DASAVATHAARAAM Tamil film (Kamal Haasan)

[TheDoug]

I know this Indian film by director K.S. Ravikumar had some U.S. playdates see the official website: http://www.dasavathaaram.com/dasavathaaram-home.html
but I'm curious to know if and when an official dvd release might be offered?

I know there are alot of YouTube clips out there as well as Torrent downloads for this film but I'm a purist and would prefer a professional dvd of this controversial yet entertaining film.

http://talk.ragalahari.com/talk/showthread.php?p=1717

[toddly6666]

any day now...i've been waiting forever as well....

[InnocentBlood]

oh hell yeah me too

[TheDoug]

Well, let's see who'll be the first Talker to tell us which e-tailer has this one ready to ship!!!

[TheDoug]

Originally Posted by TheDoug

Well, let's see who'll be the first Talker to tell us which e-tailer has this one ready to ship!!!

Well, I guess that would be me. I just got hold of a copy from IndiaHutHouse.com. First the positive, they shipped it extremely fast since their warehouse is located in Highland MD. The bad news, it's not subtitled in English. In fact, it doesn't have any subtitles!!!
Their website notes there are English titles but alas, they were wrong! (I may still keep it since it wasn't all that expensive)

Besides DASAVATHARAM there's another movie on the disc as well, PAMMAL K. SAMBANTHAM. This is on the Sruthilayam label which is situated in Canada. Video quality is good. Allegedly I read elsewhere that Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to the official release worldwide.

http://www.indiahuthouse.com/new/TAM...n=Dasavatharam

[InnocentBlood]

Doug, there’s a very high chance that what you have on your hands is a bootleg. Such ‘2-in-1’ DVDs are very popular in Malaysia and Singapore and they are actually openly sold in respectable shops, touting them as the real thing.

If you really like this show and want to own it on original DVD, I suggest looking out for the one put out by Ayngaran DVD.

[Ravid]

Originally Posted by InnocentBlood

If you really like this show and want to own it on original DVD, I suggest looking out for the one put out by Ayngaran DVD.

Ayngaran hasn't released it yet.

Man, I hated this film. The story was terrible and overly self-important, and Kamal is too good an actor to hide behind a series of poorly done makeup and accents. The Balram Naidu character was funny and had good makeup, but turning Kamal into an old lady or a Japanese man or a white man (or George W. Bush) was laughable.

[Ravid]

DVD releasing May 7th

http://eshop.ayngaran.com/ww/product...roducts_id=614

[TheDoug]

Originally Posted by Ravid

DVD releasing May 7th

http://eshop.ayngaran.com/ww/product...roducts_id=614

Thanks Ravid for the link. This dvd at least has english subtitles!!!

[toddly6666]

I just saw this film on the Ayngaran dvd. Wow...i'm speechless. Entertaining, but pretty damn bad. I can't believe the make-up artists got away with the work they did. Western Hollywood make-up artists as well. Kamal Hassan has presence though - I do like him. It would be nice to see him in a non-Indian movie.

The movie went downhill once Malika Sherawat left the screen. She is so hot.

Concerning Tamil movies, I'm going to stick with S. Shankar films...

MOVIE: 6
DVD VIDEO: 7.5
DVD AUDIO: 8
ENGLISH SUBTITLES: 6
EXTRAS: 0

[TheDoug]

Why a 6 rating for the subtitles? Are they small in size or just awkwardly translated?

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by TheDoug

Why a 6 rating for the subtitles? Are they small in size or just awkwardly translated?

size is fine, it's just awkwardly translated - It's translated like old school Bollywood DVDs (pre-year 2000).

I'm always entertained by the awfully translated English subtitles on a Chinese DVD versus a Bollywood DVD. Both have painfully bad grammar - the only difference is that Indians love to throw in complex words into their poor English. At least, Chinese keep the bad English subtitles simple. But I'm just talking about the bad translation jobs. Most new Hong Kong and Bollywood DVDs (post-year 2000) have decent-enough English subtitles.

[confusedintx]

For the hype that the movie had generated before its release, it was almost criminally bad. The pre-release stills and trailers were damn good by Indian standards, but the movie seemed like it was made in a hurry. What a waste of resources !!

For anyone interested in watching Kamal Hassan at his best, you should try Indian (1996) and Hey Ram! (2000). IMO, 'Indian' is by far the best Tamil movie made in the last two decades, while Hey Ram! was under-appreciated in general....but is a classic nevertheless.

[InnocentBlood]

i do agree that when you compare the makeup effects with Hollywood standards it doesn't match up very well and is quite laughable but then again it's all due to budget constraints anyway

but i felt that the story, screenplay and characters held up very well and it was great to see how all the characters related to each other.

perhaps i am among the minority but i felt DASAVATHARAM will hold up to repeated viewings.

and i do believe that Kamal is perhaps the only one in South Indian cinema who can actually pull off something like this.

on a related note, i highly recommend Indian and Hey Ram plus Nayagan to see what this versatile actor is capable of.

Hey Ram is a very good example of a very good movie which didn't fare well at the box office but stands proud among the actor's works.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by InnocentBlood

i do agree that when you compare the makeup effects with Hollywood standards it doesn't match up very well and is quite laughable but then again it's all due to budget constraints anyway

but i felt that the story, screenplay and characters held up very well and it was great to see how all the characters related to each other.

perhaps i am among the minority but i felt DASAVATHARAM will hold up to repeated viewings.

and i do believe that Kamal is perhaps the only one in South Indian cinema who can actually pull off something like this.

on a related note, i highly recommend Indian and Hey Ram plus Nayagan to see what this versatile actor is capable of.


Hey Ram is a very good example of a very good movie which didn't fare well at the box office but stands proud among the actor's works.

very generous of you to offer it a repeat viewing...do you by any chance know where I can buy the out-of-print anamorphic version of Hey Ram? I have the unwatchable Ultra version...