in Vishwaroopam II.  

Kamal Haasan, the Indian Stanislavsky, has taken a bold step forward in taking the Tamil audience to a whole new level. Once in Neeyaa Naana debate program in Vijay TV, he told that he is fighting against most Tamil cinema directors in trying to convince them that  Tamil audience deserve far more better than what Tamil cinema fraternity currently produces. He said that other directors are not convinced that Tamil audiences are intelligent enough to assimilate high standards of direction. May the success of Vishwaroopam be an eyeopener to both directors and audiences alike!

Awaiting Vishwaroopam II. :)

Cheers!